Bon Voyage Kassie scissors him into submission Update: 04/11/1997 to misc2 Sometimes the most innocuous suggestions can lead to the most extraordinary events. I had time to think about this as we grappled around on the mat, although most of my thoughts were directed to winning the titanic struggle, a battle that I had suggested in the first place. But I'm getting ahead of myself here- let me back up a little bit It had all started two weeks before, when our boss first told us about the trip to Milan. "Both of you are equally qualified to go to the tradeshow next month - but we only have enough in the budget to send one of you. I can't decide which one should go", he said with a shrug. Kassie and looked at each other. We both rolled our eyes at the same time - yet another decision the great leader wouldn't or couldn't make. "Why don't you two decide, and just let me know what you come up with", he continued, "as long as you let me know by next Friday". I had worked with Kassie for about 18 months. She was a great co- worker: funny, smart, and easy to get along with. It also didn't hurt that she was nice to look at. She had the classic athlete's body - strong, long, and lean. We were about the same height, but I had probably twenty pounds on her. I'd like to say it was twenty pounds of muscle, but, alas, it was more like twenty pounds of pizza and ice cream. Kassie and I had gone cycling together a few times. I was always impressed by her endurance - somehow, she usually seemed stronger at the end of the ride than at the beginning. I was to learn more about this endurance firsthand later on. "Sooo...", she said, finishing her iced tea at lunch that day, "how are we going to decide which one of us gets to go on this perk trip?" "Well, we could toss a coin or draw for high card or something", I responded. "Nah, that's too random. We should decide on something more meaningful", she said after a pause. "How about a bike race?", she asked. "I don't know, Kassie. I think you'd have the definite advantage there. And I really want to go on this trip", I replied. Then, just for a laugh (but with hope), I suggested that we wrestle for it. I was waiting for her to wave off my idea, but I could see her thinking it over. "Why not - I think we'd be pretty evenly matched", she said. "I've got the keys to the rec room at my condo - it's downstairs, with no windows. There's a whole bunch of mats down there. If we went on a night when there were no aerobics classes, we'd have the room to ourselves. We could decide this without interference. How does Tuesday night at 9:30 work for you?", she asked. I told her that it would be fine. We spent the next few minutes talking over ground rules: no punching, kicking, slapping, hair pulling (although I didn't see her as the hair- pulling type.). We'd wrestle three falls, to be decided by submission, since we'd be alone. Each fall would be composed of three minute rounds, continuing until the fall was ended by a submission. Between each round was a three minute rest period. "Are all scissor holds legal?", she asked. How did she know about scissor holds?! "Sure", I answered, with a delicious sinking feeling inside. She smiled. Well, as you can probably imagine, I spent the next few days planning strategy and working out. I wanted to be in the best possible shape for Tuesday. Finally, Tuesday rolled around. We didn't talk about it at all during the day, but we did smile at each other as we passed in the halls. That Tuesday was one of the slowest days I've ever experienced. Finally, at the end of the day, she dropped by my office. "Don't forget - we've got our 9:30 workout tonight. Park in one of the visitor spaces, and go downstairs in building B. Knock on the door, and I'll let you in. Ciao!" At 9:30 on the nose, I knocked on the rec room door. It swung open, and there was Kassie, resplendent and dangerous in a pair of full-length, shiny black unitard. "I just wanted you to know that I've been looking forward to our match - I really want this trip and intend to win. I'm not going to hold back at all", she said. Damn, she was good at the pre-game psych-outs. "The winner of this trip may be too tired or sore to enjoy Italy", I lamely replied. We spent a couple of minutes making sure all the mats fit together, while reviewing the rules at the same time. Finally, we were ready to go. We started out by warily circling each other in a crouch. We both feigned advances, but neither of us took the plunge. Finally, I head- faked left, and sprang to the right, aiming for her left ankle. I got her around the left leg, and tried to get leverage to topple her to the mat. She responded by diving onto my back and wrapping her arms around me to secure a tight grip around my waist. The match was on! It was a superb, challenging first fall. I purposely held back on applying full power, because I wanted to conserve energy (remembering her legendary endurance) while discovering what her abilities were. Whenever we were apart, grappling and probing for holds, she was adept at blocking or deflecting my attempts to secure a solid clench. She often used these blocks as precursors to excellent counter-attacks. This how she was able to get in under my defenses, and obtain favorable close-contact positions. Whenever we found ourselves in close contact, she was skilled at using her speed and flexibility advantages to stay at least partially on top, thereby making me move both our bodies. This turned my weight advantage from an asset to a liability. I was able to counter this somewhat by always keeping one of her