I received my black belt today after 13.5 years of training.
I started at a TKD school that had a grappling program affiliated with a BJJ black belt. We were in a small rural town in Nebraska, and so that was the best available and I was fine with starting something there. However, I left when they broke the affiliation.
I then travelled 1.5 hours, twice a week, to train with a brown belt (later black belt) named Ed Shobe in Omaha Nebraska. I would bring back what I learned, and with his permission, I'd have BJJ lessons in my basement on 12 x 18 feet of mat space. We did that until a school could be started in the town of Lincoln, NE. Later, I moved to Omaha and continued to train at Mid American Martial Arts with Ed, Anthony Carlson, Matt Lippold, Aaron Cerrone and many others.
I then had the opportunity to move to Colorado Springs, to teach cadets at the Air Fofrce Academy. I started training with Marcelo Motta at Prime BJJ. This year I knew that I was getting close to black belt, but after taking a bronze medal at the World Senior Masters tournanment in November, my professor confirmed it.
I've been here on Sherdog for most of that journey, with this forum helping me find appropriate places to train, helping with technique and just friendships (I've met a few people here in person).
Thanks for the ride. It's been good. Now, if I can just keep training until I'm 78, I can get that red/black belt.
