Pace

September of 2014 is when I would have been earning my first Blue Belt stripe.

Last year I chose to accelerate my progress through White Belt. I moved my Blue Belt promotion up by about 5 months. It wasn't hard, or terribly expensive. In fact, it was fun.

April of 2014 is when I will actually be able to earn my first stripe.

I have decided to accelerate my training again. By coincidence, it looks like it will be realistic to shave 5 months off the training time again.

December of 2013 is my new target testing month.

I'll then be 10 months ahead of where I should be.

I wonder if I'll then continue to try and shave 5 months off all my levels.

It seems to be silly to push towards distant goals, but why not? Rushing through White Belt was more fun and challenging than not doing so.

Accelerating at my current level is much more challenging. If it also turns out to be fun, why wouldn't I do it?

The danger in martial arts isn't burnout. The danger is stagnation. Some people call it reaching a plateau. The danger is those times when progress just isn't obvious. The result can be frustration or boredom. It is hard to keep doing an activity that is both boring and frustrating. We often lose people when plateaus occur.

I haven't been at Jiu-Jitsu all that long; just 15 months. No sign of stagnation. There would have been if I hadn't pushed ahead at White Belt.

I've allowed no chance for stagnation to worm its way in, or for frustration.

Of course, if my plan turns out to be too ambitious I might prove unable to pull it off. If that case I guess I'll bail, and carry on as before.

There is certainly nothing wrong with a steady pace.

The only facet that intimidates me is financial cost. The odd private lesson isn't expensive, but I'm about to move into retirement. That means a much reduced level of income. I'll have to play that by ear.

Anyhow, I'm excited to be doing this now. The instructor has OKed my idea, and I'm hoping to get started this week. That would mean one down before Xmas, after a private lesson and three weeks of self-drill.

Time to pick up the pace.