
The first major step in some one’s jiu jitsu journey is the day they walk into the gym and decide to give Jiu Jitsu a try. Although it seems easy in retrospect, for many of us we forget the anxiety of being a new student in a strange martial art! The next big milestone is when we reach our blue belt. This is the first significant promotion that holds meaning as we join the ranks of colored belts and now have some level of expectation.
The path from white to blue is an unusual one, we go from not knowing anything, to thinking we know everything, only to realize the more we learn the less we know. Once we receive our blue belt, the journey, one that seemed challenging and funs starts to take major twists and turns. It’s at the blue belt level that most people quit Jiu Jitsu. The blue belt can be a frustrating time and where we face a lot of difficulty but will also be a great time. At the blue belt level that we start to develop what will become our first real game and for many of us we look back at blue as one of the funnest times in our journey.
Today at the 2014 Fall promotions we awarded 6 blue belts, left to right Mathew Danna, Kevin To, Anthony Rutherford, Sebastian Wong, and Jonathan Garcia (not shown in the picture is Reed Kotler). Great job guys, keep training, enjoy the journey and if you ever feel like quitting remember what you felt like on this day, the journey only gets better and better!
Also huge congrats to Alan Perez, after many years on the mat he was awarded his purple belt yesterday. Alan is a good jiu jitsu player and a great person. This promotion was a long time coming!!