How the heck did I get here?

Some of you may know that my original blog was THAT Football Mom. A friend once commented, "Oh you're THAT soccer mom," when I was talking about how involved I was in the kids' teams. I figure that's sort of in the "Mom" job description.

And I love football. My favorite sport, hands down. I always envisioned my boys playing ball. I looked forward to it for years. And Josh did play a few seasons. He liked it well enough, and I loved watching and supporting.

Jacob was a bit of a different story. He was smaller than most others. His equipment weighed at least as much as he did. And he hated running. It was a bad combo. I pulled him out after he tried to fight his coach. This coach was at least 6' tall, and made quite a picture carrying Jacob to me at arm's length, while Jacob was trying to kick, punch, or otherwise whip him.

Jacob was the team mascot after that. That was much more his style at the time! haha

Well, fast forward about 7 years and here we are.

A little backstory to my backstory. My twins are 5 years old now. When they were babies, I joined the local Mothers of Multiples group. It was a blessing to me at the time, and I met some of my best friends there. One of the other MOMs had twin boys just a little older than my pair. She also had 5 kids total- 4 boys and 1 girl. Someone I could really relate to! This was Miss Martha.

Now Martha is one of the sweetest people I have ever met. Ever. She is such a kind hearted person- when we went to our MOMs retreat, there was the usual amount of catty women talk going on and I still remember, Martha just got up and went for a walk. Hearing people be judgmental or unkind just made her uncomfortable, so she removed herself. I've always remembered that. That took a certain amount of bravery, just to do her own thing.

As the years passed, we would go to concerts or out for the evening, and we always had a blast! But she would say the oddest things sometimes when I would ask if she wanted to go out. "Oh. I have open mat on Friday." Huh? Weird.

We were great concert buddies- one of my favorite things to do. When we were buying tickets to one concert, she started talking about her other friends joining us. I didn't know what to make of it, but what the heck, right? WELL...

It was Chanda, Misti, and Deanna- all jiu jitsu friends of Martha's. I had a raging headache the night of the concert, but I still had so much fun! Those girls were just awesome! And I promise you-I've never felt more safe in my life. They all know how to handle themselves, for sure.

So I start asking Martha about this jiu jitsu stuff. I knew it probably wasn't for me, but all of her kids did it, so maybe mine would like it too. I checked out the website, but it looked expensive. I mean, sheesh! I have 5 kids, after all!

As time goes on, Jacob (coincidentally) starts looking into martial arts. I'd love to say my kids never fight or horse around, but we all know better. And, not surprisingly, he's tired of Josh always having the upper hand because he's so much bigger. All of his research leads him to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. He is fascinated by the Gracies and starts spending hours... and I do mean houurrrrsssss... watching youtube videos.

Then he starts campaigning. Anyone who knows Jacob, knows he is quite the politician. He starts telling me all about the self defense and bully proofing aspects, about how martial arts teach discipline and respect, and how a little guy can even the playing field with the right technique. Okay, okay I tell him. But there is only one place I will let him try. I know if Martha trusts these people with her kids, it was certainly good enough for mine.

I think I'll leave you with a bit of a cliffhanger here... this is getting long. (Me? Long winded?? Whaaat???)

Words of a Grandfather

I am going to start this blog with a story that I have wanted to tell for a couple months now.

First a couple of things you should know, that I've learned about jiu jitsu so far. Keeping in mind, I am no expert. I've never once rolled. That's what they call it- when you grapple with a partner in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I'm just the Mom. Watching, supporting, cheering. But we dove in, so I had to learn quickly.

Regardless... the first and very most important thing I have learned is that this is a family. Also- the lineage is important. Some day I'll have to post about that. But for now, suffice to say that in our family, the Triton family, Professor Piet Wilhelm is the father. Which makes his professor, Renato Tavares the grandfather.

Now, to the story telling.

In June, Master Tavares was in town to attend Piet and Sara's wedding. They also had a seminar while he was in town- with several other black belts teaching as well. I was fortunate to get to gift Jacob a private lesson with Master Tavares.

As Jacob headed to the mats at the appointed time, this is what he saw:

One of the younger students was sitting in a chair, watching. Renato went over to him and asked why he wasn't rolling. The kid said "I can't do it."

Master pointed to the patch on the kid's chest. (Renato Tavares Association- most students wear patches indicating their affiliations.) "What does that say? Do you know who that is?" The kid just shrugged.

"That's me. That's my name-Renato Tavares." He gestured to the mats. "This is my family. YOU are my family. There is a lot of pride and respect in this family," he said gently. "Go out there and show me what that means."

Jacob said it was not forceful at all- just encouraging. And cool. lol

Master made a big impact on Jacob that day. And, I believe, on the kid. Jacob said he did get out there and give it another try. When Grandfather tells you to get out there, you just do it.