Purple Glass Ceiling

There are a lot of old guys in Jiu-Jitsu.

Take the most famous of Helio Gracie's sons. Royce is 48, Rickson is 56, and the oldest, Rorion is 63.

There is, however, a big difference between an old guy who has been doing Jiu-Jitsu for his entire life, and a beginner of similar age. The experts have bodies and minds that are shaped by many decades of training. A beginner is just like you or me.

In fact, I am just such a beginner. I started four years ago at the age of 55.

I only know of two Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Black Belts who started anywhere near my age. The late John Boyd was one who helped Rener and Ryron Gracie form many of their ideas about older students. He received his Black Belt at age 51. The other was the actor Ed O'Neill, who earned his at age 61.

As I said, I started at 55, and according to the Gracie's rules for distance students, the earliest I could possibly earn a Black Belt would see me being 70 years of age. That's a whole other kettle of fish. I won't even see a Brown Belt until I'm 65. Purple isn't so far off, being possible when I'm only 60.

It is a difficult road for an old student like me at an outlying school. At the main Gracie Academy in Los Angeles, students train, and when the instructors deem them ready, they are promoted. No tests are involved. For a distance student, the minor stripe promotions work that way, but the jumps from belt to belt are very different.

We have to arrange for an in-person evaluation with the Gracies. These exams are very extensive, lasting up to an hour. Saw a few video clips of an exam done by a visiting student from the UK, which was only for a stripe. It was so demanding that he ended up puking.

I don't think it would be realistic for me to expect to pass any sort of physically demanding test at age 70 for a Black Belt, or even at 65 to earn a Brown. If there are any delays due to injury, illness, or even long vacations these ages will be even higher.

I think that I am facing a purple-coloured glass ceiling due to age.

I would still be earning belt stripes after getting Purple occasionally based on time and attendance. Once my upcoming Purple Belt is filled up with four such decorations, my rank climb will be done.

I will certainly keep training as long as possible.

That's OK.

It does make me a little jealous of the younger folks in the class. Even Rob, the next oldest gentleman student, who will be facing all the same promotions as me, will do so a decade younger. For him, Black and Brown are quite doable.

Although there will be a cap on my ultimate progress, it will remove one nasty ongoing worry. For a long time I've been working to get myself as far along in rank as possible, as quickly as practical, which has been causing me to obsessively tally attendance. Each stripe requires 100 classes, which I've been trying to collect within each minimum 8-month period. Sometimes, like now, it's easy; other times it's impossible.

If I have no reason to try and hurry anymore, it ceases to be an issue. For my upcoming stripe promotion, I will have plenty. For the next to Purple, it is irrelevant altogether. That leaves just the four stripes that I can expect to eventually collect on my Purple Belt. They will each require 100 classes, but if the gathering of these takes an extra few weeks, or months, or years, it will have no effect on my eventual rise.

Counting classes becomes a thing of the past.