Good Bunch

What a team we've got?

There are about ten advanced students at our Jiu-Jitsu school who are active at all. There are a few more that are off for the summer, and might be back soon. We all hold various levels of Blue Belt, but should have some Purple Belts soon

Every night that the White Belts train, there are at least 4 or 5 Blue Belts present to help out the beginner.

During the advanced class, every single person is a delight to work with. All are interested in getting the details right, and work towards that goal. Nobody is a jerk to roll with when sparring time starts.

There are almost always at least a couple of people working during open-mat time. People are forever asking each other for help, or offering it, or asking questions, or working together through review material.

Sometimes our instructor holds sessions where he is really isn't trying to teach, but is working on the advanced stuff he is learning himself. If we show up, we do learn, but not in a formal way. It is also totally optional. Even so, I don't think there has ever been less than three people there to work with him, and sometimes as many as a half dozen.

Seminars are valuable training opportunities, and very rare anyplace near our home. Two years ago there was one in Seattle, about four hours from here, and which requires overnight hotel stays. Four of us attended. This year there was another, and five us us were there.

The only one closer happened in Richmond, next to Vancouver. We could get there and back in the same day. Nineteen of us were there, including twelve from the advanced class.

Two of our students have also gone as far at Los Angeles to be involved in the Gracie instructor certification program.

All-in-all, it's a great bunch, doing a lot to take responsibility for their own learning. We have an excellent instructor, but expecting him to do or to arrange everything is counter-productive.

He provides us with a wonderful program. We could just learn it as it comes, one lesson at a time. The Gracies themselves say we can only expect to retain 10-25% of the material following such a system. To do better, we have to do better ourselves.

That's why I attend all our instructor's self-training sessions, as well as every open-mat session. I am one of those helper Blue Belts who attend the White Belt classes. If somebody of any level wants help, I'm right there. If a fellow advanced student wants to prep for an exam, I am ready to commit to do whatever it takes to help.

Many of the others are the same way, but perhaps to not quite so nuts an extent.

Being retired with heaps of time is wonderful.