Jiu-Jitsu Thanksgiving

I am surrounded by great people, many of whom have put their own interests aside to work with me towards my pre-Christmas exam.

There is my instructor, Shawn. He is also working towards an exam of his own, and always includes me in his prep. The actual content of my test very similar to what Shawn has to do on his.

Sometimes we meet before class, and usually work off to one side while the White Belt class is in operation. This works out to about 4-6 hours or prep per week.

Then there’s Rob. We were working about 3 times a week getting ready for an unrelated Jiu-Jitsu exam. At his suggestion we still meet, but strictly aimed at my current needs. Our other exams are on hold.

There is also a Sunday group that meets for an hour or two. It is for people who want to get my help on addressing weaknesses that they think are in their technique. They offered to be my partners as I drill what I need. They are giving me their training time.

Then there’s the big city folk. I don’t know everybody there, and can’t afford to get any overly-enthusiastic partners for either training or rolling, and I’ve recruited four who are wonderful, detail-oriented, and safe partners. They are the folk I work with while on the city mat, at least until after my exam.

The last great helper on my list is Marc. He is the instructor in North Vancouver where I get my city training, and he is also going to be the evaluator for my test.

He has set up special early-morning sessions to work on what Shawn and I need right now. Some of Marc’s folk also attend. Nothing could be more helpful than getting precise tips and correction from the guy that will be running my test.

All together, that works out to 9 people who are putting themselves out for me, and that doesn’t even include the many more who’ve said they’d also be happy to help.

In hours, that gives me about 10 hours a week on the mat working on test preparation, on top of my regular training.

The paperwork has gone in, with the date set to be December 21st. That will be 9 and a half weeks after my first learning about the exam, which in turn means I will have totalled close to a hundred mat hours getting ready.

I don’t know how things will go, but am happy with the amount of work I’m able to dedicate to getting it done. None of this would be possible without the help of a lot of people.

Maybe I’ll even pass.