Finding a New Training Location:
This has been a very busy time of my life. Beginning in August I moved from central Illinois to Northwest Georgia. This of course meant that I would need to find a facility to continue training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Mixed Martial Arts. Now, this process isn't as simple as shopping around for the best prices and coaches. There is a bit more to it than that. In any sport where the participants take the activity to heart, their teammates are their family. With that in mind, it is no easier to leave your family behind than it is to accept a newcomer into your current family. Since the beginning of my BJJ and MMA career I had been training at Peoria Athletic Club in Peoria, IL under the Megaton/McVicker flag. After relocating I am now training at Defkon One MMA in Villa Rica, GA under Romero "Jacare" Cavalcanti's Alliance Team. The transition has been smooth thus far. I approached the new academy with respect, open arms, and open eyes. I was not met with the hostility to my foreign face, though there was a bit of a "feeling out" period; but that can only be expected. It certainly was not like I had been thrown in the shark tank with a slew of upper belts to rip me to shreds on the first day. Sparring rounds with a variety of belts were more like dress-rehearsed competitions; a bit more tuned up than "friendly competitions" but not competition-grade aggression.
Having said that, I have felt very welcomed to the Defkon One family, the "feeling out" period lasting about a week. I have some great instructors and and enthusiastic teammates who are just as eager to learn as to help each other out. Nothing can replace the memory of the first love, and I'm truly thankful for my family at Peoria Athletic Club for instilling in me this beautiful addiction we call "jits." But life goes on and takes us in different directions. Defkon One is my home for the next few years and its members are my friends and my family. On the other hand I cannot say enough about the welcoming enthusiasm of the Defkon One team members and coaches. This are not so different really, my family just got a little bigger is all.
Blue Belt Promotion:
Yesterday, 9/7/12 I was tested for and awarded my Blue Belt by D.J. Farmer (who is black belt under Jacare) at the Alliance home academy in Atlanta, GA. Again, I felt very welcomed by the entire Alliance team. While there are some aspects of the "corporate industry" that I do not care so much for but those things procedural and come with a take it or leave it policy. That is a minor sidetrack though. The team, all belts included, and environment of the facility was professional yet comfortable and it made for an enjoyable experience. I am thankful for D.J.'s attitude going into the test (which consisted of myself and three of my other Defkon teammates) because while he corrected our errors, I never felt as if I was being grilled for something, rather it was more like a semi-private lesson. The promotion of course also came with the traditional gauntlet "flogging." :-D
I have always thought that the irony of belt rankings are that when you're finally ready for a promotion you realize that the belt's are more or less a formality. The color of the belt doesn't have any effect whatsoever on my skill level or the style of my game. BUT it does come with a psychological aspect, a sense of recognition, and reprieve. Many of my teammates, old and new, stated that I was a blue-belt-caliber player for a while. However, there are no more questions left to ask, at least concerning that question. I did not expect to be as excited as I was for the promotion, but it was an awesome feeling to have your hard work recognized and rewarded; especially in front of the large group of people at the academy that day. I should note that all of my teammates who were tested also passed and received their blue belts. Congratulations!
Training Notes:
I have also recently made some changes to my training schedule. The Alliance Team has published their belt requirements that will be used when testing for an belt promotion. At first I did not like this approach. I felt that it was too much of a conveyor belt process and that promotions should be more of an intuitive and based on class attendance, improvement, competition, and attitude. If you happen to Google these requirements you will note (as I did not at first) that these things I mentioned are also taken into consideration when it comes to belt tests.
What I do like bout the having these these requirements published is that they provide a syllabus for your training program. I, now, like the idea of having a curriculum to organize my training time. I like the idea of having a game plan for my training rather than just randomly picking things to work on when I should be "studying" what I am going to be tested on. Interestingly enough, the first things I did after getting home from the promotion, I looked up the purple belt requirements. Actually, that was second, the first thing I did was go to the local Chinese Buffet to celebrate! I copied the skills I had planned for the blue belt test onto a copy of the purple belt requirements and now have a ready-made schedule to follow on days that I train at home or when that academy is not having scheduled instructional class.
My current training schedule looks something like this:
Monday - BJJ Class at Defkon One, followed by MMA Class
Tuesday - BJJ independent practice at Defkon One
Wednesday - Drill selected items from belt test at home (light)
Thursday - BJJ independent practice at Defkon One
Friday - Rock Climbing at UWG (active recovery)
Saturday - BJJ Sparring at Defkon One
Sunday - Yoga (active recovery)
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