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.