Tournament:
It can be a long drive from Portland to Seattle. That is, if you aren’t packed into a car with people like Robert, Louisa, and Justin. I haven’t laughed this hard in a long time, whether it’s at Justin’s singing or Louisa’s making fun of Robert’s driving or Robert’s driving itself. The laughter is to some extent an extension of the nervous energy we all feel; that electricity that you feel before going to battle. The Revolution tournament looms on the horizon and we’re all excited, apprehensive, and ready to show what we’ve learned.
Coach Tom often uses the expression ‘Oss!’ I did a little research and found out the following:
One definition of "Oss", also known as "ossu", means Oshi Shinobu, which conveys the idea of "persevering when pushed", or in other words, never give up, have determination, grit and withstand the most arduous of training. Carrying on without giving up, under all kinds of pressure - that's the idea of inner strength so common in Asian culture.
This concept is one that I have unknowingly been familiar with for a long time, just by other labels. And as I approach the forthcoming combat I re-examine periods of my life where I have had to persevere when pushed. Growing up without a mother and father, there are many times when I wanted to give up. I had to find other sources of guidance – my big brothers, my grandparents, coaches, teachers. There were days when every moment felt like stepping on the mat to take on a new challenger. I was forced to dig deep or be overwhelmed by the stressors in my life. I found comfort in the routine – sports practices and competitions, school work, extracurricular clubs, reading – anything that helped me feel stable.
Later on in life, I lost touch with those routines. Partying, drinking, smoking, drug use – these became more the norm. I no longer had the resources to persist when pushed. I’d managed to alienate so much of my support network that I felt very alone and incapable of doing things that needed to be done to survive, much less thrive.
Things are different now… as we pull up to the hotel, I realize that while those days are not so far gone I once again have family and friends to rely on; solid training to use as a resource in my fight; coaches and teammates to support and uplift me. Now all I need is a good night’s rest and I will be ready for anything.
(insert a restless night of enduring Justin’s snoring… hehe)
The high school gym is abuzz with anticipation. I see the familiar faces of my coaches and the Five Rings crew arrive and prepare our area in the bleachers. Proudly displaying our banner and blowing the vuvuzelas, this part of the Ribeiro family is ready to compete. I have some of the first matches of the day so I check my brackets to see who I will be going up against. There are three other guys in my division, so the most matches I can get is two. This is probably a good thing, considering my conditioning is still not top notch. I realize fairly quickly that seeing a name means essentially nothing so I decide to focus on going over my game plan and staying loose. I wanted to ease into the competitive aspect of jiu jitsu so I tried to make things as easy on myself as possible – I registered in a comfortable weight class and in the master’s division so I will be competing with guys approximately my age. Hopefully it pays off with a good experience!
Almost time to rock n’ roll! I see some guys getting ready to weigh in who look to be in my division. Not particularly intimidating, but then I don’t imagine that I am either. Thirty-seven years old, 185 pounds, one stripe on my belt – yeah, I am not striking fear into anyone’s heart. It’s hard to stay warmed-up in a breezy high school hallway while waiting around for what seems like hours, but is more likely thirty minutes or so. As we step into the weighing area, I feel that electricity again. I’ve even got goosebumps. Anticipation builds, my first match awaits. I. Am. Ready.
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