Adams Yellow Grade

Jon Purton
Mar 7, 2018
2 min read

I'm sure he won't mind me mentioning that Adam has had to work though some serious problems with his health over many past years, after a hit and run motorcycle accident left him almost paralysed he's been left with permanent nerve damage, pain and a significant reduction in mobility.

I think any martial arts instructor would be a little nervous about training someone with serious medical condition, but I have to say that training with Adam has been a complete joy and I'm so glad I've had the privilege to get to know him over the last year or so. His enthusiasm for his training and his determination to push and surpass his limits has been nothing short of inspirational.

When talking about grading, Adam is almost the exact opposite of Jamie, who recently passed his Orange Grade. Jamie is much more concerned abut being 100% confident he can do the best he possibly can. Refusing to grade about 3 times before finally taking the plunge on Feb 14th, and passing with flying colours.

Adam is a different beast, in his head he was ready for his yellow grading about 2 weeks after his white. (I set a 16 week minimum for Phase 1 gradings.) My best attempts to quell this enthusiasm and get him to focus on the progress made physically and making sure his competence was 100% before grading I thought were falling on deaf ears.

However I was pleasantly surprised. Adam has benefited from over 10hours of private tuition from me and it really shows. Despite his mobility issues, he showed great mechanical efficiency, technical skill and a ferocity that makes anyone who comes up against him immediately want to back off.

Attitude is something that you cannot teach. Sometimes it's hard to reign him in but inevitably he always seems to come good when put under pressure.

No doubt there is room for improvement, yet he has clear goals for when he wants to pass his Orange grade by and has committed to more private tuition. I'm certain that with his boundless positivity and will to push himself beyond his physical limitations he will achieve this goal.

Congratulations on passing your Yellow Grade.

Jon