Got my Purple last night from Marcelo Garcia. A true honor. Might have happened sooner if had never discovered 10th Planet though.
When Marcelo opened his academy in NYC in 2009 I had 4 stripes on my Blue Belt (from Marcos Santos, currently a 5th degree Black Belt under Rigan Machado and Carlos Machado). For my first 3 years at Marcelo's academy I took nogi classes only. To this day, nogi training is the only training I fully enjoy. The Lockdown and Rubber Guard (Muddy Waters) is the core of my nogi game. Needless to say, during those 3 years, I did not receive one promotion from Marcelo.
Two years ago, when I went back to gi training, I chose to remove the stripes from my Blue Belt. The level of training is so high at Marcelo's that I felt a no stripe Blue Belt was a more accurate reflection of my true rank. One year later, Marcelo gave me 3 stripes. And last night, he promoted me to Purple. In total, I spent 10 years at Blue Belt. So for anyone out there who feels their promotions don't come fast enough, remember that
When Marcelo opened his academy in NYC in 2009 I had 4 stripes on my Blue Belt (from Marcos Santos, currently a 5th degree Black Belt under Rigan Machado and Carlos Machado). For my first 3 years at Marcelo's academy I took nogi classes only. To this day, nogi training is the only training I fully enjoy. The Lockdown and Rubber Guard (Muddy Waters) is the core of my nogi game. Needless to say, during those 3 years, I did not receive one promotion from Marcelo.
Two years ago, when I went back to gi training, I chose to remove the stripes from my Blue Belt. The level of training is so high at Marcelo's that I felt a no stripe Blue Belt was a more accurate reflection of my true rank. One year later, Marcelo gave me 3 stripes. And last night, he promoted me to Purple. In total, I spent 10 years at Blue Belt. So for anyone out there who feels their promotions don't come fast enough, remember that
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Originally Posted by Ric
