It has been a long time since I’ve written. There are, of
course, lots of reasons for that…but its mostly that I’m lazy, not a naturally
gifted writer, and I haven’t had a helluva lot to say. It was a bit easier in
the beginning, when every class was a new revelation. Now, however, my progress
is much more plodding.
So, a few months ago I got promoted to blue belt. I knew it
was coming, but it was still a great feeling. My promotion was two days before
my two year BJJ anniversary. As I expected, nothing really changed. The same
people who beat my ass before still do. We don’t have a lot of white belts in
our school, but I’ve noticed a slight uptick in their intensity. I’m still a very
lazy jiu jitsuer, so I tend to be defensive. I still get newb-smashed by the
big, strong white belts. I still have a very hard time actually getting
submissions.
Over the last few months, I’ve been having a flare up of my
fibromyalgia/chronic fatigue syndrome, so I haven’t been going to class as
much. I’ve also put on weight. I’m back up to 180 lbs. I am still averaging
twice a week, but its been hard to find the strength to go.
So, that’s kinda been the situation the last couple of
months.
I’ve also gotten some new gear. My favorite gi has been my
93 Brand Goose. After a little over a year of fairly heavy use, it was
definitely showing its age. Its collar was fraying pretty badly, explosing the
rubber core beneath it. It had also faded from a beautiful, dark, steel gray to
a very light, almost white, shade. So, I decided that with my promotion to blue
belt, I’d invest in a good gi.
I decided on the Oss Rebel gi. Ya know, the star wars one. I
love star wars. It is a super nice
product, but I found that it is a bit too large, even after shrinking it down.
I feel a bit frumpy rolling in it, but it is well built, and absolutely
gorgeous. I would highly recommend it, but watch the sizing. You might want to
order a size lower.
I also ordered a Killer Bees gi material belt. For the
price, it is an awesome product. It’s tough, and it stays tied. I was, of
course, given a belt when I got promoted, but it was a bit too big, and didn’t
shrink much when I washed it. The killer bees belt did shrink, but I bought a size
larger to account for that. I wash my belt religiously, so I read into the
shrinkage on it. After a few washes and dries, I’d say that there was 10-15%
shrinkage, which is pretty significant.
So that brings me to the present. Last month, I was out of class
for a few weeks, due to my annual military commitments. When I got back, I have
felt horrible. That said, I think I’ve actually been rolling better. At least a
few times, I’ve come into the gym and dominated people who usually make me look
like a child rolling with his father. On one particular open mat session, I
submitted our senior purple belt a couple of times. Of course, he submitted me
way more. Afterwards, he pulled me aside and said something along the lines of
“I want you to know that those submissions were real. You set them up, I didn’t
give them to you, and I defended them. They were well done.”
And then, I went back to rolling like a white belt at my
very next class.
Last weekend we had a seminar from the school that we’re
affiliated with. These seminars are always really good, and we learn a lot. The
black belt who holds them usually brings a couple of his senior students, in
this case two purple belts, and they focus on basic stuff. This seminar was
really good, because our black belt, Darin, also came. Darin is weird in that
he doesn’t want anything to do with ranking people up, running a school, or any
politics. He just wants to come in, teach a couple classes a week, and stay
sharp. He has a very, very tactical mind, and his approach is much different
than the other black belt.
Anyways, we reviewed
mount retention techniques and went into a few attack sequences. We always do
active drills after the main seminar portion. So, we start with three people on
the mat, their partners start in a position. Once the conditions of the drill
are met (sweep, pass, submit, escape, etc.) a new partner comes in. The person
on the mat stays for a full five minute round with fresh people cycling in. We
do this over several positions. The black belts use this as a way to evaluate
people.
At the end of the day, I got a stripe on my blue belt…though
I don’t really feel like I deserve it. Several people didn’t get any promotion,
so I felt kinda like I’d cheated them. I know its silly, I just feel like I’ve
been missing so much class, and my skills are still really hit or miss.