Text

Being Brown

image

Two weeks ago, I was a struggling purple belt. Today, I’m a struggling brown belt.

Many of my teammates have asked me how it feels to be a brown belt. The truth is that it feels exactly the same as being a purple belt. I tell them:

“I didn’t get a book called “The Secret Techniques of Jiu-Jitsu. The Professor didn’t show me a secret handshake. Hell, I didn’t even get a key to the executive washroom. Nothin’.”

It feels exactly the same.

I remember when I first started training that even a blue belt was a magical thing. Purple belt was unimaginable. Brown was magical. Black? Mystical.

I may have been a blue belt longer than any person on the planet. I wore that belt - on and off - for over 15 years. Being a blue belt was very comfortable.

When I was promoted to purple, I was horrified. Shocked. I was out of my comfort zone. Purple? Insane.

I wore that purple belt for over three years. I took four to six classes per week, plenty of open mats, private classes, and teaching. I put my time in on the mat. Again, I was comfortable.

But I was resigned that, soon or later, I would be promoted.

I asked my Professor not to mercy promote me. “Don’t promote me because I’m old (I’m almost 50). Don’t promote me because I’m here all the time. Don’t promote me because I’ll teach when you ask me to teach. Promote me when you feel, when you know, I’m a brown belt. Until then, I’m in no rush.”

My brother-in-law told me the secret to getting a black belt. “Don’t die,” he said. “They have to give it to you sometime.”

A couple of years ago I had a heart attack. I didn’t die.

Now I’m a brown belt.

:::

I have a couple of more things I want to write about this, but this is the internet, I need to keep things short.

The next few things I write will be what I think it means to be a white, blue, purple, brown, and black belts. The black belt part I will be speculating on. I have experience in the others, albeit limited in brown.

I also want to comment on what it means to me personally to be promoted to brown.

And I’ve always wanted to write a piece I call “The Long Con.” The long con being the belt system itself.

Anyway, that’s for another day.

Photo
“It will be a great day when our schools get all the money they need and the Air Force has to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber.” ~ Robert Fulghum

“It will be a great day when our schools get all the money they need and the Air Force has to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber.” ~ Robert Fulghum

Quote
"Organization prepares you to improvise."

Ang Lee (paraphrased)

Text

Promotion

On Saturday, April 6th, I was promoted to brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

This means something. You only get promoted four times in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, that is if you stick around to get to black belt level.

In the coming days, I plan on writing an essay on “Becoming Brown.” I already have a couple of drafts.

I am all too aware that I am entering rarefied air.

And I’m humbled.

And all I know to do is to just keep training, because the point of this journey is not to arrive.

Quote
"Time was invented to make motion look simple."

— Albert Einstein

Video

Again, knee shield guard for further study.

Video

More knee shield for further exploration.

Text

Brown.

Video

MITSUYO MAEDA: The Origin of BJJ 

(Source: youtube.com)

Video

In this promo, Professor John Danaher (one of the best jiu-jitsu minds on the planet) is rocking one of my academy’s rashguards. And it’s a rashguard that I designed. Sweet.

The project’s crowd-sourcing website, http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/this-is-jiu-jitsu-a-documentary-film, states:

“This documentary’s aim is to preserve the culture, the truth and the personalities of the living legends of Jiu-Jitsu.”

 

It also laments:

Now everyone is teaching some form of BJJ, even if they aren’t qualified, haven’t ever competed or don’t even have a lineage to trace back to.”

 

For the record, here is my lineage (blue belt to purple belt … and beyond):

Maeda => Carlos => Carlos Jr => Renzo => Serra => Madama

I also have another older lineage from where I first started (white belt to blue belt) that goes like this:

Maeda => Carlos => Helio => Rorion => Kukuk

(Source: youtube.com)

Tags: BJJ