It was a fairly late evening at the Pedrosa Dojo, but even as things were winding down - with only about a dozen students left - the tall, dashing young man in the instructor's gi wasn't going to let up on his charges. "No, no. You want to stay out of the red zone." He looked at the two 'sparring' opponents, standing besides one of them to emulate his positioning. "Jujitsu is about manipulating the situation to your advantage." Bending his knees, he kept his arms raised in a defensive posture, staying on the balls of his feet to be mobile. "Make sure that when you strike, that it's when you'll either close in on him or put him in a bad position to strike back." As if to demonstrate, he closed in on the guy across from him. It would have been easy for him to out quick many of his 'opponents' here even at the worst of times, and it just so happened he was in rare form tonight, and soon had his arm wrapped around the other man's torso, ready to send him to the ground.
"Like that."
He wasn't trying to show off, but truth be told he'd been doing it so long that it probably looked like he had been. And unlike many other parts of his life, this was one place that Carter Isaacs didn't try to show off. This place was practically a second home to him,.
Or third home if you counted work. Which - even as successful as he was at the fairly tender young age of 26 - Carter always tried to avoid thinking of work as any kind of home. It was a means to an end for him, and he was still trying to find his real purpose elsewhere.
Carter had been put into jujitsu at a young age by parents who wanted to see him get exercise in a way that, as they put it, was fulfilling. To his parents, it meant a sport that had no remote chance of a multi million dollar payday to draw him into the wrong lifestyle. And after the initial objection of not getting to hang out with his friends as much as he wanted, young Carter began to enjoy it. Sure, at six or seven it had been about putting moves on his friends who tried to make fun of the fact that he was taking jujitsu, but as he had matured he'd found it calming and relaxing.
Eventually, his first part time job had been at the dojo, as the owner, Henrique Pedrosa, had asked him to come on as an instructor. The part time job had turned into a full time one during his college years, and between the connections he'd made here (he'd met his current boss here after the older man had brought his kids and Carter had mentioned his marketing degree) and the fun and fulfillment he still found in training and in sparring here, Carter could see himself staying here for another five or ten years, easily.
He didn't help out for the money, even if Henrique insisted on paying him and the other instructors a nominal wage. He helped out because he enjoyed it.
At six foot one and a fit one hundred and ninety fit pounds, Carter was no simple body building enthusiast. Jujitsu demanded balance and timing, not brute force, and so Carter complimented this 'exercise' with light jogging and some recreational boxing with a punching bag at his apartment. Although at the moment he had gotten most of his exercise done, and was simply waiting for the other people her to file out so he and the other person left could lock up.
His focus had been as such during the evening that he hadn't paid attention to the other instructor left, and when he saw who it was, he inwardly groaned even as the polite smile stayed on his face. Of all the people, why did it have to be her....
Carter had heard a few rumors and scuttlebutt that he had hooked up with this person since they were around the same age, both worked at the dojo, and had known each other for close to twenty years. But even as Carter would freely admit this woman had a lot of fine qualities, but for some reason she'd always gotten on his nerves. He thought of her as more of an adversary then a coworker, but had kept most of his disdain for her to himself in public.
Soon, however, they'd be alone cleaning and locking up...which, from the looks of it, would take a bit longer then usual as a high school class had gotten a couple of larger mats down and not put them back. With a grumble, Carter admitted to himself that she wouldn't have made that mistake, at least...
"Like that."
He wasn't trying to show off, but truth be told he'd been doing it so long that it probably looked like he had been. And unlike many other parts of his life, this was one place that Carter Isaacs didn't try to show off. This place was practically a second home to him,.
Or third home if you counted work. Which - even as successful as he was at the fairly tender young age of 26 - Carter always tried to avoid thinking of work as any kind of home. It was a means to an end for him, and he was still trying to find his real purpose elsewhere.
Carter had been put into jujitsu at a young age by parents who wanted to see him get exercise in a way that, as they put it, was fulfilling. To his parents, it meant a sport that had no remote chance of a multi million dollar payday to draw him into the wrong lifestyle. And after the initial objection of not getting to hang out with his friends as much as he wanted, young Carter began to enjoy it. Sure, at six or seven it had been about putting moves on his friends who tried to make fun of the fact that he was taking jujitsu, but as he had matured he'd found it calming and relaxing.
Eventually, his first part time job had been at the dojo, as the owner, Henrique Pedrosa, had asked him to come on as an instructor. The part time job had turned into a full time one during his college years, and between the connections he'd made here (he'd met his current boss here after the older man had brought his kids and Carter had mentioned his marketing degree) and the fun and fulfillment he still found in training and in sparring here, Carter could see himself staying here for another five or ten years, easily.
He didn't help out for the money, even if Henrique insisted on paying him and the other instructors a nominal wage. He helped out because he enjoyed it.
At six foot one and a fit one hundred and ninety fit pounds, Carter was no simple body building enthusiast. Jujitsu demanded balance and timing, not brute force, and so Carter complimented this 'exercise' with light jogging and some recreational boxing with a punching bag at his apartment. Although at the moment he had gotten most of his exercise done, and was simply waiting for the other people her to file out so he and the other person left could lock up.
His focus had been as such during the evening that he hadn't paid attention to the other instructor left, and when he saw who it was, he inwardly groaned even as the polite smile stayed on his face. Of all the people, why did it have to be her....
Carter had heard a few rumors and scuttlebutt that he had hooked up with this person since they were around the same age, both worked at the dojo, and had known each other for close to twenty years. But even as Carter would freely admit this woman had a lot of fine qualities, but for some reason she'd always gotten on his nerves. He thought of her as more of an adversary then a coworker, but had kept most of his disdain for her to himself in public.
Soon, however, they'd be alone cleaning and locking up...which, from the looks of it, would take a bit longer then usual as a high school class had gotten a couple of larger mats down and not put them back. With a grumble, Carter admitted to himself that she wouldn't have made that mistake, at least...