blue belt
Last night I finally got my blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I’ve been training for fifteen months, or eight, minus time off for injuries. Lately in class I’ve been peripherally noticing when Renzo (who’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever met) comes in, since he’s the one that hands out all the belts – I knew I was due. I hadn’t been to class in a week, and it showed. Now that I’m training in higher level classes, it’s harder when you miss time – you get gassed much more quickly. Also, the classes are an hour and a half instead of an hour, with a lot more sparring. Oh yeah, and there’s no air-conditioning in the gym.
Early on in class, I took down my friend Brody, which knocked the wind out of him. While he was getting a drink of water, he mentioned something to Igor and Rolles (both of whom are Gracies and instructors) about how I was throwing him around, I guess, and they gave me a thumbs-up.
Towards the end of class I was absolutely drenched in sweat and breathing heavy. My friend Kris (who accidentally bruised my ribs about a year ago) and I were going half-speed, just waiting for class to end. With about five minutes left, Igor comes over and has Kris get up to start working with someone else, and then gets down on the mat with me. Right away I knew that this was my test. Somehow I summoned the strength to defend myself until the end of class, while he toyed with me in the same manner that a cat does with a dying bug. When we finished I realized that a lot of people had stopped to watch.
After class, Renzo gave out three blue belts, one of them to me. As is the custom, he shook my hand and smacked me on the back with the belt, and then I got hugs from all the black belts. Surprisingly, he remembered that I had been hurt in a tournament last year and mentioned how pissed he was that I got screwed over by having to fight more fights than the guy that beat me (and nearly ripped my arm off at the elbow). Afterwards, all of my classmates came up to congratulate me. Having watched and congratulated many of my friends after getting their blue belts, it was a pretty cool feeling. Today I feel like I was beaten in alley last night.
Early on in class, I took down my friend Brody, which knocked the wind out of him. While he was getting a drink of water, he mentioned something to Igor and Rolles (both of whom are Gracies and instructors) about how I was throwing him around, I guess, and they gave me a thumbs-up.
Towards the end of class I was absolutely drenched in sweat and breathing heavy. My friend Kris (who accidentally bruised my ribs about a year ago) and I were going half-speed, just waiting for class to end. With about five minutes left, Igor comes over and has Kris get up to start working with someone else, and then gets down on the mat with me. Right away I knew that this was my test. Somehow I summoned the strength to defend myself until the end of class, while he toyed with me in the same manner that a cat does with a dying bug. When we finished I realized that a lot of people had stopped to watch.
After class, Renzo gave out three blue belts, one of them to me. As is the custom, he shook my hand and smacked me on the back with the belt, and then I got hugs from all the black belts. Surprisingly, he remembered that I had been hurt in a tournament last year and mentioned how pissed he was that I got screwed over by having to fight more fights than the guy that beat me (and nearly ripped my arm off at the elbow). Afterwards, all of my classmates came up to congratulate me. Having watched and congratulated many of my friends after getting their blue belts, it was a pretty cool feeling. Today I feel like I was beaten in alley last night.
posted by Justin at 4:34 PM
6 Comments:
You were long due for the blue belt. Congrats my man.
Thanks, man. I'm just trying to keep up with you.
Can I just chime in here, man, just to say "man" in a post?
Anytime, dude.
I don't know you.
I just started reading your blog because The Widge had a link to it and I am all about getting into friend's of friends blogs.
Well kind of anyway.
But the thing is, Jiu Jitsu scares the shit out of me.
Like everyone who wasn't good enough at other sports, I wrestled in high school and I used to get in a lot of fights and get beat up alot.
Where am I going with this?
I don't know.
Jiu Jitsu is serious though.
You have my respect and I don't eben know you.
Actually, Toddy, we briefly met at The Widge's bachelor party. More importantly, though, I worked at Consulate (in the oh-so-lowly receptionist chair) while you were on some sort of sabbatical.
Anyways, if you wrestled in high school (as did I), you will find that jiu-jitsu comes naturally. You should give it a try - it's a lot oif fun.
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