Many of you may remember Karen. She trains Judo and Jiu-Jitsu here at Roseberry's, but has been absent for awhile due to wrestling at Northstar. I had heard stories about how she was whoopin' up on all the boys, but hadn't had the pleasure of seeing her in action until today.
I slid into the packed Lincoln East High School gym shortly after ten this morning. I didn't see Karen right away, but figured I'd hang out for awhile and trust I hadn't missed her. I sat through a handful of matches before the break. As the fans started filtering back into the gym, she came out onto the mat with her team. She was easy to spot with her ponytail bouncing around as she and her team did laps around the gym to get warmed up. I made my way down to the edge of the mat in the hope I could get her attention. It only took a few laps while I pretended to be a dorky old guy yelling, "Karen!" everytime she came past. Thank God she finally heard me.
I have to say it was pretty interesting watching the matches play out. I was pleased to see Karen Judo toss her opponent. Many of the skills she learned on our mat, she put into practice. She held her opponent in Kese-Gatame a couple of times, and this was the pin that won the match for her.
I could see that she's come a long way in her training and hopefully we'll see her back on the mat with us someday.
Here's a short highlight from today's dual. Old habits die hard. Notice how she bows at the end of the match when she shakes hands.
We miss you Karen!
12/30/08
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4 comments:
very sharp wrestling skills. wrestlers are very scrappy, very quick, and very strong. from the HL reel, Karen has all those talents.
She is truly a warrior. The entire match was too long to include, but she did fantastic throughout. Josh commented on the video on YouTube, wondering how dificult it was for her to keep from slapping on a rear naked choke. There was one time during the match when she was cranking her opponent's arm behind his back to roll him over, and the ref halted the match. She demonstrated a handful of Judo-esque moves that made me proud.
Wow, she looks pretty tough. Do you know what weight she wrestled at so we can avoid her when we wrestle them. haha.
she did great. I wondered what happened to her? I roled with her once in Judo. She's an animal. I felt sorry for her opponent. Anna in judo had better hope Karen doesn't come back. Ha-ha!
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