#Fixada - is an old tradition that continues to remain a part of our team's Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu grading ceremonies.
It consists of recipients walking between two lines of their training partners while getting whipped with their Jiu-Jitsu Belts.
It's the last sacrifice recipients must face to solidify their new ranks. It is symbolic of the final obstacle between you and your aspirations.
This right of passage is completed at Blue, Purple and Brown Belts and may be completed with the Gi Jacket either on or off.
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A BRIEF HISTORY AND THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS TRADITION IN OUR LINEAGE:
I began training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in 2002 at the Red Backs Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Self-Defence Academy in Perth, Western Australia, at the age of 14.
Returning to New Plymouth in 2004, I began training under the tutelage of my Father (Pina Simpson) and Carl Moke, who were both also white belts at the time, out of their newly established BJJ Taranaki Academy.
During that time, BJJ was still in its infancy here in Aotearoa with our school being one of only a handful of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Clubs in New Zealand.
As such, our primary training focus was to be prepared to prove the effectiveness of our art against any other style in any ruleset or circumstance.
At the age of 15, I attended a Gracie Barra training camp in Sydney, Australia.
At this camp, I was awarded my Blue Belt by Professor Marcello Rezende making me the youngest recipient of this grade in Australasia and one of only a small pool of BJJ coloured belts in Aotearoa.
It was at this grading that we were first introduced to Fixada, with many of the Australian belt recipients running the gauntlet.
Grading together with my Father and Carl that day, it was collectively decided that as early adopters and representatives of BJJ in Aotearoa, we would represent our people by embracing the process and setting a new standard amongst our teams to walk the line.
Returning to New Zealand as Blue Belts we began competing in any competitions we could find. The New Zealand Ju-Jitsu Federation had a successful Sport Ju-Jitsu National Circuit, holding frequent open-grade multi-style grappling and free-fighting tournaments around the NZ North Island.
Competing against many other styles of traditional Ju-Jitsu, Judo, Wrestling, Ninjutsu and others our club quickly rose to become one of the top Academies in the competition circuit.
As interest and popularity in BJJ spread, we continued to pursue our goal of proving the effectiveness of our art against any other style in any ruleset or circumstance.
Travelling the country and finding ongoing competition success across codes, our team, club and styles reputation grew.
In 2007 I received my Purple Belt, again from Professor Marcello Rezende. The tradition of walking the line continued within our organisation and a decision was made that the jacket would be removed for Purple Belt Gradings.
In the years that followed, my father graded ahead of us to become the first Brown Belt in our organisation. In honour of the traditions we had established, the final task was set - to walk the gauntlet, bare skin raised elbows with the lower ribs and stomach completely exposed.
Once this final test was passed, the recipient would no longer walk the line again for any subsequent gradings. Having squared their balance with the universe for the pain, suffering and sacrifices at each step along the path to #BlackBelt,
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This video is of my final Fixada, after receiving my Brown Belt from Marcello Rezende Black Belt Professor Steve Oliver, in New Plymouth in 2012.
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Nowadays, this tradition isn't as strict as it originally was - it's now completely up to the recipient to decide whether they walk or run the line or whether they wear or remove their gi jacket.
The essence of this tradition, and why we choose to hold onto it, is to provide our graduates with a universal right of passage that is shared by all before them, within our organisation.
By overcoming fear and walking head-on through adversity, summarised in a brief moment of physical suffering, our Blue, Purple and Brown Belts are taught to never let anybody cause them to doubt the worthiness of their grades.
This exercise creates strong, confident and resilient self-belief systems, in graduates, that is internally validated.
The development of strong, self-aware and self-assured individuals is a core element in helping us fulfilling our organisational vision of building "empowered, resilient and connected communities”.
- Mr Ronin
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