I get such a kick out of Jiu-Jitsu people thinking they’re awesome.
It’s easy to understand why. You train for months and months, and you roll hundreds of times. How could you not get better? Of course, you do.
In amongst all those rolls, you will get a solid feel of where you fit in the local pecking order of ability. A new move is learned, and applied, sometimes with effect right away, and other times it will take effort to gain ownership.
You’ll meet some beginners who think they are something special. They strut around, and their seniors giggle at them behind their backs.
If some beginner wants to roll with me, and they are a genuine learner, it will all happen in a gentle and instructive manner. I let them try out what they know, and if they do it well, let them score.
There have also been some who wanted to validate how awesome they are against a Purple Belt, especially if he’s old and an easy target.
With hot shots, I let them try, and I use technique to prevent them finishing anything. They find themselves gently reversed with slow-motion sweeps and escapes. Usually they settle down a bit. If they do, then I treat them the same that I do the genuine learners. If not, they spend the entire roll getting nothing at all in a manner that lets them have no illusions that they were not really so awesome after all.
It is all mainstream Jiu-Jitsu technique learned over years of learning.
There are plenty of people who compliment Purple Belts on how much they know. It’s easy to get a swollen head. I know that I sometimes do.
A very cool thing about Jiu-Jitsu is that the mat doesn’t lie.
It only takes seconds to discover you are not as awesome as you’ve been telling yourself. It doesn’t even have to be a roll; sometimes the training itself lets you know.
I had that happen to me on Saturday. That is my usual training day in Vancouver.
The class started, and the instructor told us to pair up and get started with a review drill. If anybody there approaches me, I happily take them as a partner. Otherwise, I wait a bit, letting them pick amongst their preferred buddies, and pair up with somebody else that gets left alone for whatever reason.
It was the biggest group I’ve ever seen there. Even so, in an instant, it seemed that everybody was taken; but there was one guy left making his way towards me through all the working pairs.
I’d never seen him before. He was half my age, big, and definitely looked Brazilian. He was also wearing a worn Black Belt.
We started.
Unlike some sessions, we stayed with the same partners for the entire class. I had a Black Belt guy.
I have had Black Belt partners before, but only for maybe five or ten minutes. This time it was for an hour.
We took turns doing whatever the instructor directed, and occasionally my partner would help me do it better, or in a slightly different manner. It was all incredibly valuable, but the vast difference in our knowledge level was clearly visible. It was similar to me being a partner with a brand new beginner in the White Belt class.
The hour went by in the blink of an eye, and it became time to roll. Traditionally, the first roll is with our training partner.
The difference in our levels became even more obvious. Non martial arts people tend to think that in such a situation the low belt will get their ass kicked. This certainly could happen if the high belt should wish it so, but why would they?
Does the low belt represent any kind of challenge? Perhaps they are a threat, and the high belt destroys them out of fear. These are both nonsense.
Just as I don’t crush or humiliate beginners, my partner was generous to me. Without speaking, he showed me where I made several mistakes.
I have rolled with Black Belts before, but it is a rare opportunity for learning, and I tried to make the best of this one.
When the end of the first roll was called, I thanked my partner very much, shook his hand, and headed for the change room.
This week I am playing partner for two friends who are working through their technical exams. These have to be finished by Friday, and any sort of injury on my part would cost them both their chance to finish.
I had decided not to roll at all for the entire week, just in case, but the chance to roll with a Black Belt took precedence. I was probably safer with him than with anybody else.
I don’t think my head has been particularly swollen lately, and needed correction. My next promotion will be to Brown Belt, and I’ve been struggling with a way to make that transition that would be the most valuable to me.
In no way do I consider that I deserve it.
Even if I should receive such a coveted award, it wouldn't move my skill level to anywhere close to that of my Saturday partner.
The mat never lies.
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