I wrote in the previous post about mystery bruises, now on to mystery blood stains. It's not unusual to be participating in a rousing session of newaza and suddenly notice that your or your partner's gi has several fresh blood stains. At this point, newaza is usually halted, the offending wound is found, and then taped up if needs be.
Last night I was wrestling with a bigger guy (which is not a rarity, in my case), and noticed some blood on my left sleeve. I pointed out to my friend that he must have an injury since blood on one person's gi usually means the blood came from the non-stained judoka. He performed a quick diagnostic and couldn't find any injuries. That's when I noticed my right big toe was bleeding. That's right, somehow blood from right big toe made it to the upper portion of my left sleeve.
One of the black belts at the club has a saying that in judo and other martial arts, you find out that you can do a lot of things which you previously wouldn't have thought. Last night I found out that I'm apparently much more flexible than I thought. I just wish I could remember it happening, but such is the frantic nature of newaza.
