One step closer to black belt #2.

Well Griff did it. Last night he successfully completed his test for his brown belt in Judo. He had to know 17 throws, 7 combinations, 6 counters, 5 pins, 3 turnovers from turtle guard, 2 sweeps from guard, 6 chokes, 2 escapes from turtle guard, 2 escapes from closed guard, and 2 arm bars. Whew! Got that? Me neither. He went from wearing a green belt to now wearing a brown belt. In Judo most fighters hold a brown for about 3 to 5 years. But Griff has always been faster than the average ninja, so we’ll see.

See that brown belt? That belt has a destiny.

Griff’s Mom Toni and her friend Frank came in from Baton Rouge, {BR}, on Thursday so they were able to watch Griff take his test. We are all so proud of him! Watching her son back in the martial arts world must have brought back memories from when Griff was a kid and his Tae Kwon Do days, {he holds a black belt}, because she kept telling stories about his glory days back in BR. She even brought one of his old gi’s from when he was little. It’s so small and so cute!

That’s Griff in the green belt… not for long!

Ok, with Griff’s help I am going to attempt to tell you what moves he’s doing. That’s an O Goshi {hip throw}, on the left and a O Soto Gari {outside reap} on the right.

On the left, Tate Shiho Gatame {a type of pin}. On the right Griff is turning the yellow belt over from turtle.

On the left, a turnover from turtle into an arm bar. Middle, Ude Garami, {an elbow lock}. And on the right, a turn over from turtle into the Bow and Arrow Choke.

See that guy sitting next to Griff? That 6’1, 230 lb guy? Yeeeeah, that was Griff’s sparing partner.

Here we go!

Bye, bye green.

Green. Meet Brown. Now suck it.

Griff with Kroon Sensei. {his Judo teacher Peter Kroon.}