Recently, I was awarded the rank of blue belt in BJJ
This was an awesome day to say the least.
After almost 2 and a half years of training in BJJ, I was able to graduate from my phase belt and wear the blue belt around my waist.
My Coach and I after he gave me my blue belt
It was your typical Monday night BJJ class, and we were all gearing up for our typical 8:00 pm-8:30 pm rolling session. This is my favorite part of the class, because we get to test and use everything we have learned in the class while at the same time getting a seriously killer workout in.
The philosophy that we have in our gym is that if we train harder and longer than any competition would require, than come competition time, we all are more than well prepared.
I have had many hard training sessions before in my life, but that Monday night was easily one of the hardest.
My coach and I battled against each other for minutes on end, with him showing no sign of letting up on me. He wasn’t just beating me, he was smashing me. It was to the point where I would be in bottom side control, and he would use constant head pressure to inflict pain and discomfort, drilling directly into my stomach. It was freakin’ brutal.
Some of the mastery guys and I snap a team photo after class
After getting destroyed by him and being utterly exhausted, I was now the victim of a game we like to call “vultures”. It involves one guy (me in this case) starting in bottom side control, and having to go from bottom to top position against an opponent. Once this has been done, a new and fresh opponent jumps on top of you in side control, and you must repeat the process again.
After a few minutes of that, I can easily say that I had surpassed my previous physical and mental limits, and I was fighting with pure adrenaline. I had nothing left in me, and my body felt five times heavier than normal.
When it was all done, I stood up with the help of my fellow students and tried to catch my breath for dear life. I also had the interrupting urge to vomit. I came very close to doing so, but I mustered the strength to hold it down (luckily!).
As my coach gave us all a wise talk on how training hard like we did will ensure that we will all improve, he mentioned my name. He elaborated on my efforts and the time that I put in on and off the mats, then pulled a blue belt out of nowhere and surprised the heck out of me with it.
Fellow blue belt Josh Colacone and I
Being extremely exhausted, yet elated, I was very proud to have done what I did. I thanked all of my team and my coaches, as they were the ones who helped push me through it all.
It was a great day for me and a huge goal had been reached. I cannot wait to see where I end up on my journey as a blue belt.
Chube Jitsu 