Blue Belt

In the Air Force they do this thing called BLUF which means “bottom line up front” which is a way of giving the reader, normally a high ranking officer, a very quick synopsis over what they’re about to read. Outside of the military, I’ve seen a TL;DRwhich means “too long; didn’t read” and if someone is nice enough they’ll put a sentence after that acronym which will tell you what the whole message is about. So if you’re reading this the BLUF or TL;DR would be that I received my blue belt in jiu-jitsu (excited squeal)! If you’re inclined to read further I can give a forty (one) year old guy’s perspective about what I learned from receiving blue belt.

I wasn’t expecting to get blue belt at all that day I received it, not for months down the line. While I know that the school’s twice a year belt promotion ceremony isn’t the only time Steve can give a belt, when I didn’t receive blue belt during the last belt promotion ceremony I (with a lot of help from my friends) I changed my mentality to become a student in the purest form; to learn what I could and as much as I could and most importantly, to keep showing up. I also had the mindset of conducting myself like a color belt regardless of WHAT belt was around my waist. If the drill required color belts to do more, I did more. I have been given advice on how to better my mat presence and I continue to work to apply it. There is a list of information you must learn to attain purple belt; I started learning the list anyway. All of these things are things under my control; a belt promotion is not, will never be, should never be, and ultimately will come when it comes. But it’s not the destination. It’s the journey.

I can’t tell you how proud I was to receive the belt. I felt, being a guy almost a year in to the school, that I gained the trust of Steve, a third degree black belt, and the school but Steve’s words about why I received the belt resonated with me (and will for a while): I responded well to adversity after failure. I never stopped coming to class and when I was tested by being put in the middle of the advanced class and having to defend myself I (made mistakes but) performed well under pressure. These things showed I was ready to advance over anything that I may have felt I “deserved”. That is an unforgettable lesson that transcends jiu-jitsu.

It’s also worth noting that through the stun and shock of the promotion I barely shed a tear about it, certainly not on the mats. Not until I got home and showed Miranda, who hugged me and told me how proud she was of me. That did it for me.

--couple of days later—

I didn’t quite know how to finish this blog. Something seemed missing. I’m still not sure what and maybe that’s the point. Meaning, I started classes as a blue belt and while technically nothing has changed in that I am the same body that walks through the door it seems everything has changed. Steve gives me more crap; I’m one of his now so I’m gonna get ribbed. The congratulations come from upper belts and then immediately afterward so does the scrutiny of making sure I’m doing things just a bit sharper, just a bit more efficiently. I’m standing in line watching the drills making every attempt to learn things the first or second time, not the fourth or fifth (still not doing great at that but I’m trying). So, maybe everything has changed. Or is changing.

Last night, my brain and body were challenged just during normal practice and drilling and it was TOUGH. It’s always been tough. It was tougher. Intangibly so; things were tougher on me personally. Singularly. Regardless, I’m here for it. All of it. I felt myself thinking and feeling that this is just exactly what I need and all that’s stagnant and still with me is being made to move; adapt; evolve. I don’t think this is just talking about the realm of jiu-jitsu either, I think jiu-jitsu is just the nexus that’s making all of these changes in my life. I honestly never saw that coming.