Work

 

So I have to expect an exam for a Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt sometime around mid-December of next year. This came as a shock as had been expecting a full year more than that to get ready.

It is my honest judgement that my skills need to progress significantly before that examination happens.

Even the logistics of the exam are not trivial. The test is held in Los Angeles over a three-day period. This would require flying down and staying for a minimum of 5 days.

Looking at the most likely start day for that three-day examination, I seem to have 380 calendar days left in which to improve.

I am currently involved with three types of regular training.

Twice per week there are regular advanced classes. These have to meet the needs of everybody above the rank of White Belt. For me, these are review sessions.

There are also two weekly sessions taught by our Chief Instructor. Currently, these are focused on principles of Jiu-Jitsu, but also cover the demands of the coming Black Belt exam. These are gold to me.

I also work about twice a week one-on-one with my buddy Sam. These are aimed at covering all of the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu curriculum.

Putting all of this on a big spreadsheet, and deducting all the days when the gym will be closed, and times when Helen and I will be away, I’ve come up with totals for each type of training between today and the start of Black Belt testing.

I should have trained about 89 times at the regular evening classes (review), 78 times with our Chief Instructor, and 53 times with Sam (he is moving away in the Summer).

The grand total comes to 220 sessions. I would like it to be a lot larger.

How can this be done?

There is one evening each week put aside for something we call “Open Mat.” Any of the students is welcome to use the facility to work on whatever they want.

I’ve been going, but it usually works out that I end up tutoring one of the beginners. This is enjoyable but doesn’t really help me at all in getting ready for a Black Belt exam.

I could try and recruit another partner to work during Open Mat on something appropriate for both of us. This could potentially turn into another 40 sessions.

Covid has kept me from training at a neighbouring school in Vancouver. I used to make regular weekly trips there. Perhaps I should reinstate this as part of my routine. Doing so would also add something like another 40 classes.

These two options combined would provide me with an 18% increase in training

So would this much training make me happy? It seems as if it would be enough to get me reasonably ready.

I am happy.

Goals, training, and changes

 

I felt very good when things started opening up, but I lost sight of reality.

However, Covid and the clock are always there, ready to throw a monkey wrench into any situation.

The reduction of government restrictions saw me training again at the local Jiu-Jitsu school, and even returning to weekly trips to train in the City.

Then, they opened up just a bit too far, and everybody was in one big, sweaty basket. There was no distinction by vaccination status. This did not work for me.

I haven’t been to train in the City since September, and recently also stopped attending any local sessions.

If I were more sensible, my view of Jiu-Jitsu would be more like most other activities. Miss a bit, and you just miss a bit; it doesn’t change the entire thing for the participants.

Jiu-Jitsu has exams, and attendance requirements, and ranks, and promotions.

When my journey first started, it seemed that the highest a person like me in a town like mine could reach would be to a Blue Belt.

I hit that point, and even earned a wee stripe, and the rules changed. There was no theoretical limit, although it seemed that in practicality that I might just reach as high as Purple Belt.

Why a limit for me but not for other students? My training started when I was already incredibly old; 55 years of age. Some say age is just a state of mind, but they clearly are not doing something as physical as Jiu-Jitsu. Most in this sport consider themselves ancient when they hit their 40s.

I turned Blue at 56, and Purple at 60, and even managed to get a Brown Belt at age 63. Currently I am 65.

If I were smart, my focus on rank advancement would stop right now. Sadly, I have found one more goal I’d like to manage.

I have two stripe ranks left to go with my Brown Belt. Beyond that there is the coveted status of becoming a Black Belt.

In the normal course of things, it looked as though my chance would come in just over two years, in Los Angeles, at the only-once-per-year Gracie Black Belt evaluation.

With anything like my normal training intensity, it looked just about possible to be through all the preparations a Black Belt exam would call for.

With a self-imposed Covid shutdown, it would be impossible. Every training day missed would make a successful Black Belt exam less likely.

Then, the rules changed once more at the local school, and again I was back working on the mat. It felt that if nothing else went wrong, I could work hard for those two years, go to Los Angeles, and have a decent shot at success.

My instructor is a great guy, as well as being a good teacher. Just to be sure of my path, I asked if my estimation of date for a Black Belt evaluation matched his own. It is, after all, his decision as to when students get tested for the various belts.

It seems my estimation was significantly incorrect. My instructor is planning on a December test for me a full year sooner than I was expecting.

The good side of this is that I would be doing the test at the age of 66, rather than 67.

The downside is that it gives me 12 less months to prepare. This will greatly influence my chance of success.

In a way, it doesn’t really matter. A test in either year can only have one of two outcomes; promotion or failure.

Earning a flashy new Black Belt would allow me to work at what I want, at a pace that I can maintain.

Failure would mean at least another year of high-paced curriculum-focused work before a possible second attempt at promotion. I do not want to do this, and have decided I shall not.

For this coming year I shall work with full intensity, and full determination, and do everything possible to insure success. Pass or fail, I shall then step off of that demanding treadmill.

I shall not make a second attempt, but will permanently retire my ambition for rank. Just putting this in print makes me feel more comfortable.

Long ago when I first started working towards Jiu-Jitsu rank I would tell people that my true goal was to work my way as far up the rank tree as the system and father time would allow.

It is getting close to the time when should switch to a new goal. It will be to continue training for as many years as possible.