Jiu-Jitsu Updates

Well, it’s been a big week at Novagen, our Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Club in Durban. 3 of our guys received their blue belts.

Now the belt system in BJJ is somewhat different from other martial arts. There are only 5 belts – white (which you start with), blue, purple, brown and black, with a number of intermediate stripes on each. So it isn’t a case of advancing every few months or so if you meet the requirements of a set test.

Advancing in BJJ is as a result of a number of factors – technical skill, general improvement, time devoted to the sport and success in competitions. The guys who received their belts did so as a result of their technical abilities and improved skill at grappling, as well as time (the one belt recipient has been practicing for 4 years).

Although certain technical abilities are tested to receive a blue belt, generally BJJ grading is quite subjective, particularly when advancing above purple belt – the most difficult grading jump to make. It’s at the highest levels where competitions really have a lot of influence on advancing as people are continually pitted against opponents from other schools.

Personally, my big goal is to get to blue belt. I’d be happy with achieving that level of competence. My Grappling seems to be improving. I can normally manage at least one submission a class when grappling now. Last night I got in a very nice arm bar (next to my chokes, arm bar from mount is my tightest move). Although, I must say, rolling around in a thick gi in Durban’s summer humidity saps your strength and energy very quickly.


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In other news, I was in a foul mood after something of a wasted evening last night. I turned on my PC only to find it stuck in a cycle of rebooting over and over again. My sister had been using it an hour previously and it had been working perfectly then.

Paul attempted to help me with some over-the-phone tech support that had me crawling around in space the size of womb trying to swap RAM, disconnect hard drives etc etc, but after I couldn’t get the RAM back in properly, and the PC began beeping aggressively at me, the little experiment ended.

I was actually less annoyed by my PC than I was by my torch breaking while I was fingering the innards of my PC case. I removed the blown bulb, replaced it with the spare bulb and literally 20 seconds later that one went as well. Highly annoying when you’re going away for the weekend to the mountains. I felt like kicking something.

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