Third Stripe Earned - One Step Closer to Purple Belt!

So it's been quite a while since my last rank advancement. I was beginning to think my coach had forgotten about me. ;-) J/K It's been a challenging but fun season thus far with the Pan Ams and World's in the bag. Our team is excited as ever to continue competing in tournaments across CA and beyond.

Last night I got to roll with King of The Cage Super Heavy Weight World Champion Neil "Chaos" Cooke once again. It's always a pleasure to be tossed around by Neil. He's a tough competitor but he's always helpful to everyone on Team C-Quence, even us geezers. Thanks for the roll Neil!

After class, our instructor John Kvenbo Munoz reviewed the team's performance at Worlds and handed out a few rank advancements, well more than a few. One of the lucky students to get a fresh new stripe was yours truly. Yippeee... I'm a Three Stripe Blue Belt!

I've been pretty excited to take this next step closer to my purple belt. As most competitors know Blue Belt can be a sketchy time in your advancement. It's a time where bad habits stand out like "North Star Zits" in your game and it's a time to refine and solidify trusted go to techniques in your winning strategy, all the while trying to learn as much new technique as you can.

As in every martial art BJJ students must face long up-hill climbs in the learning process, long flat plateaus where nothing feels right and enormous leaps forward in sudden explosive advances in skill. I think my Blue Belt experience has been all of this and more for me. It's been a great time for me to focus my game, learn where my bad habits are and reinforce new knowledge and old to become a better more skilled competitor. But man do I have sooooooo long to go. :-)

So it's back to the mat in preparation for the many tournaments that still lay ahead. I'm excited for the rest of the season and am looking forward to some good learning experiences along the way.

Thanks to everyone who has been helping me to become a better Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioner and competitor.

Happy Training,

Kenneth Knapp
Blue Belt, III Stripes
C-Quence Jiu Jitsu
Chief Instructor John Kvenbo Munoz
Norco, CA