Yikes

Well, my little Jiu-Jitsu universe just shifted.

Currently, I am sitting at the last level of Purple Belt. That means no more promotions until I pass a test, and earn a Brown Belt.

I have been this rank for ten months. There is no set amount of time to wait, and no specific attendance requirement.

I have not really had a belt exam in my field of vision at all. About the same time as my last promotion I started helping a friend work through his 1st level of the technical exams. This is an activity pretty much unrelated to belt promotions. It took us nine months to get it done.

Since then, he and I have been working on the second level. I was planning on completing all four before changing my focus to a Brown Belt exam.

A couple of days ago my instructor said he wanted me to test for Brown Belt by Spring.

That moved everything up a great deal; perhaps by as much as six months or a year.

However, it seemed both reasonable and doable. A test at the start of Spring would still give me five full months to prepare.

The today, I got called into the office, and my instructor informed me that he wants my Brown Belt exam to happen right before Christmas. Suddenly, five months shrunk down to two. I asked if he would consider the middle of January, and he said he’d think about it. If he agrees, it would give me almost another month to prepare.

The technical exams will have to be put on hold. I’ll have to grab anybody I can to use as my drill dummies. When not working on the mat, I’ll have to be watching the pertinent curriculum videos. I’ll be very busy.

Interestingly, all of my training mates seem very excited and enthusiastic at this news. I seem to be the only one who is less than thrilled.

To me, tests mean the possibility of failure exists.

I quite hate exams.