arms or hands locked under one of my arms, or pinned up against my body. This was a mostly defensive strategy, designed to prevent her from breaking loose and applying a submission hold. By staying so locked together, I knew she couldn't break free enough to secure a scissor hold. The timer rang, and the first three minute round was up. We untangled our limbs, and separated. She went over to the timer, and set it for a three minute rest period. During the rest period, I began to feel a noticeable sense of alarm about my overall prospects for winning this match. I was beginning to feel a little winded; I could also detect some incipient muscle strain. For her part, Kassie remarked how she always liked "a little warmup". Uh-oh. I decided that I'd need to secure a submission fall in the next round. The problem was that she could probably wrestle like this for hours. My endurance might not hold out that long. A little craftiness might just do the trick, however. As we faced off for round two, I put my hands up for a test-of-strength. Fortunately, she bought this deception. As we linked hands, I quickly pulled my left hand back. I grabbed her right wrist with my now-free left hand, and spun quickly behind her, securing her right arm in a hammerlock, while drawing my right arm across the front of her shoulders. "Damn!!" she shouted, while struggling to get out of the hammerlock. I completed the move by tripping her forwards onto her stomach. We both tumbled to the mat, landing with an 'oomphh', but the hold stayed on. Now I had a true advantage: a powerful hold, along with a distinct weight advantage. I could feel her struggling beneath me, but to no avail. I would sometimes let her feel like the hold was loosening - she'd try to wriggle forward, but to no avail This led her to expend more effort, and waste more energy. Finally after about a minute, I figured it was time. "C'mon Kassie, this fall is mine", I whispered into her ear. No answer. I applied a slightly more pressure on the hammerlock; I didn't want to cause any unnecessary pain. "Kassie, let's call it a fall, OK?" I asked. "Alright". We separated. She seemed to be breathing a little more heavily. For my part, I was feeling fine - victory does that to you. Unfortunately, I had resorted to subterfuge, which made it less likely that she would fall for something like that again. I made a foolish mistake as we circled each other at the start of fall two -I kept my center of gravity too high as I lunged for her shoulders. She deftly sidestepped this clumsy attempt, dropped to the mat, and wrapped her legs around my ankles, and started to twist her hips for leverage. I could tell that I'd be hitting the mat soon, so I decided to fall forwards, rather than backwards. Of course, when I was on the mat, she pounced on my back. She was still angry about my hammerlock victory, and I suspected she wanted to win the second fall by giving me a taste of my own medicine. I eliminated any hammerlock possibilities by bending my arms tightly at the elbow, and drawing them up against my sides. "Ok, smart guy", she whispered in my ear, as she dropped her delightful bottom onto the small of my back. She planted both feel flat on the mat, reached both hands under my chin, and began to pull back with all of her strength. This chinlock was extremely effective -she had tremendous strength and leverage, and I knew that I couldn't hold out for long. I began to squirm on the mat, trying to get the front of my right shoulder under me, so I could rotate around that point and throw her off my back. As I was doing this, I wondered why she wasn't resisting more. I got my answer about 10 seconds later, when I wound up on my back, with her under me. Her long, strong legs entwined around my waist, while one of her arms crossed the front of my throat. This was an extremely vulnerable position for me, and also one quite hard to break. She really poured the pressure on at this point, both from the crushing body scissors, as well as the cross-throat arm position. I figured out what she was doing - she was going to try to make it so difficult for me to breathe that I'd have to give in. She timed her leg contractions to block me from taking in enough air. To make matters worse, she began covering my mouth with her hand when I was trying to pull in air. I frantically tried to rock free of this sweet agony, but no matter what I did, she kept the pressure on. Finally, I knew that it was a losing cause, so I gave in. She slowly unhooked her hold, and we rolled apart. It took me a while to catch my breath and get off the mat, while she bounded to her feet. I knew, though, that the last fall had probably taken alot out of her. She had to have pushed those leg muscles to capacity - I knew that I had a good chance of avoiding those scissors for the third fall. At the very worst, I felt that I could break out of them if she clamped them on again. "Why don't you just submit in advance for the third fall? You really don't want to go on this trip, do you?", she taunted while standing over me and grinning. For my part, I stayed down, taking advantage of the extra time. I wouldn't have minded if she took an hour to boast of her prowess - I needed the rest. Finally, she moved off towards the timer. "I tell you what, Kassie - let's sweeten the pot a little. How about the loser of the match gives the winner $500 for souvenirs?", I said while getting up. "Only if I get to change the rules for the third fall", she replied. I asked her what she had in mind. I must admit that I found her idea rather intriguing.