That's right, people. White with a grey stripe.

Last weekend, Isaiah was invited to the belt promotion ceremony at his academy so that he could be promoted one belt level. In order to be promoted they, obviously, consider his skill level and ability, but another huge factor is the number of stripes on his belt. Each time he completes 20 classes, he receives one stripe on his belt. In order to be promoted, a student has to have at least 4 stripes on their belt. So, 80 classes at 3 classes per week (sometimes only 2 if we are out of town on Saturdays)...do the math and you can see the time and dedication that went into this promotion. Not only dedication from Isaiah, who attended all the classes, but dedication from ME, who had to drive him to every single one and entertain two screaming little bros for an hour while we wait for him! What the hell do I get out of this?! lol Oh yeah...bragging rights. :)

Before they began handing out belts, the kids did some drills and a few rounds of sparring. Here are a few shots of Isaiah in action.

Arm bar on Opponent #1

Trying to get mount on Opponent #1. Nice, firm base, Isaiah!
Arm bar on Opponent #2.
In case you can't tell, the arm bar is Isaiah's submission of choice. It's a motion of getting his opponent's arm and hyperextending it. Not sure why or how this became one of his favorite submissions, but he is damn good at it. You can see the motion of his opponent's hand as he taps.

Cross choke in another round with Opponent #2.Getting his belt from Charles Gracie himself. Apparently, Charles Gracie is something big in the jiu-jitsu realm. He has academies all over the Bay Area, Central Valley and even Truckee/Reno. We are fortunate that his home academy is the one in Tracy, so Isaiah is able to train with him frequently.

The kids that were promoted at this ceremony. These kids come from ALL of the academies. So that's another reason why we are lucky Tracy is Charles' home base...we didn't have to drive far and wide to get to this ceremony! These kids had to come from all over the place.

See the little girl with the white gi with pink collar? That will be our little Charlie in about four years! haha!

Posing with Mikey and Isaiah's BFF, Jake, who came to support his friend.

We picked up a nice shadowbox to display his old belt and medals. Not bad for a 6-year-old!! :)

We are a year and a half into the sport and Isaiah has developed immensely. He's already a pretty scary kid...I can't imagine when he's a teenager who's been practicing for 10+ years. I really think that martial arts is such a great outlet for kids. It has built his confidence, self-esteem, and most importantly, his self-control. No matter how good he gets at this stuff...the only place he exercises it all is on the mat at his gym...or maybe on the mat in our garage...because that is his very own personal dojo. :)