It’s always exciting to be in class on test day, whether you’ve been taking classes for years or it’s your very first week at Third Law.
One of the best things about our school is the progressive, year-long white belt basics curriculum, and on test day, we put our knowledge to the test.
Each month, we work on a certain area of BJJ in the white belt basics classes, starting slow with simple movements and learning more advanced techniques as the month progresses.
Then, on the first Wednesday of the next month the school tests students on the techniques — and if they pass, they get a stripe.
A photo of the good looking group at 7 p.m., with the two new white belts in the front -- Scottie Tucker and Kerrie Durham. Other students got new belts in other classes: Christopher Marrie and Luis Chaves
Six students tested during the 7 a.m. class on Wednesday, May 4 , 8 tested at 4 p.m. and the 7 p.m. class was the biggest, with 18 people including two students who were doing their second class ever (Great Job Marco and Jenn!).
Three of our hardest working teenagers Scottie Tucker, Luis Chaves and Kerrie Durham earned their next level white belts and dedicated Morning Class student Christopher Marrie got his next white belt as well.
It all started with mobility drill warm ups that we’ve been working on all month to develop our open guard motions.
The curriculum is based on progressive physical movements, starting simple and then moving into more advanced techniques as the month progresses. So no matter where you start, the curriculum allows the instructors to break down the movements and help you figure them out.
After the mobility drills, we worked with partners on open guard basics including straight line theory and four points of control, and last but not least we worked on guard defenses including breaking grips and double-under and over-under defenses.
Then, at the end of class, Master Roberto gave stripes to each person who passed the test. To earn each new belt you have to get four black stripes on your current belt. Many students get their blue belts before they progress through all the white belts by competing or demonstrating to Master Roberto that they’re ready, but there is always the option to progress slowly and then do a very intensive test at the end.
Progression of white belts. To earn each new stripe students must master the month's curriculum and test for a stripe. Four stripes earns the next belt.
Scottie, Luis, Carrie and Chris are all great examples of students who are working hard, putting in consistent effort with attendance, note taking and focus, and seeing the results pay off.
Scottie started in the Juniors class and though he’s only a teenager he trains in the adults classes, giving much larger opponents a tough time. He’s been competing every chance he gets, and winning golds has become the norm for him in both gi and no gi.
Carrie has been working really hard attending the afternoon 4 p.m. class. She pays very close attention, and when she doesn’t understand something she pulls the instructors aside and asks questions to make sure she gets it right. She’s excited to compete, and we can’t wait to see where her drive takes her!
Carrie and Scottie show off their new belts and represent Team Lloyd Irvin!
Luis has been working hard in both the BJJ and MMA classes, training a lot in the afternoon in Coach Joey’s classes. He’s come a long way since he started and is very focused on improvement. He just did the competition team tryouts and plans on doing his first competition at NAGA this month.
Here Luis films Master Roberto during a school event. He just got his white belt with one blue stripe. Photo to come...
Christopher Marrie has been working hard in morning classes, Combat Gold and also in private lessons with Coach Joey, improving his BJJ game with constant, persistent effort. With this belt promotion he moves from white belt with one blue stripe to white belt with two blue stripes.
Christopher Marrie got his white belt with two blue stripes on Wednesday morning. Chris is a dedicated Morning Class student, and also attends Combat Gold.
Congrats to everyone who got a new belt and to everyone who did the test! Stay tuned to find out who gets a new belt next month… will it be you?
The team worked hard during the test, but we couldn't keep a straight face the whole time...
