Diary of a Girl Wrestling Mom - Welcome and Introduction

I didn't plan on starting this blog. I have projects to make and books to finish. However, I'm a little pissed at the moment and proceeding without much thought. Knowing me, I'll forget to update it regularly.

In this blog, I am going to relate my story from my point of view. Names may be dropped. I may edit them out later. Will it be everything? Probably not. My memory is crap at times (thanks, thyroid cancer).

Anyway...Diary of a Girl Wrestling Mom.

I am a wrestling mom.

Did I ask to be a wrestling mom? No. It was sort of thrusted on me. It's a cute, very important story to me that I will tell later. 

Did it ever cross my mind that I would be a wrestling mom? Never. I forbade my sons from being wrestlers. When they were little, I listed to a woman talk about the horrible things her boys had to do to cut weight. I couldn't wrap my arms around making my kids do that. Instead, the oldest decided to play football and both guys went out for track.

Never, in my wildest dreams, did I figure that it would be my little princess who would lace up a pair of wrestling shoes and head out on the mat. 

So, to begin, let me introduce you to my daughter, Ali. She is the baby of the family. She grew up playing with princesses and American Girl dolls. She tried dance, cheerleading, basketball and volleyball. She was also diagnosed with Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome at age two and a half. She started exhibiting symptoms at 13 months. While the other children her age thrived and played around her, she would watch them while wearing the same outfits she did a year ago. She only made it to 4'9" before she stopped growing.

This detail may seem to have jumped the rails. Trust me, it will come up later. 

My road to becoming a wrestling mom started on the throw fields of a track and field state meet. Jake, my oldest, qualified for regionals in the hammer throw for being the old one who showed up. My younger son, Jon, was a state champion in the race walk. 

Little Sis wanted to join them and compete at the regional meet. However, having a chronic illness that triggers an episode in the hot Iowa humidity that we live in made training a challenge. She threw a shot put six feet. Her challengers threw 26.  The discus and turbo javelin didn't go much better.

She pouted as she told me how bad she wanted to go. 

I simply replied, "You have to get stronger. Then you will throw farther."

In 2014, I trained at an MMA gym in Cedar Rapids called Hard Drive MMA (now Hard Drive Performance Center). I reached out to the owner, Keoni Koch, to get research on a book I was writing. While he was answering the questions that I sent him, I saw that they offered kickboxing lessons. I always wanted to try kickboxing so I signed up for a month. 

They were offering a class for kids called FutureSport, which used the principles of martial arts to help children get stronger and more agile. I suggested that we register her and she could come with me to the gym.

Her answer? "Yes."

Little did we know, FutureSport would only last for about three months. Hard Drive joined in affiliation with RoufusSport in Milwaukee. It gave the gym multiple opportunities it didn't have before. It also began a new series of classes that weren't provided before - gi jiu jitsu. 

FutureSport was out. Youth Gi Jiu Jitsu was in. 

I wasn't excited about the idea. When Ali overheated, she started vomiting. When she started vomiting, there was a good chance she would end up in the hospital. So the concept of wrapping her up in a thick, heavy uniform and having her roll around on the mat with someone else was a hard pass for me. I could wring my clothes out when I did jiu jitsu without a gi. This was a recipe for disaster. 

I watched her first two practices instead of going to my own. By the third, I reluctantly left her to attend my own lesson. 

After about an uneventful month of this, we were riding in the car after class. Out of nowhere, she blurted out, "Mom, the pain that I had in my stomach. It's gone."

I frowned. I didn't know she lived with a pain in her stomach. It was all she knew. It had disappeared. It was apparent what did it. 

Jiu Jitsu. Grappling.

This news was life-changing. She continued to roll and compete for Hard Drive. She eventually earned her yellow belt in the sport.

Little did I know how this would indeed change our lives. It would alter it in a massive way.