Last Maine Globetrotters camp, I'd met half of a couple who were wanting to put together a camp at their "jiu jitsu hippy commune," Open Source Jiu Jitsu, in Asheville, NC. I had heard of this school, which has an interesting model of "pay what you want," among other things that make it unique, and, because of the double-benefit of being able to visit my sister, Kim, I negotiated a spot as instructor.
Teresa and I had a pretty easy travel day to get down to the camp, and our on-site accommodations were the "Shrimp Shack." This was a novel structure, made of a pick-up bed roof on what was essentially a treehouse. We spent a bit of time in this rustic option before caving and accepting the invite to stay with Kim at her home, only a 20 minute drive away. This only really meant seeing her for breakfasts and one dinner, outside of the camp's classes, but we had a great visit, including some fun conversation, and my bonding with her cat Edgar by opening up to him.
The camp was fun, and featured some cool other instructors, including friend Brad (and his dog, Teddy), and, among others, very long-time female black belt Kris Shaw. Kris was fascinating to get to know, and hear about jiu jitsu's early days in the USA from a woman's perspective. She'd really had to stick out more than even women today have to, to become one of the first 12 female black belts in BJJ.
T helped by filming my classes, and overall we had a ton of fun with some (more) great people!
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