Forever a Student

So I tested for my purple belt in jiujitsu this Saturday. I’m here to tell you, that thing was tough. It was a whole thing. It was an experience.

A lot of academies don’t have tests for purple belt. Fight to Win just happens to do so. The mindset that my head instructor Steve has is if he gives you a purple belt it means you are serious about wanting to learn jiujitsu from him; that you’re ready to take your training to the next level. In order to prove that you have to know a list of positions that he deems fundamental for every one of his purple belts to learn. Let me tell you. It’s not a short list. Let me also tell you, you have to repeat each move until he says move on. Let me also tell you, there are several people who are looking at you do this stuff. So there’s pressure to perform there’s pressure to perform in front of people; there’s pressure to remember any of a number of positions and moves and steps within those moves. There’s pressure to repeat those moves and repeat them consistently. And with each move you do you get just a little…more…fatigued. All of which to say it is mentally and physically fatiguing.

Steve tells you that this isn’t a test you can cram for and he’s not lying. I took those words to heart and I trained my ass off for the thing. Months of waking up at 7 o’clock to drive to Denver (yes, there is a Denver, North Carolina) to train with other blue belts getting ready and white belts who were there to learn. Months of going back to class on the following Monday and Wednesday to ask questions about technique that I was unsure of. Months of going to an extra class on Friday to pick up additional fundamentals. Months of adding Saturday open mat where I would apply the moves I have learned in active rolling to really make the moves stick. 

There have been multiple payoffs from this work, though. I have undoubtedly gotten better and people absolutely have noticed. I got to know my teammates who were also preparing for the test better, which is awesome. I hope everyone who tested passes because I know we all worked hard. I gained an appreciation for the material itself. The type of artist I want to be is the one who knows all of the fundamental material and this is a crucial start to doing that. 

Nothing in the test surprised me and at the same time there are MANY things I need to clean up for the future. I absolutely do want the purple belt but I know that isn’t my ultimate destination, just a mile marker. Regardless of the outcome, I find out this Saturday, I will be in class on Monday to learn and get just a little bit better each day. Forever a student.