You are on the cusp of blue belt greatness. You are four stripes in, and there is no holding you back. What is next is inevitable, but you still have some work to do. How can you solidify your next advancement? What does it mean to go from here to there? Blue belt criteria changes from gym to gym, but every fourth stripe white belt looking down the barrel of a promotion can prepare for the next evolution of their game. Here is what you can do to help make that blue belt a reality.
Demand Fundamentals From Yourself
During the first days on the mat, you were likely perplexed by accomplishing the most fundamental movements. Shrimping can feel like a colossal task, and all that close quarters movement was completely foreign. Before long, these things felt like old past times and you were on your way to conquer the truly awesome stuff. You wanted to get in the game and participate with the team.
You likely made a serious mistake back then. You never really mastered the fundamentals. Its ok, this is normal, but now its time to correct. As a blue belt, your fundamentals need to be tight. It’s time to revisit your basic Jiu Jitsu game and ensure you truly have a strong foundation to build from.
Find Your Holes
Demanding fundamentals will likely find some holes in your game, but there may be more for you to sure up. People tend to gravitate towards a game. Are you a top player or bottom player? What is your stand up game plan? How strong are your escapes? As a blue belt, you don’t need to be an expert anywhere, but you should be competent everywhere.
Prepare A Demonstration
Some gyms and affiliations require you to go through a demonstration to get promoted. This could be a test, or simply a performance. If you don’t belong to one of these gyms, this is still a valuable exercise.
What would you demonstrate? Can you document a plan? Putting your knowledge down on paper is a great what to perform some self assessment of your knowledge. Do you have a long list of closed guard techniques to demo, but a relatively blank list from side control? This helps you find your holes and define your focus.
Next, put yourself to the test. Ask your coach to pop quiz you. Work on a routine with a training partner. Recruit the colored belts to give you feedback. This is a process that requires some self ownership, but it will help propel you to the next level.
Gym Culture
Before you strap on that blue belt, you need to reflect on the culture of the gym. Its everyone’s responsibility to define the culture on the mats, but as you level up your behavior is amplified as an example to your team. How will you contribute to the culture and development of your gym? Do you understand the vision of your coach? What will you not allow on the mats? Later on, as you strap on the blue, you will be asked to take on this role.
These questions are not always easy, and you may have never considered them before. Maybe, you don’t think you need to consider them, but this is a common mistake. All your effort has contributed to a cause beyond yourself. Do you believe in the cause? Do you stand by it? Are you prepared to represent and defend it?
Anyone who has spent years on the mats knows that eventually, reality will hit you with these questions. Understand them now. It will ensure the future of your path will be as fruitful as the past. Down the road, this will become even more important as you seek to discover your excellence.
Almost Ready
That’s it. That is your playbook. You are almost ready for blue and now have clarity on how to get there. Put this direction to task and you will be leveling up sooner than you think.