Orbit

The way that I am experiencing is chock full of cycles.

My local school runs on a weekly system that runs 5 days a week. Tuesday is a White Belt combatives class, followed by a Master Cycle session for Blue Belts. Wednesday is similar, but the White Belt class is only for those approaching promotion, and is called Reflex Development. Thursday is exactly the same as Tuesday. On Friday there is no class, but the place is used for an open mat session. Saturday morning has another open mat time. It all then starts up again the next Tuesday.

I really like this. One of the few flaws with retirement is that people frequently lose track of what day it is. My week is so structured that this never happens to me.

We also experience cycles on a much larger scale. Our curriculum is divided into 7 chapters. We work our way though Mount, Sidemount, Guard, to Halfguard, then to Back Mount, Leg Locks, and finally Standing. Even within each chapter there is a structure.

When we finish the entire rotation, it's right back into the whole thing again starting with Mount. Since getting my Blue Belt a little over 2.5 years ago we've been through the cycle twice, and are about to start a third.

Our promotions run on a cyclical system, too. After receiving a Blue Belt, a student is on track for their next promotion. They have an attendance card where they accumulate classes towards the minimums needed for the next advancement.

They gather at least 100 classes of specific types. Classes of the wrong type, or in a category that has already been completed don't count. There is also a mandatory minimum of 8 months required. After all of that, they are then awarded a stripe on their belt, and the process starts over.

A weekly cycle, and a much longer cycle for promotion, and a still longer cycle through the curriculum. We are cycling all the time.

Strangely, it makes me feel grounded, rather than dizzy.