Promotion:
As I walk up to the gym for the third time today, I start to realize that this is becoming a lifestyle. Not a hobby or casual athletic workout, but a significant shift in my habits and activity level. Every day I wake up I am starting to feel a little healthier, a little more energetic. Don’t get me wrong, I still feel like I have a long way to go on my journey, but it is nice to be able to recognize the growth. I’ve always thrived on tangible achievement.
It seems like nothing much is different tonight: we warm up and do our drills and work on our technique. Coach Tom is cracking jokes and making references to things that only those of us in the 35+ crowd have any hope of understanding. We build up a sweat, help each other learn, and try to piece together our jiu jitsu puzzle. Another day at the office, if you’re lucky enough to have your office be an adult playground where you get to roll around with your friends for an hour and a half at a time.
At the end of class, Coach goes to a back room and comes back with some pieces of tape hanging from a pirouette bar, some black and some white. He explains that promotions at Five Rings are meant to mark growth and learning and progress along your path. I look around the room and try to guess who could be getting promoted. Maybe Robert is getting a stripe on his blue belt – he’s so technical and basically lives at the gym. Or it could be Nick (one of the five, this one is the tall blue belt). His game is so unique and his work ethic is admirable. I realize I have no idea what it really takes to get a stripe or a new belt.
Coach continues by stating that belting does not represent branding at Five Rings. There is no test to take or extra fee that you have to pay to advance, like I’ve heard that some gyms do. That’s nice to hear, but I have to admit that even at this point I can’t imagine switching gyms or training regularly somewhere else. It already feels like home. They don’t have to compel my loyalty. It is freely given.
Finally, Coach calls out some names… not Robert or Nick this time, but several of my white belt training partners are called up for 2nd, 3rd, or 4th stripes. Lo and behold, my name is also called. My first stripe! I don’t know how to react so I numbly walk up and bow and shake hands with Coach Tom and Coach Eric. They say it is well deserved. I wonder how that can be. Sure, I spend a lot of time up here but I feel like I have so much more to learn. Well, they are the coaches and who am I to doubt their judgment? I accept the stripe proudly, ready to take on the challenges that will lead me to the next one.
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