Annie – Part 3 – Pizza Hut Encounter Results in a Judo Commitment

A few weeks after school started, Kristen, Ian, Annie, and I went out to eat at Pizza Hut for our ‘payday’ eat-out dinner. While we were there, I noticed an older Japanese couple, Ed and Grace A., sitting at one of the booths. I recognized them from my previous Judo activities from years past. I hadn’t participated for several years by then. The music and day-jobs kept getting in the way. Here, I need to explain why this was providential. Ian and Kristen were fascinated by Bruce Lee. Ian wanted to learn Kung Fu. But I didn’t want him fighting, so I kept putting him off. I did finally commit to letting him take Kung Fu once he received his black belt in Judo if he still wanted to pursue it. And that was just a few days before our Pizza Hut outing. I had been itching to get back to Judo for some time.

So, I went over to their table and introduced myself and Ian. I was very flattered that they remembered me from previous Judo outings. They wanted to know why I wasn’t still working out with Les F., my original Sensei. They didn’t like what they called ‘Judo Bums’, Judoka, who wandered back and forth between Senseis, with no real commitment to one school. I assured them that I was permanently living in Cleveland Hts now, and I no longer attended Sensei F.s Dojo. It was too far for me to travel regularly. After some discussion, Sensei A. told me that Ian was a little young, but if I’d come with him and join the class, then I could bring him and Kristen too, if I liked. We started the following week. Annie even joined and tried it out for a while. But she dropped out after her first tournament experience. It really was unfair. Because there were so few women entered, she was pitted against a woman nearly twice her size and several ranks above her. Of course, it was no contest. And Annie would have no more of it.

To be Continued

–LE