Slowdown

I finally got around to doing the math on a prediction as to when I will reach higher Belts in Jiu-Jitsu.

There are two routes a person can go. One is training in a satellite school. The other is going to the main location in California.

Let's assume a satellite school. You can earn a Blue Belt in about a year, and add a stripe onto the Blue Belt in about another year. After that, things get stuck. The materials are not yet available for schools to train you beyond that. The Blue Belt's second stripe course material seems to be about half complete.

Let's now go to the main school. They can train you all the way up. The problem is they only allow a test every six months. At that rate the fastest a Belt can be earned is 2.5 years. That makes the road to Black will take 7.5 years or more after one has earned a Blue Belt.

The funny thing is that this is predicated on a student training about 3 times a week. It is quite possible to train there 11 times a week, but this does not let you test any faster.

For myself both routes make timely rank progression impossible. I'll get as far as my first stripe on a Blue Belt and have to wait for the course materials to become available for each subsequent level.

In a way it is a good thing as it will put an end to any desire to pursue rank.

I'll just have to plug along and have fun.