BJJ White Belt , two stripes – March 29, 2017
Cool night at Ravlin Martial Arts. We had some promotions. I saw two friends receive their blue belts. I received my 2nd stripe on my white belt. I love Brazillian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ). My team is an incredible mix of people. We are different colors, sizes, ages, sexual orientation, occupations, cultural backgrounds, nationalities and race. We are a beautiful team of humans. I love Brazillian Jiu Jitsu for the extreme challenges it presents every time I show up. Every class, every roll is hard. I know going to up to class I am going to get smashed and 95% of the time I get submitted. I love the fact that there is a “pecking order” and hierarchy. At the beginning and end of every class we line up from highest rank to lowest ranks and bow to our teacher. I am one of the newest members and lowest rank. Nothing in BJJ is given. Everyone that is higher in belt/rank earned their rank. I look up to them and want to be where they are. So I keep showing up the gym and smile while I get beat down. It is mentally and physically challenging like no other sport I have done in my past. BJJ humbles you like no other sport. For example, last night I rolled with Ki who is a purple belt. I “might” have been teasing Ki online about his Salsa dancing. Ki told me he was going to BOW AND ARROW choke me. Well he proceeded to BOW AND ARROW choke me multiple times. I knew what he wanted to do but I was powerless to stop him. He used sweet Jiu Jitsu to take my back and proceed to choke me over and over again. He absolutely destroyed me. HOWEVER, I got my first ever sweep on him. He still recovered and submitted me. Super small little things in BJJ are the highlights of my week at the gym. My white belt journey is the measured in inches. BJJ is a long road. I love my team mates and coaches who push me and challenge me. It is a crazy sport.