Soooo… last night, one of my friends got promoted to 4th stripe white belt and the instructors said there would be more promotions in the upcoming days. I currently stand at 3 stripes but despite having a pretty bad night yesterday I had the upperhand against the friend who got promoted, as I usually do when we roll together. This and other hints that were dropped here and there during the last weeks make me think that I may get promoted to blue belt.
After a huge plateau from april to october I felt very well these last months and my game became much better in many areas. Until yesterday night, I felt totally ready for my blue belt — in my mind there was no doubt that during the next promotion period, I’d get it. But after yesterdays night, I don’t know. Overall it wasn’t awfull, I did sme good things — but I also got my guard smashed a couple of times, spent 3 hellish minutes defending against chokes from my instructors mount and got into a couple of ankle locks (again!).
Thinking about getting promoted, I realized how much it would change things. The competitions I’m going to attend, I’ll attend them at blue belt. There won’t be easy mistakes to catch people with. I’m not going to tear through my division, I’m probably going to get my ass handed to me in the first rounds. I’m not going to be the dominant white belt in the academy, I’m going to be bottom-of-the-food-chain blue belt.
So… I guess there’s no point anticipating what will happen, I might just as well get my fourth stripe and that’s it. Or not get promoted at all, there are many white belts without stripes that deserve some (imho, of course). At white belt, I’m pressure free. At blue belt, I would get out of my comfort zone. I’d suffer, but grow from it. In the end I trust my instructor to do what’s best for me.