First match... ever!

My dad has his black belt in both Tang Soo Do and Jiu Jitsu. At times in our family, we had a gym in our home where he taught martial arts. He was my sensei and I'm not at all biased when I say what excellent training I received from him for four years. I finished my training as a red belt and was pretty content to end it there.

Having a great respect for the arts, you would think that I would have received the announcement that my son (@bbqgriffinwings) would start training at a local gym with a lot more enthusiasm, but I was not so happy.

MMA (mixed martial arts) comes with a lot of mixed emotion for me. My boy (ok, he is a 23 year old man but will always be my boy!!!) is handsome!!! I didn't want to see him get bruised and bloodied. And cage fighting??? Come ON! That stuff is just brutal to watch.

I hoped that he would try it out and lose interest.

He did not.

He came home with lots of injuries and loved every one. He took his 23 kicks (on his 23rd birthday) like a champ and egged them on to "not hold back".

As his mother, I did a lot of eye rolls, and after a certain injury...I lost my cool. But after hearing me out, he took these things a bit more seriously (I'm sure to calm his momma's heart) and after seeing that, I relaxed a bit.

When my daughter got married in October, my parents came out and I was thrilled that he would receive some solid, expert, priceless training from my sensei! Good, old Daddy to my rescue!! I watched with pride as I saw them training together and wished that they could do it more often. But alas- being on opposite sides of the country doesn't allow for this, so I appreciated the time for what it was worth! I have to admit, seeing them together definitely stirred up the old student in me, and I felt that rush of adrenaline that martial arts students can attest to feeling!

Cut to this weekend...

It's very busy at the camp, and I had an important appointment in San Diego that I needed to travel for the weekend. It was Mikey's first tournament and no one would be able to go. Maybe he would like it that way?? Maybe less pressure? Well, it would have to be.

And we would get video from his coaches or something? I'm sure!

A few days before I had to leave, I got hit with memories of all the times I had edged out into the unknown. All the times I had tried something new and who was there to cheer me... encourage me.. support me?

The faces of my family floated into my mind, making me well up with immediate emotion. I didn't know how I could do it, but I knew I had to try to sneak up there and surprise him.

I didnt want to stress him out or make him nervous. Sometimes performance anxiety is worse when you know people that you care about are watching. So I turned on stealth mode!

I turned off my location services on my phone and shot up the 99 to get my own hotel. Yeah it would have been cheaper to share one with him but...STEALTH! I texted him through the night, prayed with him, asked how he felt, said goodnight! He was none the wiser!

The next day I beat him to the arena by about 30 minutes. I wanted to get there before him so I could pick a nicer spot to hide out before he got there. However, they sent me back to my car for security issues... and before I knew it, he was on my tail! It was hilarious and exciting and nerve-wracking!!! I felt like I was in a spy movie. I kept taking pics along the way, half expecting to see him turn up on the background of one of them and spot me!

I finally navigated my way around the arena and found his mat. It would be no problem to scoot down close to where he would have his match later, but I moved far away and hid, counting down the minutes (96 to go!) until his match!!

I watched him walking in, giggling to myself, stomach in knots, excited for him, and heart bouncing around inside my rib cage...waiting for the moment...where win or lose, he would hear my voice above the rest!

Shouting "That's my BOYYYYYY!!! I'm so proud of you, Mikey!!!!!"

And...I hope that I get to capture the look on his face when he hears this familiar voice screaming her lungs out for him!!!

Win or lose....it matters not. I'm so proud of him!!!

Getting closer to his match now! so I'll sign off and write part #2 for you with the results tomorrow!!