New Black Belt At Kyuzo

I love belt test days. They’re great craic. We do it differently to a lot of places. If you want to get a new belt, it’s a 45 minute Shark Tank on the mats, with a fresh partner every score.

This is an exhausting test of your skill, your fitness, and your mental strength. I do it this way because I want to test all of that. I want you to be put under pressure and to see what your Jiu Jitsu is like when you’re really under the cosh.

On Saturday, I presented deserved new blue belts to Annika, Dave, Reuben, Eden, Caolan, and Nathan.

I gave a purple belt to Ronan and Caimin, who got a rough ride from their team mates in the Tank, but who came through still scoring at the end.

And I gave out 2 new brown belts to Paul and Ryan. At 52, Paul is one of the fittest guys on the mat, and despite me surprising him with the test on Saturday, he’s always ready. Ryan is a savage competitor, so he had no issues.

There are no easy belts.

And there’s definitely no easy black belts. On Saturday I had the privilege of tying one around Dave Akinyemi’s waist for the first time. Dave is a long time in the game, and his training level has never dropped in the decade he’s been on the mat. He’s a deserved Black Belt in Jiu Jitsu now. He joins the short list on our board of Black Belts.

There were some awards too. Young Grappler of the year went to Imogen Cleary, who at just 13 is training in adults sessions as well as her teens ones. Competitor of the year went to Padraig Mannion for his year of success which included a gold at the European Masters. The Shafty Award, which celebrates the worst habits in Jiu Jitsu went to Adam Kearney this year. Mike Kelly got the award for Most Improved, deservedly so.

All of those were voted for by the membership, but I gave out one more to Ryan Gallagher, the inaugural Pig Of the Year Award. Pig is a term of respect I give to the sort of guy or girl who trains like a pig- gets down and dirty and enjoys the hard work, and this one I nominate myself. He’ll have to mind the fluffy pig until he passes it on next year to another pig of my choice.

Well done to all. One of the best parts of my job is rewarding people for their hard work on days like this.

See you on the mat,

Barry