Congratulations to Thad and Todd, both promoted to their Brown Belt. Anyone who trains in BJJ knows that this is a rare thing indeed.
Todd, on James’ left in the picture, has actually been training as long as James. Apparently, Todd and James started trying to figure BJJ out before they had books, DVDs or even a place to train. Todd took some time off, while James stuck with it. I was rolling with Todd a few months back and finally, after he swept me for the millionth time… with the exact same technique, I asked him how to counter it. He stopped for a second and without a trace of irony said, “Jeez. That’s a toughy. I really don’t know. I pretty much catch everyone with that one.” He tried to help me out, and I’m happy to say that he doesn’t get me with it very often anymore, but I’ll never forget that.
He’ll do the same thing with his spider guard. “Dude. How do I get past those grips.”
“Jeez. I don’t know. I’ve been doing that for a long time… things just kind of rub off, I guess. Everyone has problems with those grips. Hmm. Maybe try x, y and z? It doesn’t really work, but some guys say it’s supposed to.”
Yeah, okay, Todd. Thanks.
Thad, on the other hand, is responsible for about the only two real gains I feel I’ve had over the last few months. Thad has a super tight game that is very much in line with what I’m working towards. He’s very technical and methodical. My half guard game is still crap, but much less crappy from having worked with him. At the same time, working against his half guard has helped my top game tremendously.
Thad and Todd make the third and fourth brown belts awarded by James and it’s only a matter of time before someone becomes James’ first black belt. When I started, going on three years ago, a typical class would be James, a purple belt or two, perhaps three blue belts and then a score or so white belts. It’s really cool to see the school grown, with four brown belts, about 10 purple belts and a growing cadre of blue belts.
While I’m not chasing belts, by any means (I’ve said before that I’m happy as a clam wearing my blue belt), I look at the mat time and dedication that a brown belt signifies and really just hope that I continue to have the time and health to train consistently enough to get there myself. It’s a long road….
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