A Jiu Jitsu Teacher's Growth Experience

After many months of consideration, I took a big step today in my martial arts career. Stick with me a little here. Achieving the rank of black is special indeed. I first received a black belt in Korean Hapkido in 1986 from Master Kim Jin Pal, in Garden Grove, CA.

Next, I began taking Gracie Jiu Jitsu lessons in 1989 from Rorion Gracie in his garage in Torrance, CA. My main teacher became Rickson Gracie, but I also trained with Royce, Royler and Rigan Machado. After many years of training with Rickson, about five years to be exact, I received the rank of purple belt. Today I feel that almost all of my fundamentals were developed under Rickson's tutelage. I continued to train with Rickson for a little while longer, but for personal reasons moved to Redding, CA.

I began teaching near the Redding area soon after. During this time, I traveled to Southern California to train, some with Rickson, but mostly with Joe Moreira and James Boran. Professor Moreira gave me my brown belt, and James gave me my black belt in approximately 2000. Since then, I have received one stripe on my black belt from Xande Ribiero.

Today is November 30, 2008. As I have already said, achieving the rank of black belt in any martial art is special, but much more so in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I think that awarding a black belt to a long time student of mine was more special to me than either of the black belts that I achieved.

Today, Mr. Rod Rice became my first student to achieve the rank of black belt. He deserves it too! He has been a truly loyal and hard working student, and a true friend of mine. More importantly, he has contributed so much to the art of Jiu Jitsu in this county. During times that I could not teach, he took over. He taught his five boys from the time they were very young. His sons will probably be the future of Jiu Jitsu in Shasta County very soon.

The primary reason for giving Rod his black belt is because he deserves it. He more than deserves it. But, it was also my intention today to give Rod the means to belt his own boys in the future. He can now do that. In three years, he will achieve a sufficient rank to be able to belt one of his sons all the way to black belt.

So, congratulations to Rod Rice, and congratulations to me too. It was a thrill to do this for me. I wish I had done it sooner. I look forward to promoting more black belts in the future.

Everyone – train hard and be patient. Our learning and growth never ends. You will get there.

Jiu Jitsu Day

Today began with jiu jitsu. Being a little too old, and definitely too crippled to roll with my students, it is still a pleasure to teach the techniques that I love so much. This morning was a good class too. Some students from outside the area showed up, as well as some of my earliest students in Shasta County. I still love jiu jitsu, and I miss being able to train at a high level. But, today was a good day.

We are looking forward to another successful year of competition. I am very proud of all of the gold medals we won last year, The Worlds, The Pan Ams, The First America Cup, and the U.S. Open, and am also equally proud of the silver and bronze medal winners. Everyone who competed last year is to be commended.

After class, I had lunch with my lovely wife and then went to physical therapy for about an hour. Came home and read part of "Patriarch," a biography of George Washington. After completing a tour of his house a month or so ago, it brings it all to life.

Tomorrow morning, up early for more jiu jitsu instruction, no gi. Going to bed now. 10:30 PM, past my bed time.

A Sunday Bike Ride To Visit Our Ducks

A lovely Sunday for a bike ride. I know that my word processor will pick up that opening sentence and flag it as an incomplete sentence, but who cares? This is my blog! I'll do what I want.

On this slightly cool Sunday, Nikki accompanied me on my leisurely stroll through the Shasta County countryside. We saw a few other bikers on our way. Some waved, some didn't. Most road bikers don't have the time of day for someone on a recumbent. That's okay. I'm a road biker too and I always wave. Life is too short.

We were given due courtesy by our fellow users of the road, the people driving cars. Most of our route was on established bike lanes, but some of it wasn't. We try to keep an eye out in the mirror for errant automobiles, but today saw nothing but courtesy. Not always the case.

We stopped by the duck pond at Twin Lakes mobile home park. We released three of our mallards there about two months ago. One of them is very distinctive. She is white, kind of a throwback to a time that she acquired mixed genes with a domestic white duck I suspect. Her two sisters are still with her. They stick together, paddling closely, keeping all of the drakes at a suitable distance.

We then continued on with our ride, down through part of the town of Shasta Lake, then past the high school out onto a rural country road. We wound our way back home getting some good exercise and enjoying these wonderful Burley recumbent bikes.

After lunch and a good cup of coffee, we went for a drive and discussed Christmas, the economy, politics, religion, and then went to Rayles to get some stuff for Thanksgiving. We are blessed. Even with declining health and the onset of age, we are truly blessed to be able to enjoy a nice bike ride on a Sunday morning.

Bike Ride

Today was a great day for a bike ride. My Burley Recumbent was speaking to me softly as my wife headed out the door for her jog. Tire pressures? As usual, they were low - about 30 pounds in the front and 60 in the rear. Recently, because of numerous flats, I changed the tires to Kevlar tires, plus I lined the rear tire with a Kevlar band. The rear tire is also a slimed tire. After pumping up the tires to the 100 pounds of pressure that I like, I snapped the GPS computer into place, filled the water bottle, grabbed the iPod and headed out.

It's not a tough ride really - about thirteen miles of gentle slopes. It consists of gentle downhill slopes for the first half of the loop, followed by gentle uphill slopes on the return half. About three quarters of the way through my ride, I stopped to inspect a bookcase that I saw at a garage sale. Thirty bucks was a good deal for this particular bookcase, so I returned later and bought it. The guy even delivered it for me.

After stopping to inspect the bookcase, I continued home. The peddling felt good going up Lake Blvd. Good bike lanes all the way and people were polite. Most importantly, no flats.

The rest of the day was spent doing errands, going to lunch with my wife, and taking it easy.