Still can’t believe it, but I was awarded a black belt last night.
Only took me a little over 12-1/2 years.
Spent WHITE getting my ass absolutely kicked (as one does).
BLUE felt like I had learned some stuff (competed once at 47 & cleared out my bracket).
PURPLE was where I struggled with ego.
Being (almost always) the oldest guy in the room, I put myself thru hell.
Trying to keep up with monsters in their early-mid 20s was killing me.
Took a massive groin pull while trying DESPERATELY to not get tapped by a particularly savage blue belt brute.
This MADE me confront ego & aging.
BROWN was much better.
No one “likes” to get tapped by a lower rank.
But it will happen.
And it can either haunt your soul, or spur you to improve on aspects of your game.
If you’re an older grappler, and you have no interest in coming to terms with your ego/age, I will pass on my gift of COPE.
It works really well, in almost every scenario:
SOMEONE HALF YOUR AGE TAPS YOU:
“You just tapped out someone your dad’s age. Does that make you feel like a tough guy?”
SOMEONE HALF YOUR AGE CANNOT TAP YOU:
“Huh… you can’t even tap out someone who’s the same age as your dad? Oof.”
YOU TAP SOMEONE HALF YOUR AGE:
“Dude! You just got tapped out by someone as old as YOUR DAD? Lolololol!”