Alex Promoted to Black Belt
Today was an important day for BJJ Lab. Together with Espen Mathiesen, I had the honor of promoting Alex to black belt. He is the first black belt I have promoted as a coach.
Alex has had a lot of success in competition at every belt level. He has consistently won in his Master 3 division, including at major international competitions. Most recently, he competed at IBJJF Munich, where he went down an age division and still put on a dominant performance to take first place.
Alex has shown us that the old cliché that masters athletes can only play half guard is simply not true. He plays an amazing open guard game and uses everything from berimbolos to DLR X. His top game is just as good. He makes his game work effortlessly in competition and is proof that the same modern jiu jitsu we see from younger competitors can work just as well in the masters divisions.
Over the years, he has spent an incredible amount of time studying the sport and has built an almost encyclopedic knowledge of jiu jitsu. He has never been complacent. He is always evolving and always looking for the next thing to learn. Beyond that, he regularly travels to seminars and camps to learn from some of the best people in the world.
That approach has also had an impact on the people around him. Vlad, who is now a purple belt, has trained a lot with Alex over the years and learned a huge amount from him. Alex really took him under his wing and the two still spend a lot of time training together.
I also think Alex has inspired many of our older members with his modern game. He has shown that there is no reason to stop developing your jiu jitsu just because you are no longer one of the youngest people on the mat.
I’m very happy that I’ve been able to be part of his journey in the sport so far and that he is the first person I’ve been able to promote to black belt.
Black belt division, watch out.
For those wondering about the white bar: at BJJ Lab, we have two black belt paths. The white bar represents the competitor path and the red bar the instructor path. Someone who completes both wears a red bar with two white stripes at the ends.
