Lily looked at him for a bit before asking why he had come.

“So Father and I have a mutual friend with the owner. He will probably come for the open section after. Why are you here?”

“My brother. He has too much energy. And my parents made me come too.”

“You don’t really want to be here then?”

“No, fighting is for boys.” Lilly seemed quite upset about that. “Everyone says so.”

“Well at our age there aren't many differences in strength between us, so you shouldn’t worry too much about it now.”

“Maybe with them. You look strong. Besides, it is not just strong. My brother is really aggressive, and I don’t like touching him when he is sweaty and gross.”

Sevs wasn’t really sure how to respond to that. Talking with kids was always odd. Sometimes they were mature and knew what they wanted. Other times they were just confused. Sevs considered Lily. If she were standing, she would be on the shorter side. It was hard to say how much that would matter at this age. She was neither rail thin nor chubby. It did seem like she was active. “Do you not like being active?”

“Ehh, I don’t mind it.”

“What about sports?”

“I do gymnastics, but there are no boys there.”

“Our instructor is a girl.”

“Huh, I guess it's fine then.”

Sevs was left scratching his head. What an odd conversation. He continued stretching, and Lilly continued to imitate him. This continued for only a couple minutes before Susan clapped her hands to get everyone's attention as she stepped on the mat. Susan took a cross-legged position, sat on the ground, and gestured for the kids to sound her. The kids got in a half circle facing her. She quickly thanked them for warming up and getting ready. “Now we are going to do a couple simple drills to get used to rolling around on the floor.”

She had them rolling somersaults in a line down the mat. Later she also had them laying back and scooting on their backs, pressing with their legs. There were two lines so that each time a couple would go, there was someone to race against. This competition really encouraged the kids to try hard. Most didn’t want to lose. Sevs found he was actually having fun rolling down the mats.

While they were finishing up the last exercise, the front door opened, and Markus stepped in. He gave Sevs a wave, which Sevs promptly returned before taking his turn.

Susan called everyone back once they had all got a few goes. This time Markus was with her. “This is my lovely assistant Markus. He is going to help me show you some of the moves you will be learning.” She paused, and the children coursed out a welcome Markus. “Good, so this is a BJJ class. BJJ stands for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. It is a way of fighting on the ground. When fighting or rolling, the most important thing is to be in a good position. Simply put, the best position is usually on top. I am going to use Markus as a training dummy to show you a position. Markus, come lay on your back here.”

Sevs looked around. Each of the kids' postures mirrored his own. Every one of them had their full attention on Susan and Markus. Susan was quite aware of this as she took the opportunity, “Before we start, I need to tell you a few rules. First, no hitting, biting, hair pulling, or grabbing of the clothes. You do not want to get hurt. And if I catch you doing any of those things, you will sit out and watch for the session. Second, you must let go and stand up if you feel someone tapping. It doesn't matter what position you are in. If one of you taps like this.” She tapped Markus a couple times on the shoulder. “We both stop moving, let go and stand up. Understand?”

“Yes, Susan,” the kids chorused.

“Good,” She smiled. “Now we can get to the fun part.”

Markus was still lying on his back, staring at the ceiling. She knelt by his side. “So I am going to show you Side control. Then we will do a drill. So the person on top put a knee here and here….”

Susan quickly went over the salient points of the position. The explanation was quick and easy to follow, but Sevs was sure that a few kids had already stopped paying attention. Susan got off of Markus, who looked like he had fallen asleep. “She clapped her hands once. Okay, we are getting into pairs.”

Each kid quickly grabbed someone, and the couple who looked like they might get left out were paired up. There was an even number of children but an odd number of girls and boys. So one group was mixed. Sevs was surprised that he was not one of the kids Susan had to help find a partner. Lily grabbed his upper arm and moved them to an open spot on the mats.

“I thought you didn’t want to fight?”

“Well, better with you than my brother.” She nodded to one of the kids that Susan helped find a partner. “Besides, this seems less violent. I don’t want to hurt someone. I don’t like hitting.”

Susan clapped one more time. “The drill we are doing is quite simple. One person lays down and lets their partner get side control. Then the person on the bottom will try to get up, and the person on top will stop them. Once you get out, reset and try again. Count how many times you can get out. After a bit, we will switch. Whenever you are ready to go.”

As the groups started to get in position, a couple were not sure of something. Susan moved to the group that seemed to need help. Lily had already laid down on her back, and when Sevs looked at her, she motioned to her side. Feeling slightly awkward, Sevs went chest to chest with her. He put his elbows in position against her shoulder and hips. “Whenever you are ready.”

Lily started bucking her hips, and Sevs had to lean slightly to prevent being swept off to the top. She started pushing with her arms as well. Sevs just kept shifting his weight. After a couple minutes. She flopped limply and started shaking. Sevs was concerned; it almost seemed like she was crying. He lifted his head so he could get a look at her face. Definitely not crying. She laughed at him, and at that moment, she bucked and rolled, squirming. She managed to get on her side. Sevs tried to hold on, but it was too late. With the extra space, she wiggled free enough that she could just scramble to her feet. She pumped her fist in victory and gave a little cheer. Coming back down to the mat, she gave Sevs a winning smile. “Come on, you can do better than that.”