New jujitsu colors

This weekend I passed my second Danzan-Ryu jujitsu rank test. I don’t feel like I did nearly as well as my first test, but I was told it was nevertheless a good test.

As of next Saturday, I will have an orange belt. I’ve never really felt a desire to chase rank in either judo or jujitsu, however, I must confess that it is nice to have some recognition of achievement. Though I’ve only been doing jujitsu for about 5 months, I feel like I’ve been advancing very rapidly as a result of my more extensive judo training and a smidge of aikido.

Advancement may only seem quick in comparison to judo where I’ve felt some stagnation of late. I’ve still got my trusty yellow belt after nearly two years of training in the style. So, given my relatively speedy advancement in jujitsu, I have to wonder if I’m A) very slow at judo, B) quick at jujitsu, or C) my judo dojo just doesn’t care much about advancement. I don’t particularly care about rank, however the lack of parity between the two styles definitely has me wondering if I’m at the right place in my judo training.

I’ve been enjoying jujitsu more than judo lately, I think it may have to do with the more rigid class structure. For whatever, the more clearly defined parameters and the practiced repetition of kata forms in jujitsu has made me feel much more creative in judo of late. I also feel like I’m past a barrier of perpetually worrying about injury. I feel like I can take most falls these days, and so I’m less inclined to tense up when being thrown.

With a bit of excitement at having passed a test, and a little trepidation with my judo rank, I continue to train in both. Nothing is changed, I will just look a little more colorful on the mat.

Comments (archived)

John G, on Feb. 10th, 2006 wrote:
Sounds like your head is at the right place.
keep up the good work.
I study in Boston MA, please check out the basic site I built for my Professor http://www.traditional.ws