Black Belt

Recently, I hit a milestone in my Gracie Jiu-Jitsu journey.

My instructor told me over a year ago that he was putting my name forward for a big promotion. The evaluation involved is quite comprehensive and gruelling, so my preparation started then.

This was harder than it should have been. Covid kept regular training irregular, and extra practice was even harder to arrange.

About a half year later, candidates received their official invitations to attend the annual Black Belt evaluation.

This only happens in the first half of December, and involves candidates from around the world.

We also received more detailed information regarding requirements. By chance, our remarkably small school had five approved candidates. I believe this was the largest number from any one gym other than perhaps the Gracie University headquarters school in Los Angeles.

My training ramped up even more. It ran at about 8 sessions per week. A normal amount of training is about 3 classes per week. For me, normal is more like 4.

I drove south in time to get in two weeks of training with the Gracies before the big event.

When the actual exam started, there were about 35 candidates in total, with some from as far away as South Africa, Britain, and Australia. It made us Canadians feel almost like locals.

The eight hours of testing was spread over two days.

All five from my school passed, as did all three from neighbouring Vancouver.

It was an incredible relief to successfully complete the evaluation process, and to head home.

A lot of people have congratulated me, and there have been a lot of hugs. Some have asked if I would set up my own school. In reality, nothing much will change.

One thing that will be different is that I can explore in other directions than that demanded by the narrow focus of test preparation.

Having a little more freedom will be very nice.