Promotion!

Today was a great day at BJJ. Emilia has been dedicated and worked hard to learn and grow in judo and jiujitsu.

She had her first belt promotion/ceremony today! Moving from a White Belt, earning stripes along the way, to now being a new fledgling Yellow-White belt.

I asked her how she felt getting her new belt, and her response was "shy." Happy and shy. =) I guess it is being in front of a lot of people, clapping and cheering for her. And then she needs to go down the line, respectfully bow and shake hands with all the black belt senseis.

A special thing the kids witnessed too, was Sensei Paulo getting his promotion. Sensei has been a black belt for the past 28 years, and today he was promoted to what he calls, the last belt he will ever receive, the red-white belt.

Sensei also had a great talk about how the stripes are just regular tape that you can buy from Home Depot. A belt is just a belt you can order online. But to those that practice and put in their hard work, their effort.. each achievement is about the cumulation of their hard work, effort, wins and loses, and skills and experience that the belt/stripes are symbolic of. That's something that one cannot simply buy, so be proud of where you are at, with each and every achievement.

Sensei, of course, was emotional, as this is his life's work and passion. Not sure the kids really understand all that much at this age, but I think it is great for them to see their Sensei getting promoted and re-iterate his dedication towards the sport and development for future generations.

After the ceremony, E with her new belt.

And her official promotion certificate.

The BJJ familia, group photo.

Super proud of E and celebrating the moment today, but back to consistent hard work and dedication. Yellow-white belts will definitely now be more challenging for Emilia to spar with, but open up more opportunities to learn and hone her skills more. At the same time, I'm hoping that Liam will get that spark of understanding that will help him grow. Emilia knows what this is all about.. you can see her observing and processing during practice. Liam.. it is still fun and games. He has improved since the early days though, there is definitely less lying on the mats now.