Did you know that the blue belt holds secret magical powers? In fact, it is only the first belt that possesses magic. Most of it is good magic, but unfortunately it can produce some bad juju as well. There’s something about putting on that blue belt that changes you. It’s like you’re suddenly a different fighter, with all the knowledge and power that is bestowed upon the wearer of the blue belt. The magic is powerful, but not nearly as powerful as the belts above it.
As a white belt, your goal from the beginning was to be a blue belt. You were constantly being dominated by the blues and your love/hate feeling for the blue belts drove you to yearn for the belt yourself. It’s what you’ve waited for. It’s what you’ve worked so hard for. It’s the thing that fueled your drive to get to this belt.
From the moment you wrap the blue belt around your waist, you can feel the magical powers it possesses. You won’t understand all of its power, but you know it’s there.
One of its powers is that it makes you think that just wearing the belt means that you are magically expected to be better today then you were before you wore the blue belt. It messes with your mind in little ways like this. You now feel like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders.
The good news is that you are better the moment you tie on the blue belt (it is magical after all). Wearing the blue belt is an awesome motivator. Most likely you will not feel like you deserve the belt. This only serves to drive you to get better. You now have some big shoes to fill. There is a long history of blue belts that came before you, the ones who dominated and tormented you, and now, as you look in the mirror, you have become that which you have despised for so long.
There comes an awesome responsibility with the blue belt. In order to proudly wield the magic belt, you must rise to some unspecified, arbitrary masterful level in order to be as good as the blue belts before you. You need not fear this, however. For it is nothing more than the belt’s magic that is telling you this, playing its tricks on you.
In the beginning, the blue belt’s magic will empower you to tap out white belts at will. This is what you will learn to know as the good magic. But alas, this won’t last forever. You will fall prey to this new found feeling of invincibility that will lull you into a false sense of security. On the day that you stop feeling self conscious about wearing your belt of magic, this is the day your world will come crashing in on you. It is on this day that the belt’s true self will reveal itself unto you. It is this day that you will understand the bad magic that has been waiting to come out. Your wonderful belt of wisdom and awe will fail you and allow you to be tapped out by white belts!
This will mess with your mind like nothing you’ve experienced before. How can this be? How could this magical belt be so cruel? You probably won’t have the capacity to understand why this is happening, but know that it is all part of the master plan the belts have for you.
You can think of it this way. As a white belt, you were like a wide-eyed adolescent, oblivious to the ways of the world, stumbling around the mat like an awkward child. As a new blue belt, you are now like a teenager coming of age. There are many ups and downs and you come to realize the world is a cruel place, life isn’t fair, sometimes you have to learn things the hard way.
You may lose faith in your magical belt. This happens from time to time, but know this. The belt will never lose faith in you. Those who stick with it and experience the rebirth of the powers locked deep inside the blue belt, they will have the most wonderful gifts bestowed upon them.
You will come to realize that the blue belt was simply testing your resolve to ensure you were truly worthy of wielding all of its magic. The hard lessons you learned have allowed you to mature and truly become one with your belt.
Never forget that your blue belt’s magic should only be used for good, never for evil.
2/19/10
Your Blue Belt Has Magical Powers.
2/16/10
If I Only Knew Then What I know Now
With our Battle on the Plains II tourney just around the corner and Jiu Jitsu's inaugural year at the Cornhusker State Games in the distant future I figured I would brush up on my score keeping. I plan on helping out with the tourneys as much as possible and if that means a slight chance at wearing a ref jersey for a few matches, then I want to look like I know what I am doing. So I jumped on my computer and gathered a bunch of matches I have shot over the last year or two and put them on a DVD. I took the disc into work with me today and watched about 6 matches over lunch break seeing if I could score points correctly. I must admit I was a bit sidetracked when I watched my matches though. I found myself laughing at my technique and thinking that if I had what is in my arsenal now, back then, I would have destroyed the guys I was up against. Obviously, these fighters have improved as well if they are still training, but it is the principle. I recall one match at the last Best of the Best I participated in where I barely squeaked out the victory to go to the championship match. After this match ended Conan had a puzzled look in his eye. He asked me about going for a sweep that was fairly routine. At the time though, my brain was on overload and I had no idea what sweep he was talking about. So we went over to the warm-up area and he showed me the sweep, which I kind of knew, but still kind of new to me. Either way, the sweep was now up there and Conan reminded me that if the circumstance presents itself in the championship match, I should use it. Well what do you know? The same set-up for that sweep comes during the match. Conan is yelling, "Go for the one we were just talking about. Do it, Aaron. Go for it. It is there." Oh crap! I can't remember. What was it again? About 30 seconds later the match is over with, and I am spent. If only I could have retained that little chunk of information, who knows.
It is funny though, because now I am still learning new things daily, but I feel like my capacity for retaining information is so much larger. Like getting a computer that had 4 Gig and swapping it out for one with 80 Gig. Same computer just more room. Watching everyone was enjoyable, seeing David K. and realizing how far he has come and how much more confident his game looks. Watching Aaron D. and noticing how his game has evolved as well. If you ever question yourself, if you hit that crossroads in your training or feel you are plateauing, I encourage you to look back on your previous matches if you have competed, or if you have been filmed during open mat, and see how far you have really come. You will find a renewed love of the sport. You may be like me and just feel embarrassed with how goofy you looked back then. I will probably say the same thing about my current technique in two more years!
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