Gradings Are Goal Setting
Clarification Of Our Grading System
Belt – Grading Clarification
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Before the Cryo refit, we used to have the belt grading system up in reception for all to see the FF journey from viper to adult. We will again soon.
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See the pics below, Viper belt is actually white all the way through with a coloured stripe
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Cadets are a solid belt until Black stages when its the reverse of a viper belt, it’s Black with a white stripe through the middle
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All clubs have their own variation and system, BJJ for example has a completely different colour system for kids, as do we. The problem here is, and maybe it’s down to our lack of communication. Is that some kids think they are being demoted when they move up an age group
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Viper Belts are a white belt with a coloured stripe through them.
Cadet black belt is the reverse of a viper belt
An adult Black Belt is solid black
Similar to the school system primary, secondary, Further Education (FE) and Higher Education (HE).
We have Vipers – Cadets – Adults and then we split each group into two levels, Year 1 & Year 2 and above.
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It’s possible for a Viper to get a Viper Black belt at age 9, if we continued this grading in cadets they would be a higher grade than all the coaches age 12 then as an adult they would have achieved the highest grade in martial arts globally in their 20’s.
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Some perspective, my BJJ coach is in his 60’s, considered one of the best coaches on planet earth, is a 6th dan black belt.
Gradings are awarded on a variety of skills, as you know in the vipers we have life skills as part of the journey as we believe it’s important to not solely focus on physical ability.
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Now life skills in cadets are not cool, so although we dont give stars, we do watch, listen and pay attention to manners, attitude, coachability, listening skills and a wide range of attributes. Punching and kicking will get you so far in life, as you hear me say a lot, off the mats as on, this is our coaching philosophy.
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Adults, you are simply big kids, as is life, work hard, be cool, do the things others avoid and hey presto, promotion. Or you run your own show, you need me to explain nothing eh, you have cried yourself to sleep like me too.
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As someone whos been training BJJ for over 20 years, I got my first belt 6 years ago, so 14 years of training before my first ever belt. Ive been training my backside off the last 6 years and hey presto, no purple belt,,, the next grade…
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Gradings are important, they are a measure of our growth and teach us goal setting. When/If we dont quite reach that goal as expected, we re-assess our thinking, work on what’s needed and move forward. Gradings replicate life, we dont always get what we want, we sometimes are more sure of ourselves than we should be.
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Speak to any fighter, ask Dom with his broken jaw and smashed ribs what it’s like to not get what you want in front of all your family and friends after putting your blood sweat and tears into the comp/grading/goal, and I really mean those things.
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The defeat, the loss, the crushing humility of it all, to get back up, walk into the gym the next day and teach the kids with a smile
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Thats a fighter, that’s what a true warrior looks like, as we sit there and watch the footage and discuss what went wrong and how we improve he listens to his coaches. He doesn’t want to, it’s too raw emotionally on Monday morning, but he goes through it. We all do, we grow, we adapt, we dig in and we never ever complain or make excuses, we figure out what’s required and we prove ourselves
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WE FIGHT