Done!!!

I really admire my friend Shawn Phillips.

We first met in September of 2011 when I became a student at his Jiu-Jitsu school. He had already been at it for 3 years, and is still at it today.

For those first few years the structure of the program wasn’t fully in operation. We were an off-shoot of Gracie University developed and run by Ryron and Rener Gracie in Los Angeles.

Shawn was already one of their certified instructors, and had earned a Blue Belt.

When I signed on board, ours was the only certified school in Canada. Now there are ten, in places like Edmonton, and Montreal. Ours manages to survive in a town that is best described as a tiny village.

Part of the system insists that instructors pass incredibly difficult curriculum exams. When I arrived, there was only one of these things available. I have a university degree, and a Black Belt in Shotokan Karate, and have never experienced any sort of exam situation as rigorous and demanding, both mentally and physically; not even close.

The general format of each exam is basically the same. Candidates have to prepare for and perform large numbers of complex technique drills in an uninterrupted format. There are three such drills for each exam. Each of these is roughly 15-20 minutes in length.

A little before I received my promotion to Blue Belt, Shawn passed that first, original exam.

Since that time, a further three exam levels have been instituted. As required for an instructor, Shawn worked his way through each new daunting level and drill.

Students are allowed and encouraged to do the exams as well, but it isn’t required. Although a number of us have done the first test over the years, none has gone higher than that. Out of the students currently at our school, I am the sole one to have completed the first test.

Anyhow, as time has gone on and the promotion route for higher belts has become more formal, these exams have found another role. Having any in a student’s plus column when being evaluated for a Purple or Brown Belt carries an incredible amount of weight. Having all 4 done would pretty much insure a pass.

For a Black Belt evaluation, they are almost mandatory.

Shawn is scheduled for a Black Belt examination 3 months from now, and we just finished off the last drill of his 4th and final exam level. He, Rob, and I have been working on this exam for about ten months steady.

We didn’t really expect to finish last night. We felt ready to start with an attempt this morning, but felt it would be worthwhile to to turn the camera on and do a dress-rehearsal run-through, so to speak.

Shawn and I completed the first half without issue, and I swapped out with Rob.

Rob told me later that at that point his brain told him, “crap, they made it so I better not screw things up.”

Shawn told me that he had quite a different reaction to reaching the mid-point of the drill. His part not only has to do as much as Rob and I combined, but his part is also much, much more physically demanding.

He said he felt he was close to puking.

He kept going, and they went through the parts that they found easy, and into the harder and harder material. My part had tired me out, and exhausted Shawn, and that process continued.

As Rob had hoped, he made no errors to screw up Shawn’s test, and neither did Shawn. They kept going and went into the brain-tanglingly difficult part of the exam; the last few techniques.

It had gone so well, and we were so close, and Shawn was so very tired.

And then it was done. Shawn went to his knees, and then flopped onto his back, bathed in sweat. He didn’t move much for about 5 minutes as we talked about the test.

He got up, and went to get changed, and left to recover in the comfort of home.

Now, for the remaining 3 months before his Black Belt exam he can relax a bit. There is still a lot he has to do to get ready, but nothing as difficult as what he has just finished. Word is, only 21 people in the entire world have completed this exam.

Did I mention that he’s 58 years old, with a bad ankle, a bum knee, a horrid shoulder, and a full-time job, and a family?

He continues to soldier on, and manages to even find time to be a damn-fine instructor to all of us.

And a friend.