What for?

I was informed by a very reputable source that in art of BJJ, up to the level of blue belt provided sufficient skill for your typical personal safety and self defense.

Ranks beyond blue belt in BJJ enables you to fight against other BJJ practitioners or to teach the skills of this art to others. By the time you reach black belt, you should be able to teach a wide scope of techniques with great detail but also to be able to execute the techniques under full resistance with great technical prowess. A true BJJ black belt can "walk the talk" as the saying goes. It's also no good to be fantastic at 3 techniques but can't teach them to anyone else. That's not only not helpful but selfish. It doesn't make the world a better place by only being able to focus on one's own personal skill development at the expense of someone else's. If you take stock on the "famous" BJJ black belts and take a popularity vote, I would bet that the most popular ones are famous because of their teaching skills over their competition record. It may happen that they have both but it's a rare combination. Having a black belt (or any rank for that matter) is not representative that they are good coaches.

What is a good coach? Someone who can see your potential and bring it out in you without you realizing it. A good coach makes it seem effortless and interesting at the same time.

These points serve as my guides on this journey. It's my 5th year on the mats, and I've enjoyed every single day of it.

I'm happy to report that my efforts have been recognized by John Will who awarded me with a purple belt recently. It's a great feeling knowing that I'm doing something positive, helping the people who come into the Academy and imparting skills which may save their lives, not only the personal safety but also in other areas such as health and wellness.

The belt itself doesn't do anything of course, it's just a strip of fabric, but to me it symbolizes a greater responsibility to do things "more-right" - be responsible and accountable for imparting the correct skills and be able to execute them "at will" (or is that at black belt level? ~ I forget). It's a symbol or contract with myself to be "purple belt level".

It doesn't mean that I'm a world-class BJJ competitor or grappler. I'm not interested in that but BJJ is a sport whose raison d'être is hinged on competition results for some people. While I enjoy sparring, it is not the "be-all" or "end-all". In fact I can think of a couple of white belts and a load of blue belts who can still kick my butt quite easily but again, this isn't the point.

Let me illustrate what I mean; My early BJJ lessons were intriguing, being able to corral your opponent into certain actions or being mostly correct when anticipating an opponent's next or possible movement holds me fascinated for hours. I remember one of my early lessons with a very talented grappler (Adam Kayoom) who was presenting a dissection of how a technique is performed, why and when to use it. I was captivated. It was fascinating to be able to predict precisely what would happen next. It was like magic and I wanted to do that too! I thought it was mind-reading at one point because of the uncanny ability to predict what and where the person would move and he surely did! It was almost scary!

This is the kind of skill I want. Almost Jedi-like (no, I'm not a sci-fi geek) but you know what I mean... it's finding order in chaos. Physical altercations are chaotic, and having the skills and knowledge to be able to remain calm is empowering. Being able to predict what the opponent's next move with a high probability of accuracy is even more empowering. That kind of confidence comes only from experience and skill.

Becoming a skilled coach. That's what for!