Jiu Jitsu Belt Test - Blue Belt

This past Saturday was my blue belt test at Gracie Barra Orlando.  I've had the blue belt techniques sheet for awhile now, but I didn't look at it too much until a couple days before.  I was a little nervous going into it, but just reminded myself that I wouldn't be taking this test in the first place if my instructors didn't think I was ready for my blue belt.  I've been training at Gracie Barra since August 2012, so it's taken me about 1 1/2 years to get to this point.  I think that's about average.

The belt tests at Gracie Barra are actually pretty low key.  Of course, I still get nervous because I'm performing my techniques in front of black belts like Marcio Simas, Gutty Muggiati, Igor Andrade, and Rodrigo Lango.  It's much different than the belt tests at the CMA karate school I went to, those tests HURT.  An hour plus of cardio, sparring, takedowns and some katas thrown in.  I definitely like the jiu jitsu tests better.  I think it shows the difference between the two martial arts.  If your technique isn't up to par for jiu jitsu, you won't be in the test to begin with.  As for karate, my kicks never looked better than white belt kicks, but I kept advancing... you just had to suffer through a test first.

Back to the day of the test.  I got to the gym about 45 minutes early and Mike, from the Oviedo location, was already there.  It was great to see him, and since he was testing for his blue belt also, we decided to be partners for the test.  We went upstairs to go over and drill anything from the list of techniques that we had questions about.  I guess our instructor, Steven, had gone over the list with Mike the day before because he knew most of the moves.  That was awesome, because once I saw the move again, I knew what to do.  I just didn't know some of them by the name on the paper.

The test itself got started about half an hour late (brazilian time).  We went through a light warmup and then we were split up into groups.  Rodrigo ran the blue belt test.  We started with takedowns, sweeps, submissions and then defenses.  Rodrigo would call out a technique and we would take turns performing the techniques on our partners.  We just went down the list and before I knew it, we were done!  It took about half an hour and the green belt test was still going on for another 10 minutes or so after our test.  At the end, Rodrigo played a joke on us, he said we had one last technique to perform, "Jump guard, take your opponents back and transition to a reverse omoplata."  He looked serious!  And, I looked around at the other partners and people looked confused but they were jumping guard!  So, I jumped guard on Mike and just sat there for a couple seconds thinking about what to do next.  Mike told me Rodrigo was laughing, and I'm just thinking "Thank God!  Because I had no idea what he was talking about!"

We aren't napping in this picture, we're warming up.  I swear!

That was about it.  After all the other belt tests finished, we lined up and got our new belts tied around our waists by Gutty.  There were no blue belts testing for purple, but there were 2 purple belts testing for brown, and one brown belt testing for black.  That was really cool to see him get his black belt.  That's another reason I like belt tests, I get to see people getting to where I want to be one day.  You can remind yourself that it is attainable!

After the test, we lined up on two sides to form a guantlet for the new black belt, Marcio.  As he walked down it, we hit him with our belts.  Some guys were really smacking him, it sounded painful!  Then at the end, we all gathered for a group picture.

So, now I'm officially a blue belt.  I've got a mixture of feelings about it, on the one hand, I'm happy to advance and I look forward to start working on the stripes for my blue belt.  On the other hand, are my self doubts... am I really good enough to be a blue belt?  What if a white belt taps me at the gym?  I feel like there's some pressure to perform, and I'm sure that will only increase as my rank increases.  Overall, though, I'm really excited and ready to keep training.

Thanks to my instructors at Gracie Barra Oviedo:  Anthony, Todd and Steven.  They are the best!  I feel like their attention to detail and technique is amazing, and I'm always learning something new.  Even if it's just a half guard sweep, there'll be some little detail they'll point out that I never saw before.  And, thanks to all my GBO Oviedo black sheep training partners, you guys make the gym worth coming to.  It's a fun place, the camaraderie is great, and I love training there with you guys!