Two Years

 

So here’s my Jiu-Jitsu mission for the next couple of years.

Why two years? Well, my rank is getting up there, and I will likely be facing evaluation for Black Belt in December of 2023, or possibly as early as 2022.

That means planning needs to be underway. In normal times it wouldn’t be as important, but Covid changes everything.

Goal One is very easy to understand. I do not want to get Covid. While it’s possible that an infection would only have minor symptoms, that cannot be counted on. Death would mess up Jiu-Jitsu considerably.

Suffering from long-term or serious complications could impact both training and exam performance.

Therefore, I’ve decided to train only with vaccinated partners who are also limiting themselves to working with only the vaccinated. Fortunately, there is a core of like-minded individuals at the local gym.

This doesn’t mean that I’m concerned if some non-vaccinated people are present on the mat as long as they are sensibly distanced. Actual training partners are a different matter, as the contact is about as close as it can be.

A downside to this is that my self-imposed rule makes training at my second-favourite gym has to be paused for now. That’s a lot of good training that I won’t be involved with.

Goal Two is to complete as many of the technical exams before heading off to a Black Belt evaluation.

The Gracies have stated many times that completing these exams counts towards belt evaluation. Call me crazy if you like, but I’d like earn them all.

A realistic amount of time to complete the 6 exams I still have to do would be something like 16 months. This assumes not losing time to injury, or illness, or not having a dedicated partner, or even dandy holidays.

A December 2023 timeline would be possible, as that is currently 26 months from now.

Completing all of the tech exams by the end of 2022 seems pretty unlikely. That is only 14 months in the future. If that is how it works out, my goal would be to polish off as many as possible.

Goal Three is to prepare for the evaluation. On top of all the regular stuff they expect of a Black Belt, the Gracies also exist on a test curriculum being worked up to a high level.

I worked with my friend Shawn when he prepared for his Black Belt evaluation back in 2018. We worked on it every chance we could, and it took about six months to polish up. That easily fits either timeline, assuming a suitable partner or partners are available to help.

Goal Four is to improve my overall Jiu-Jitsu skill. To do this, more training is better than less. In normal times this would just happen.

But now, being careful about Covid means fewer training partners, and less chances to train, at least to do it safely.

A lot of the time remaining will go towards technical exam work and Black Belt preparation. This means less time to work on general improvement.

It’s all just one big juggling act.