06.09.2007 100 things you should do before reaching black beltBased on the experience of established fighters, GRACIE Magazine puts together a goal plan of the most daring kind for the unconditional Jiu-Jitsu lover
By Marcelo Dunlop and Raphael Nogueira* / Photos by Gustavo Aragao / Illustrations by Gustavo Villa Nova
 Regret is not one of the most pleasant things in life. Overall, we suffer a ton when we think of the past and regret having done or not done something or the other at a determined point in our lives. That is how, in a philosophic manner, GRACIE Magazine went after 40 Jiu-Jitsu instructors and asked: If you could go back in time, what would you do differently in your career before reaching black belt?
“I regret not having followed a good diet. I only started worrying about that now, I’ve seen how doing so yields such extremely positive results,” André Galvão responded. Keeping in mind that Galvão was already an impressive athlete at purple belt, imagine if a sophisticated dietary regime had helped him attain even more spectacular performances.
Breaking down in detail each instructor’s response, GRACIE Magazine made a list of 100 things you should do before reaching black belt (and 20 more you shouldn’t do). If you are already a black belt, the list still counts as a review of your career and even as stimulus to create your own list of goals to complete before receiving your red belt. At no time did we have the pretext of creating a universal decree, a recipe book. Each athlete will take the path he/she wishes to, but with a script based on the experiences of established fighters at hand. We believe that, as the path comes to an end, you will have a greater chance of looking back and feeling satisfied.
1 » Like Jiu-Jitsu.
2 » Love Jiu-Jitsu.
3 » Respect Jiu-Jitsu.
4 » Learn to apply the right amount of force and technique, so as to fight as long as you can without tiring.
5 » Learn that the belt is not the only objective, but the result of effort and learning. One whose only objective is to get the new belt limits one’s own potential, which is always enormous and unknown. Rather than focus on that, worry about developing technical aspects of the fight.
6 » Know the entire program of basic classes inside out and back to front.
7 » Study self-defense techniques in depth, to the point of being a master. Do you want to be the kind of black belt that despairs at just having to get out of a basic choke?
8 » Have a grueling training session with your own master.
9 » Make several close friends in the gym.
10 » Dispute a championship and return home with the gold medal.
11 » Dispute the open-weight category.
12 » Realize that deep, deep down, points and the clock do not exist, while nothing is more real than the three little taps.
13 » Participate in a seminar conducted by your greatest idol.
14 » Learn to speak Portuguese, the original language of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
15 » Apply a flying armbar during a fight. Or at least try.
16 » Fight in a World Championship.
17 » Invent a move – be it by chance, intuition or full consciousness.
18 » Give the move you invented an original name, like “the flying butterfly,” “get-the-sucker,” “gogoplata” or “fireball,” for example.
19 » Try out a variety of different diets until you discover two or three that really work to stimulate your body, before, during and after competitions.
20 » Do at least a year of judo – if intense throw training is not customary in your gym.
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