Battle Wounds

by Jen

It was warm yesterday so I chose to wear a sleeveless shirt to work. The problem – as I got ready I noticed my BJJ battle wounds. I have three scratches around my left eye, one handprint bruise (yes, all five fingers) on my right arm, and two more bruises on my left arm. I wore pants that covered the giant bruise just above my right knee. These are only the larger and more noticeable marks. They don’t hurt, but they look pretty vicious.

My boss knows about my training, although she hardly understands it. When she saw the fingerprints on my arm she asked, “Is that from your ….uh?”, and I replied, “Yes, that’s from jiu jitsu. It doesn’t hurt.” We both previously worked in the domestic violence field so she appropriately responded, “Well okay, but if you ever feel that there is something you need to tell me, I’m here.”

Now she has known me and my family for years, and I’m pretty sure she knows that there is really no need for concern, but it made me wonder. How many people wonder what’s up with the marks, but don’t say anything? Maybe I need to start telling more people about my training.

As a side note, after I decided to write this, I accidentally gave Tom his own battle wound. He pretended to try to take me down and I shouldered him in the mouth causing him to bite into his tongue. I felt sooooo bad. I guess that was our reminder to keep the fighting on the mats.