My Blue Belt

After one year of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) training, I got 4 blue stripes on my white belt. The next step in the progession of BJJ is your blue belt, which is the next biggest step heading towards black belt.
The syllabus requires 6 months of training and minimum of 60 classes before you can get your blue belt, and even then you may not get it. The only way you get it is if they deem you worthy enough to get it, having seen you train over time.

So come July of 2009, 6 months of having 4 blue stripes I didn't get my blue belt, my brother did though, but he's a BJJ machine. I knew I wouldn't be getting it anyway as I was busy with uni, and having night classes also meant not being able to attend training, so I missed a lot of classes.

Come September of 2009, I was semi-confident that I would get my blue belt, but alas, it was still not my time, which made sense as I didn't really impress when I entered in a BJJ competition and lost in the first round via submission.

Come December 8th of 2009, I still wasn't sure. I had taken a month off prior due to university assignments and the flu so I couldn't go to classes to train. I returned in time for grading practice, two weeks ago. All four stripers had to do the same thing they did back when they had get their four stripes, that is show 50 techniques in 10 minutes. I was comfortable with all the techniques and the only problem was remembering them in an order that flowed well enough. Today, while waiting in line at Centrelink to hand in forms I took out my mobile cellular telephone and mapped out how I was going to do the techniques and in what order.

Come grading night I was feeling pretty confident in my ability. The instructors were also looking to really test us as well, making us grade the 3rd stripers moving onto 4th stripe. This was pretty daunting trying to count how many moves a person is doing and trying to make sure it reached 50, and if it didn't knowing which move they missed out. Fortunately it was alright, and the guy only missed out on one move, at least it should've been only that one move...

Then it was my turn, I had a minor mind-blank part way but finished in what was probably less than 8 minutes with a couple of minutes to sit around and watch the others finish.

After everyone showed off their technique in order to grade to the next level it was time for wrestling. We did 5 rounds, and as there were 5 of us who were on our 4th stripe, this meant the 2 instructors would wrestle all 5 of us, I suppose to really test us out.

The first instructor I wrestled was a brown belt, and the brother of Elvis Sinosic (who will be fighting in UFC 110 come February), he choked me out twice and both from side control position, a position I am very weak at, so I gotta work on that. The second instructor I wrestled was black belt Anthony Perosh (who hopefully will be fighting in UFC 110 come February). Knowing he would work for a forearm choke (think forearm crushing your neck, choking you), I worked to defend it, but could only resist the inevitable for so long before getting tapped out. We start again and I try to jump on top, only to get sweeped back onto the ground, what ensued afterwards was a 90+ kg man crushing a 64kg man with various body parts for a few minutes. He got me in knee ride (knee on belly, it hurts), I tried to counter, pushing his knee (which you shouldn't do but it was too painful not to), he countered this by putting his other knee on my belly, thus two knees on me, meaning all of his body weight on me. I scooted back to relieve pressure, he climbed higher with his knees onto my chest, then head, followed by shin to head, shoulder to head, back and forth, until 5 minutes of wrestling time ran out. Not something I want to go through again, thats for sure.

After wrestling we lined up for presentations and the instructors had 3 blue belts, meaning 2 of us wouldn't be getting our blue belts. The first two names were announced and neither of them were my name, so I was starting to feel anxious and worried, fortunately the third name was mine, and I finally achieved my BJJ goal of the year of getting my blue belt, at the last grading of the year no less.

The only problem now is everyone will think I'm good. So I had better start training to be good and show that I'm worthy of this belt.

So two years of training, with a few months taken off here and there and I am now a blue belt. Another 2-3 years and I'll get my purple belt. But for now, I'm fine being blue, it is my favourite colour after all...