The other factor was that there was a hierarchy.
A number one is a grappler with an elite game and skill set.
A number five would be someone fit but with very limited ground game.
The deal is that when two equally ranked grapplers collide the winner will be a coin flip based on which one manages to enforce their preferred game.
When a lower ranked grappler tangles with a higher ranked grappler the lower ranked wrestler will pretty much only score a fall in the event of some real luck.
Earlier I posted my "top" grapplers.
Here are my next rank - the #2's...
Mystique
A woman of independent means and wealth, always looking for new ways to challenge herself.
This includes serious physical activity, which means keeping seriously fit.
Carido, weights, classes and personal trainers.
Some years ago someone convinced her to try kick boxing.
That was a lot of fun.
Looking into martial arts more generally she finds out about the grappling arts also.
That turns out to be even more fun, especially since you can spar full contact without needing to worry about the occasional black eye.
Who needs rock climbing or skydiving for a thrill?
"Pilates did get a little boring after a while."
Lien Hua
Lien Hua works in the Hong Kong movie scene. Action and martial arts films are her specialty.
And she does her own stunts.
She's as famous for breath taking falls from heights as she is for her bone crunching fight scenes.
Someone asks her about how she does the jumps and falls. Almost modestly she refers her background in gymnastics plus break fall training from martial arts.
Then they ask her about the fight scenes. Again she's almost modest crediting a medal winning competitive and full contact Wushu game. Smiling she adds...
"I guess the best way to do a strong fight scene is to have a solid fighting background. It's a lot easier to film a painful looking fight scene when you already know how to cause that kind of pain."
Jacelyn and Lien Hua
These two have rolled before. Complete series and script rendered and posted December past.
Since then Jacelyn has been promoted to our top guns.
Jacelyn's here now
May re-upload that someday...
Here's the promotional shot they did for that one. In the last pic Jacelyn is giving Lien Hua a hand covering up a little bit, which Lien Hua didn't expect obviously.
Very gracious that...
Eloise
Eloise was very much the tomboy growing up. Track and field, swimming, cross country, rowing, even some weights.
Then it's college and suddenly there are some real bills to face.
So it's off to wait tables. Not every place is the same. A diner doesn't tend to tip as well as a cafe oddly enough. A restaurant seems to be better than a cafe. Some restaurants are definitely better than others.
One night a customer offers her something better than a cash tip.
She has her own place, higher end. She needs staff that are charming, polite, good at their job.
They also need to be really good looking in a tight short dress.
And now Eloise is doing well enough off tips that she wonders how much use the degree would be.
With money to spend there's a bit of partying.
College lapses.
It becomes a lot of partying.
One day it's suddenly a lot harder to fit back into that little black number. The legs sticking out the bottom of the dress have lost a of tone and very obviously picked up some flab.
The manager notices and Eloise is called into the office.
Four weeks off.
Unpaid.
Come back in shape or go back to busing tables in some greasy little diner.
And now Eloise has two problems.
It's not like she ever saved any money and having paid rent yesterday she's broke and needs to survive four weeks...
Eloise has been decent and cool with the people at work. One of the security guys finds out what just happened and tells her there's a front counter job at a gym he knows. They are looking for a woman on front desk and it's free use of the gym.
But because it's a gym, don't they want someone who already looks super-fit?
The security guy assures her he'll put in a word. Sure enough she gets the gig.
Pay isn't great but it's a port in a storm for four weeks.
The first surprise is first day.
It's a fighter's gym.
Sure they have cardio gear and weights.
What they mostly have is rings, a chain link cage, heavy bags, and tackling dummies.
Really it makes sense. Who wants a bouncer that only does spin class?
The second surprise is that there are quite a few women on the mats also. They come and go happily and, sometimes, even walk out of the place with a black eye or a puffy lip from practice only to come back and go again.
The third surprise is the fifth day. It's quiet out front Eloise is doing some tidy up out back.
She stops to watch a woman her size take on a guy who looks like an NFL linebacker on the mats.
And four minutes later the linebacker is tapping out.
And three minutes after that he taps again.
Eloise asks the woman when she leaves the ring - "Was that fake?"
The answer is very chilly; everyone notices. "No"
Everyone notices except Eloise that is...
