10 Years of BJJ - My Jiu-Jitsu Journey - Part 11 (I Came Back)

(If you haven't seen the last part, it can be found HERE.)

So... I decided to come back. At this point, it's January 2009 and I had just turned 14 years old. Even though I had only been gone a few months, I had changed a bit. I started to take life a bit more seriously. Realistically, I was in the eyes of most people still a kid, but I felt like I was maturing as a person and everything wasn't just a game anymore. So when I returned to training at the start of 2009, I was extra determined to make the best of what I had around me and start to become good at Jiu-Jitsu. 

At my academy, my instructor’s mother is always at the front desk to collect payments from each of the students as they enter the academy. On my first lesson back, I remember her asking me where I had been, to which I replied nervously "Uh... I had exams at school" which was the best thing I could come up with on the spot at 14 years old. 

When I came into the academy itself, a few things had changed. Firstly, the bare jigsaw mats we used to have were now covered in a nice blue covering, which we still have to this day. Also, my instructor was now a brown belt, which I had no idea about. I know I could have probably found that out on the academy's website or on Facebook, but hey, I was 14 years old! The only thing I used the internet for was to go on YouTube or play games on Miniclip.  

After a few weeks, progress was going okay, and I could feel that I was improving. I forgot to mention this last time, but around April 2008, I was promoted to white/orange belt, which is a white belt with an orange stripe going through the middle. The kid’s belt rank system was different back in those days, and a white/orange belt was the next belt up from yellow.

It was around this time that my instructor told me that there was a grading coming up one Saturday around mid-February, so that made me a little excited about the prospect of becoming an orange belt (that's at least what I thought) and getting one step closer to becoming a green belt.

Fast forward to mid-February, and the day of the grading was here. In terms of a grading, it is everything you would expect from rolling to demonstrating techniques from a variety of positions. Although, one thing happened during the grading which I'll never forget. Whilst my brother and I were demonstrating some techniques from the guard, my instructor turns to me and asks me to show him how you would pass spider guard.

Man, I can remember looking at my brother in total confusion. The truth was I didn't know what spider guard was. After about 30 seconds of umming and ahhing, he had to come and show us what spider guard was and said "You should know this guys" in a rather displeased tone. The spider guard pass we showed was just awful! It was just botched together. That was one of the most embarrassing times I've ever had in Jiu-Jitsu. 

The truth was I was stuck in the past. I had been doing the same moves for the last 4 - 5 years all from a copy of a Wallid Ismail DVD that my dad bought on eBay. I had my set of moves in my head and I didn't want to change. 

Once the grading had finished, we were told that we would receive our new grades on Thursday. Now, in my mind I thought I would be receiving an orange belt, but that's not what happened. Instead, on that Thursday evening, I received an orange/white belt (an orange belt with a white stripe through the middle) and somebody else in the class received an orange belt. Oh boy, disappointed was an understatement. 

I don't know this for a fact, but it must have been down to not being able to pass spider guard. I mean, what else could it be? 

From that day, I was determined to change my game and get better as a whole. I see that day as the turning point in my Jiu-Jitsu. The next day however, I received a phone call.

I hope you guys enjoyed this part of 'My Jiu-Jitsu Journey', and part 11 will be published soon.

Catch you later,

Giordano