No test

There is a lot of talk around here about doing the two Gracie University technical exams.

Several folks are planning on doing the first test soon, and one of those people wants to go right into the second as soon as possible. Our instructor, Shawn, did the first exam years ago, and is partway through number two. I have also done the first test.

I keep getting asked about when and if I will do the second test.

As I am not an instructor, it is not mandated that I ever do the second exam.

I would if I felt ready, but I'm not at that point. Our group has been covering the appropriate material only since the spring. Currently, we are just finishing off the 5^th of the 7 chapters that it covers.

If I wanted to test, I would not be able until we go over those last two chapters. Those will be covered starting next week, and go on for a couple of months.

So will I be ready when the class is finished the end of chapter 7? Nope.

In the year that the entire cycle will have taken us, I will have missed a lot of class time due to travel.

Five times in that year we've gone away for single-week trips. A bigger issue comes with the two consecutive weeks up in Alaska, and with the month in Florida. Throw on top of all that is month and a half in Arizona and California. That adds up to about 4 months of missed curriculum.

That doesn't make ready. It will probably take me another complete run through the cycle. That will take another year. Let's call that the spring of 2016. That works for me.

By then, I'll be wearing four stripes on my Blue Belt, and I'll be aiming for promotion to Purple Belt the following winter. I'll be in an in-between kind of time, and a Gracie University exam could fit in.

Might do it then. Might not.

Now? I think not.