It's just math

I recently did a blog entry about how counting up classes and dates helped me relax about an upcoming Jiu-Jitsu exam.

This is how I’ve been handling my training for a very long time.

There is a philosophy that suggests the best course is to ignore promotion, and to focus on training instead. This sounds good, but the reality is quite different. The best course is to get yourself onto the mat as much as you can, and that whatever motivates you to do that is great.

In the Gracie system of rank progression, there is a definite link between rank and time spent on the mat.

When I first found out how it worked, I did a quick calculation out of interest, and found that if I did extra work, I could get my first promotion by June. If I didn’t, the date would be late September. That isn’t a large difference, but it was actually more than that. Between those two dates, I would have two full months off of the mat. That would have made me very rusty in September, and needing a lot of brushing up; at least a couple of months. The test itself would drag on, as they always do. The no-extra-training completion date would turn out to be 6 months after what I actually managed.

I did the work, and got the Belt.

The promotion after that would add a dandy little stripe onto my belt. In those days, the only way to earn one was to do a horrendously difficult technical exam. I earned one in 18 months by putting in a great deal of extra work outside of regular class time.

If I hadn’t been “chasing rank,” I wouldn’t have done that extra work. Instead, I would have attended classes, and not received my first stripe until the new rank system was put in place in 2014.

At our school’s first mass promotion that year, I would have received my first stripe, instead of earning my second.

With those promotions the new rules stipulated that the fastest a stripe could be earned was 8 months, and only if a student had attended a set minimum number of classes.

For most people, the promotion period averaged out at about 10 months. I rarely missed class, except when travelling, and did better, but it wasn’t easy.

I got my Purple Belt in April of 2016. If I had been relaxed all along the way along, it wouldn’t have happened until October of 2017.

Until recently, there really were no students training at anything like my rate. Good students are those that regularly make 3 advanced classes per week, and maybe show up at one open mat.

I am at 3 advanced classes per week, as well as 3 beginner sessions, and 3 open mat times. I also travel to Vancouver on Saturdays to get in another advanced class as well as an extra beginner sessions. There is also a Sunday group that I’m involved with, and a couple of other get togethers during the week.

I now have a Brown Belt exam staring me in the face. It’s due to happen in December of 2019. If I’d taken the simpler, no-rank-chasing route, my Brown Belt exam wouldn’t be happening until 2 years later.

The relaxed-twin version of me testing for Brown in 2021 would have completed over 1,200 sessions. Conversely, I will actually have been on the mat more than 1,800 times (not counting beginner classes) by the time of my exam, two months from now (2019).

I’m not saying that having trained 50% more than otherwise has made me 50% better than would otherwise be the case, but there certainly has been a significant improvement due to all that rolling around.

But what might counting classes to for other people? That’s hard to say, but let’s try.

We have a big crop of White Belts right now that have reached the halfway step to a minor milestone.

Beginners get to attend twice per week, but there is a point where having been to 40 classes earns them the right to attend a third, slightly more advanced class.

That will be happening for our crop in January.

If they keep training diligently, they will complete the requirements for their first promotion exam before the end of April, and could receive a Combatives Belt in May.

If they do that they gain access to 3 advanced classes per week (many at that point stop attending the beginner sessions, but they can continue those if they wish).

Good attendance at the advanced classes will earn them a Blue Belt by November (after 6 months, the only variation on the 8-month theme).

Let’s say at that point that they either become regular good students (averaging 10-month promotions) and being eager ones (getting promoted every 8 months).

An eager, extra-motivated student will be a Purple Belt 4 years and 5 months from today, a Brown Belt in 7 years and 9 months, and a Black Belt in 11 years and 2 months.

A regular student will be a Purple Belt in 5 years and 3 months, a Brown Belt in 9 years and 5 months, and a Black Belt in 13 years and 7 months.

In another example we have an individual who wants to become an instructor, and who should be getting his Blue Belt next month.

On the faster path he can be a Purple Belt 3 years and 5 months from today, or in 4 years and 3 months if he takes the slower route.

It’s all about information, and lifestyle, and about making conscious decisions about how much to train.