Passing

I really like the Jiu-Jitsu training program I'm on. It is very well planned and constructed.

This coming week is a minor milestone for me. I will be starting my final rotation through the basic lessons. I will also be halfway through the required Saturday classes. The former should be completed by about the middle of May, and the later at the end of April.

I've already been working on memorizing the testing techniques. There are 5 parts to the exam. Each is video recorded and sent to HQ. Each of the 5 parts has to be done in under five minutes. I'm told the whole procedure takes about a month to complete.

When I started, there were about 20 White Belts in the class already. I was the rookie.

Some only attend about half the time. I passed them long ago. Some train much more than that, but almost everybody has missed one or two. Missing means about 3 months to make up the holes created in one's record. The only cure to this is to take private lessons to fill the gaps, but this takes time, hassle, and costs money. As far as I know, I'm the only person to have done private lessons since I started the class. Private lessons also can be used to speed up completion of the required classes. I've had ten private sessions, which fixed two absences, and counted as four full weeks of training.

This way I've passed almost everybody else. There are about 5 or 6 of the most experienced White Belt people who should be attending the Saturday classes. You must complete 12 of these before you can test. I have done 5. On two of these Saturdays, I was the only White Belt present. On two more Michael was also there, and today there was one of the teenagers. The other 3 or 4 people haven't come at all.

I suspect I've caught and passed them as well.

It sounds as if I consider it a big race. Nothing could be farther from the truth. My only race is against myself and against the clock. I want to be ready for my test as soon as possible. If the others were still ahead of me that would be just fine. It wouldn't affect my goals.

I guess it isn't important to them in the same way it is to me.

If I get my test done when I want, and I pass, I'll relax. Helen and I travel a fair bit in the Summer months. This will make my attendance at Jiu-Jitsu very spotty. Perhaps a bunch of other folks will be able to keep training steadily and complete their own exams.

I really hope they do. There are currently only a few Blue Belts attending regularly. Even if I get to join them, it will be a pretty tiny advanced class. Things seem to run nicely with a few more than that. I hope that by September there are several more additions.

I want to reach the training in the advanced group, and I hope the class is big enough to have a strong energy.

And maybe I’ll start a tradition of going for coffee afterwards.

That can be important, too.