I was really looking for an excuse not to go class last night. But I sucked it up and went anyways. I got there a bit early and just sat on the couch and did my usual visualization routine a few times, trying to clear my head.

Tim led the class. We did a few self defense style drills, then dove right into rounds. The drill simulated us being pinned against the wall, first with just their hands, then with a double collar grip, and then with them grabbing our throat. I paired up with Mongoose and worked through them.

Rounds were 9 minutes, and we did 5. I drew Meli, Tim, Daryl, Bob and Shae. Meli and I were light and active, and extended warm up more than anything. Tim went hard, and I kept up for most of the round. I had a couple of escapes and re-guards that kept me in it, but I faded near the end.

The rest of the rounds were just a battle against fatigue. I’ve heard the quote, but never realized it was Vince Lombardi that said “Fatigue makes cowards of us all.” That’s some gold plated truth right there. Tim was yelling at me to keep moving. Daryl, Bob and Shae were all working just as hard against me. And I survived. And it was worth pushing through that, both mentally and physically.

That 20 seconds of gasping for breath, flexing my grip trying to work some feeling back into my shot forearms and the satisfaction of having survived makes that 45 minutes of rolling, the hour and a half of a class that I didn’t want to go to, and the aches this morning all worth while.