The first Wednesday of the month is always test day for the White Belt Basics class at Third Law, and students come to class prepared to show off their best form in the moves they’ve been learning all month.
In May, we focused on Guard Passing, drilling bullfighting, over under, double under, knee cut, x pass, longstep and more. It’s always incredible at the end of the month to realize how many techniques we get into just four weeks, and it’s a great challenge to incorporate all of them into your game during grappling.
But this month, Master Roberto had a surprise for the 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. classes: We tested our newly mastered moves on our teammates, who were told to resist 100 percent.
Master Roberto watches as Carty Seay works the over under pass on Mikhail Dye
Usually during the test you pair up and drill the techniques again and again, getting in a lot of high-intensity reps. This is how the 4 p.m. class did their test this month with Coach Joey Ruggiero. The benefits of this kind of test are that you get in a lot of drill repetitions and get a great workout.
The students who tried the resistance testing experienced different benefits: We got to see how well our passes actually worked against a resisting opponent and to watch our teammates troubleshoot their passes.
Tony works his bullfighting pass on Matt as the 7 p.m. White Belt Basics class watches
The students working on their passes were allowed to start with the grips or position needed, and then had to fight for their pass from that position. So, for example, with the bullfighting pass the student who was trying to pass started by grabbing their opponent’s pants. When the whistle was blown, the student playing guard immediately tried to thwart the bullfighting pass.
Sometimes, after all the students tried a particular pass, Master Roberto saw students struggling with similar details or problems.
Master Roberto demonstrates one of the ways to finish the stacked double under pass
After the test, Master Roberto asked whether the students liked the 100 percent resistance style test or the drilling test better. The students agreed that there were different benefits to both types of testing, and Master Roberto said we’d see both types of tests in the future.
A number of students got their next level White Belts after this month’s test. Congratulations to:
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Eric Luna — Half White, Half Blue belt
Jeffrey Lucas — White Belt with two blue stripes
Joe Randall — White Belt with two blue stripes
Carty Seay — White Belt with two blue stripes
Moses Cruz — White Belt with two blue stripes
Tony Orbegoso — White Belt with one blue stripe
Gary Waskovich — White Belt with one blue stripe
Tony Orbegoso, left, Carty Seay and Moses Cruz moved up to their next-level White Belts after the May 2011 White Belt Basics test
