gi clad

Since I got promoted in BJJ last week, I needed a gi. You need a gi to be able to officially roll, which is the not-rehearsed, see-what-happens version of grappling.

I ordered a gi online on Saturday night, and then I fretted. It was in Plano, TX. What if it didn't make it in time?

I stalked the USPS tracking site.

Fortunately, it arrived right on time yesterday. I washed it and shrunk it a little in the dryer (it cannot be too long on your hands and feet because you don't want it covering your hands and feet when someone has a grip on the cuff), and I am ready to go tonight. Rolling here I come.

The gi I bought is a women's gi, so it has pink embroidery on it (because women = pink, apparently), but I bought it in black because fighting colors are black, grey, and red, in my mind, with occasional exceptions made for blue. (When I joined this gym, I got a free white t-shirt, which I will never wear. Not only do I look terrible in white, which is the most important factor, but a white shirt? For rolling around on the floor? I can't keep a white shirt white while sitting in my office. Wearing it for fighting is a bad joke.)

Then last night I watched a guy roll with 30 people in a row, and as his gi top basically came off, I realized that I need a rash guard to wear underneath, so I stopped at the nearest everything store and dithered over the horrible colors. I ended up with a purple one shot through with stripes of pink and black. "This one is more feminine," the cashier said, than the blue and green one that was the alternative.

That is the problem. I am fighting here. Girly is nonsense. I want tough.

Whatever. It goes with the pink embroidery and I can always buy another one in a better color later. For now, I just need to get rolling.

i am a little nervous, not going to lie.