The belt

Last week Kevin promoted one of our BJJ brothers, Jaffer, to  blue belt. It was done so informally and casually, that I couldn't help but stifle a laugh as soon as Kevin mentioned it to the group. It was the tail end of the session as we were gettting ready to do handshakes, when Kevin mentioned for Jaffer to bring his blue belt the next time he trains. The reason for laughing is that myself and Kevin were having a chat as I sat out a sparring session. We were watching Jaffer roll with a guest who was sparring 100% (Keith mentioned that 100% usually meant a fight, not a spar!!). Kevin was commenting on how Jaffer was just riding the storm and just waited for his opponent to provide an opening. I mentioned to him that the last time I sparred with Jaffer, I commented on how good he was, and that he probably was a "fake white belt", as a way of complimenting his skills. Kevin laughed at this. Little did I know that he was already contemplating on promoting Jaffer. Wahey!

Had a chat with Jaffer afterwards and reminded him of the fake white belt conversation we had and congratulated him again for the achievement. I told him that I surmised that Kevin doesn't subscribe to the stripe system that I've seen other academies do. Jaffer and I agreed that Kevin's way of teaching is to instill the concept of BJJ and to concentrate on the art, not the belt, as the belt will follow soon enough. This is something that I have mentioned several times in my other posts, as something I have noticed with the way Kevin handles his classes.

This concept might sound lofty to some but I do think this is how a true martial artist should think like, as in the olden days - it was about learning, understanding, and living the art, I suppose, rather than the belt itself. The belt signifies achievement, a milestone in your journey. In BJJ, there are a few milestones and that the time frames set to achieve them are more loose, as opposed to other arts. I believe that is one of the reasons why so many fall by the wayside in their journey. I come from a background of Kali Escrima, where length of training can be a factor in a promotion. That, and demonstrating the prescribed forms during belt gradings. Of course, you have to be proficient with the forms and techniques, disarms and attacks from various angles and distance, but there is THAT time element. As there are numerous belts between white and black, there is a temptation to be a belt-chaser, which can impact on your true understanding of the art of stickfighting.

A belt is beneficial to us at times when we are hurting from training, when we think that we have plateau'd in our game, when it becomes an absolute nightmare trying to balance work and familial responsibilities with time spent on the mats - well, besides keeping our gi jackets closed and a place to hook our thumbs whilst listening to your intructor teaching a technique.

I would like to get into this kind of thinking -to study and understand the concept behind the art. Not just to learn the techniques, positions, submissions, escapes and reversals, but to get it to flow, almost unconsciously, as I practice this art we call Jiujitsu.

Apologies for the FRAT but I do get into this rambling mode at times...