"Can I learn how to do that?!?!"
Her voice even squeaks a bit when she asks.
Three weeks later she's working fit at the restaurant again.
After a few months a new sense of discipline sets in. She goes back to college to resume her degree.
After a few years she's not working service at the restaurant. She's assistant manager.
Completely qualified. Eloise has her bachelor's in commerce and an MBA after that.
Looks are still important. No-one who meets Eloise seems to worry about that.
Oddly her expertise in covering bruises with makeup may help with that.
One day one of the wealthier customers is getting aggressive and obnoxious. He's really drunk.
Eloise is closer, so when the drunk grabs the waitresses arm it's Eloise who gets there first.
The floor security is moving quickly now. Not remotely quickly enough.
Even Eloise is caught off guard when the guy throws a punch.
The drunk is linebacker size. He actually has some technique.
He hits Eloise solid on the cheek and she experiences a flash of black and bright lights in her head.
Which may be why the next thing she remembers is the security guy grabbing her and shouting "Let him GO!!!".
The drunk is purple in the face and making some very unusual gurgling sounds.
Looks like he's lost control of his bowels and bladder also.
She lets go very quickly indeed once she figures out what the smell is.
Where his right arm used to be there's a thick string of spaghetti with two spiral fractures and a dislocated shoulder.
The only person charged with anything is the linebacker.
Once he sobers up he also at least has the decency to pay for the replacement of a torn dress and repair of a broken shoe heel.
Eloise knows how to cover the bruise under and around her eye. The puffiness goes down in a few days. None of her teeth got loosened.
She had her eye on a new dress anyway so she's happy with how this all worked out.
Eloise never saw the woman in that original gym again. One day she quite literally runs into on a street corner and says hello.
The other woman remembers Eloise, introduces herself properly, and explains that after a lot of travel she's going to a different place these days.
And Eloise ends up at Kimiko's new gym.
Checking the place out she runs into Violet.
Violet makes the mistake of thinking Eloise probably isn't that good and offers the challenge.
Eloise is actually rather shy, which affects the way she replies to a stranger.
Violet becomes more certain she's picked an easy mark.
After pulling guard and scoring a quick tap with a simple scissor hold (Violet has very strong legs) she thinks this will be a fun bit of exercise tormenting the newcomer.
Except Eloise now knows to avoid Violet's guard.
Violet figures out pretty quickly this won't be easy after all.
Eloise quit the front counter job at the gym after a year and became a regular paying customer instead.
Seven years since she first started going.
Three times a week, doing Brazilian Ju-Jistu classes without fail.
Lena
Lena was originally a law student, paying her bills clerking at a local firm.
She was always a gym and fitness junkie. She particularly enjoyed lifting weights.
Not a power lifter, not quite. Closer to a bodybuilder.
At one point she did get a bit bigger, but then she decided she didn't like that so she cut back.
So she had the figure of what we now know to be a fitness model.
And because she could she even got herself breast implants.
One day she sees an ad looking for fitness models.
Lena has always been outgoing and looking at herself asks the obvious question.
Why not me?
Turns out it's why not indeed.
She's going really well and, one day, discovers that she can make a career as a model and personal trainer.
Basically she gets paid for doing her true passion.
Hanging around the fitness model circuit there are a few interesting "elements" on the periphery.
Lena is open minded so she has no problem with women who make a few extra dollars wearing less than a full bikini. So do more than that. Again she's cool.
To each their own, even if it's not for her.
And then one of the other models asks her about wrestling.
"Like in mud or oil?"
No. Legit and it's competitive no less. There's more to be made if she's willing to do it topless but if she wants to try she can wear a one piece suit, just the more revealing the better...
So Lena gives it a go.
And gets her ass kicked in the process...
Well that won't do.
So Lena decides to find a place where she can learn to wrestle, and ends up in a BJJ acadamy.
That was over a decade ago. Lena still goes to the same place for lessons.
Three times a week.
She also runs her own fitness studio and does seriously well as a personal trainer and physio therapist (changed majors obviously).
Her nick name at the first place is "monster".
Between black belt technique, size, and power... Well if she gets you on your back on the mats that nickname makes very clear sense indeed....
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