A musical interlude. Jim Reeves and Patsy Cline.
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Sophia -- Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Update
Because I was traveling I did not get to the Dallas jiu-jitsu tournament this past weekend. Teams from around the entire DFW metropolis are invited. Sophia is a member of the Grapevine (Texas) Jinho Jiu-Jitsu Competitive Team. Competitions are held every six months. She's been part of the team for three years and has only missed one tournament in all that time.
Before this weekend, she had three medals, a gold, a silver, and a bronze. This weekend she won her second silver medal.
She won her first match by submission which is huge. But then she lost her second match, 14 - 0.
On our drive out to her soccer practice tonight, I started our conversation by stating that I was very impressed that she won her first match by submission. She was thrilled. She said she took second in the tournament and got a silver medal.
I then told her that I was thrilled that she had "real" competition in her second match, the one in which she lost 14 - 0. She doesn't get that kind of competition in her own club. I said it might be disappointing to lose but I thought it was wonderful that she had such great competition. She was very, very animated, and totally agreed with me. She was very, very happy to wrestle someone from whom she could learn something.
She was not disappointed at all.
Earlier in the week she weighed 90.4 pounds and so she had to register for the 90 - 99 pound weight class.
At weigh-in on Saturday, at the tournament, she was 89.6 so she could have wrestled in the 80 - 89 pound weight class but once registered in a particular class it can't be changed. So she was going against competitors that could have weighed significantly more than she did. It did not bother her. She was just thrilled to get the chance to wrestle and learn.
She said that her very close friends often sneak up on her at school and grab her, just to tease her, all in good fun, but she instantly, instinctively reacts as if someone is attacking her and she immediately starts to take them down in a jiu-jitsu move before she remembers that she's on the playground at school and not on a jiu-jitus mat. She says it's now instinct to react with jiu-jitsu moves if someone "attacks" her. She says that in a very positive way. She clearly understands what jiu-jitsu is all about.
We didn't talk about it in this conversation, but without a doubt, she has an incredible coach. He and his wife emigrated from South Korea some years ago. His wife teaches taekwondo and is an accomplished taekwondo competitor. He continues to compete on the South Korea national jiu-jitsu team.
Through high school, boys/men and girls/women compete together. It seems to be the one sport in which that is very, very possible. However, in competition, its boys/men vs boys/men and girls/women vs girls/women at all age levels.
Posted elsewhere earlier:
Sophia -- Her Newest Stripe On Her Grey Belt
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu -- February 25, 2025
She is advancing at the expected rate, perhaps a bit faster than some of the others. I'm anticipating that the coach will ask her to assist him next year with the younger wrestlers coming up.Her coach is South Korean. He competes internationally on the South Korean Jiu Jitsu team. Prior to coming to the United States he had been on the "South Korean presidential protection team" -- like our own Secret Service and Special Forces.
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