Robert
is a great guy, and a fine student of Jiu-Jitsu.
He
is there for every class that he can possibly attend, and one of the
hardest trainers. I love working with him.
He
does, however, have two major flaws.
The
first is that his work sometimes interferes with his attendance,
which means that his progress has been slow. Instead of getting a
stripe every eighth month, he is only averaging one every 12 months.
He currently has a Blue Belt with two stripes. At this rate a Purple
Belt would be about 3 years away, a Brown Belt 5 full years after
that, and a Black Belt 5 years after Brown.
Rob's
other major flaw is that he has passed his 50th birthday.
The
other night he expressed a concern that I share. He said that he
expects to get his Purple Belt, but that he doubts he'll ever get a
Brown or Black one.
I'm
a decade older than Rob, but without the work conflicts I have been
able to gain stripes more quickly. I will soon have a Blue Belt with
four stripes, and have picked most of those up close to the 8 month
minimum time.
We
both plan on training until we no longer can, but don't think we can
face the type of exams that Belt promotion require after we do the
one for a Purple Belt.
That
is reality, but it sucks.
A
Purple glass ceiling for us old farts.
If
we were Gracie Jiu-Jitsu students at the main academy in Los Angeles,
and not distance students, things would be much different.
Down
there, the students don't face any exams. They train, accumulate
stripes based on attendance and 8 month periods, and when the Gracies
decide they deserve a new colour of Belt, they receive one.
An
old guy down there working away, night-after-night,
month-after-month, and year-after-year certainly would eventually be
rewarded with an eventual Brown Belt, and even a Black Belt. They
would be one of the boys; part of the family. You don't punish family
for getting old.
We
have no similar leeway. We have to pass massive tests. These are not
administered by our local instructor, but are done by the Gracies,
requiring a trip to California. They are not written exams, by any
means. They are physically demanding. I don't think it is realistic
to think we'll be passing them in our sixties or seventies. I can't
imagine packing up to go to LA to test for a Brown Belt when I'm not
physically likely to pass.
I
think I've figured out with an old-fart glass-ceiling rebellious
compensation plan.
So
let's say Rob and I eventually get Purple Belts, and then pick up the
maximum four stripes during the normal flow of time. That would be
our last real promotions.
When
it would be time for a next promtion, we should sneak on to our belts
some kind of tiny, barely-visible mark where a 5th and
subsequent stripes would go if there were such things. On every
aniversary after getting our last real stripe, we should add another
bit of fake stitching.
That
way, in the time that a Brown Belt without testing should take, we
would be wearing Purple Belts with 4 stripes and 1 geezer stitch line
on them. Instead of making it to Black Belt, we would have Purple
Belts with 4 stripes and 6 almost invisible stitch lines.
Meaningless,
and petty, but harmless.
It
would make a fine standing joke.
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