Promotion to Purple Belt

I am going to start this blog the same way I have started several unfinished drafts of my blog- stating that it has been forever since my last blog. Over the last several months I have started (or at least attempted to start) several blog entries only to leave a blank page or an unfinished document. When it comes to writing I have a real similarity to the dog Doug from the movie UP!. See, I'll start an entry with a vivid line of thought and all of the sudden "Squirrel!"  and I'm off doing something else entirely. So as this is a rainy day hopefully I can avoid getting distracted and can manage to sit long enough to get a blog finished.

The big news of this post is me getting promoted to purple belt in BJJ under Dennis Asche. I had been a blue belt for quite awhile, with my focus on training MMA and Luta Livre I just hadn't gotten a lot of time in the kimono over the last year and a half (2 maybe 3 days a week). for the last couple of months Dennis has been coming in to teach Gi class for everyone at CR nearly everyday Monday-Friday in the afternoon, so as soon as I got off the bus to Barra from training MMA at Rio Fighters I would immediately hop back on the mat for BJJ.

Last week I found out I would be testing for my belt on July 4th in the morning. That was about it, I had no real clue what would be in store for me. Well the morning of the 4th rolled around and everyone from CR and a couple of other friends in BJJ headed to Gordo's for my exam. As I stretched and got loosened up I'm not going to lie I was a bit anxious-it was a big day for me. We started out with Dennis giving me positions to demonstrate technique from. The technique portion lasted about a half-hour, but the end I was pretty sweaty from the Rio heat (and a bit of nerves) Dennis then lined everyone on the wall and then informed me that after doing 100 straight takedown entries, I was going to roll everyone at 2 minute intervals nonstop for the next hour.

I hit my 100 entries, chaining my attacks from one directly to the other. Doing this created a subconscious flow that allowed me to save time and energy. Had I shot one time, then made 2-3 steps to hit another attack I would have thrown off and started to feel tired. I finished up and immediately my hour long shark tank rolling started.

I battled from one end of the mat to the other-working to pass, sweep, defend or submit. Everyone came at me full force (which I appreciated because I wouldn't have wanted it any other way)and the higher belts took it to me to show where I was at, and the lower belts were anxious to attack and show where they were at. I would move and explode into any openings I could find and try the best I could to take the fight to whomever was in with me. It will be interesting to see some of the photos because I started smiling several times during the roll--a habit I started back in high school wrestling whenever our coaches pushed us "through the wall". It's a hard to describe euphoric feeling. Soon(ish) it was called out I had 15 minutes left, then 10, then 5, then the final 2 minutes. The last guy. One of the CR crew came to step out, but I cut him off and asked Dennis to roll, and everyone mat side erupted with cheers. My "calling" him out wasn't a disrespect thing, for me it was the biggest sign of respect I could show. He has taught me innumerable lessons both on and off the mat and I couldn't imagine anyone else I would rather have had my last roll as a blue belt with. I finished the hour session as I had started, by attacking and trying to gain the upper hand. Soon the 2 minutes were up, and I got a ton of pats on the back as we lined up. Getting called up and that purple belt tied around my waist is a hard feeling to describe, and writing about it now is bringing up a wave of emotion.

In addition to Dennis I would like to thank Rogerio Miranda and Milton Viera as well, they both have had a huge impact on my BJJ since moving to Brazil. They, just as Dennis does, push me to expand my knowledge and hone my skills everyday on the mat.

The rest of the day was spend BBQing at CR and rehydrating---over the course of my test I lost 3.5 kilos (about 7 pounds). It was a hot sunny Rio afternoon, the perfect day of jiu-jitsu in the cradle of BJJ!