I am a 2nd Dan now, having achieved promotion to this grade in June 1998. On my "way up", I have had many training partners, beginning with my daughter, who introduced me to ju jitsu (and also taught me the value of wearing a groin guard!) She has long since given up, but I will always be grateful to her for getting me involved in one of the abiding passions of my life. Thanks, Emma! She was followed by Forbes Cutler, who stayed with me until we were both Blue Belts then knackered his knees playing football. Then I trained with Chris Waring for a while and we took our Brown Belt together. We both survived, just, and Chris is also now a Black Belt and an instructor. In 1993, while we were Brown Belts, Chris won the coveted sword and I won the Jude Silva-Netto award. He was succeeded by Tracy Pocock, with whom I took 1st Dan. Tracy has since given up ju jitsu to concentrate on her husband. Lucky man! After that, there has been no regular partner and I took 2nd Dan with my sensei, Allan Etches, 3rd Dan coach of Rochester Ju Jitsu Club. Allan is much younger than me, but nowhere near as good looking. To compensate, he's pretty good at ju jitsu and I owe him a lot. Cheers, Sensei!
Click here to visit Allan's website.