In BJJ gyms, performance in combat is “supposed” to dictate promotions - other factors certainly are in play, especially at lower belts but the system is ideally combat tested.
Manushree Saxena a girl in India, recieved her blackbelt at the age of four. I won’t say more.
If we look at the history of Karate, for example, in say the '70's I don't think anyone could argue for or against it's validity as an effective martial art because everyone was training to master it and those who sought out training was generally pretty committed. Then of course the karate kid came out in 1984 and there was an unsustainable influx of interest in karate but that interest was fleeting. Coaches were renting larger spaces and then losing their students because it became a fad. In order to keep interest up many would use belt promotion to keep students engaged but then we ended up with a bunch of blackbelts who weren't what a 1970's blackbelt would have been opening their own schools and thinking they were amazing and then their students got black belts and opened their schools and now karate is very much so watered down from what it used to be with many black belt teachers out there having never sparred a day in their lives. Keep that in the back of your mind.
In 1993 the UFC held it's first events and before then people were mostly looking at karate, kung fu/jeet kun do, aikido, and other predominantly standing styles. Well, the Gracies and Machados came in and cleaned house with BJJ and suddenly there were schools everywhere, most of them Gracie Barra. Over the last 30 years BJJ has evolved with a sort of tribalism to it, especially as every coach desires to stand out. Gracie Barra, however, took the opposite approach and wanted a more streamlined brand which has kind of shut down innovation within their schools. Eddie Bravo developed 10th Planet which the likes of Jean Jaques Machado have shut down by demonstrating that more foundational/traditional BJJ can kill most techniques within the rubber guard system. Meanwhile, there have been wrestlers who have been promoted very fast prompting the IBJJF to create belt minimum guidelines (you must be a white belt for at least 2 years, blue for 2, purple for 1, and brown for 1 I think) in order to combat the watering down of the art. This has lead to many Gracie Barra schools promoting based entirely on attendance rather than proficiency. That being said, because BJJ is a living martial art with new theories and games being invented every day what does having a black belt even mean anymore. A couple years ago there was a black belt who controversially demoted himself to purple belt because he felt the world of BJJ had advanced so far ahead of what he learned to earn his black belt.
There's also the question of why are YOU doing it and what do you want to get out of it? How does one decide when to promote someone who doesn't compete in tournaments seeing as tournaments are an overall gauge of where the BJJ community is as a whole. Clearly a whitebelt who always takes home gold should probably be promoted, right? But if you never compete then how does a coach decide? I think for the lower belts it can be a little easier to judge as there are indicators of proficiency so I'll share what my coach told me:
For white:
First stripe: attended the lowest numbered 12 of the 48 core classes.
Second stripe: attended the 13th-24th
3rd: tested on the first 12
4th: tested on 13-24
bluebelt: tested on all 24 classes and can demonstrate the techniques in live rolling
1st stripe: tested on classes 25-36
2nd: tested on 37-48
3rd: live rolling and competition performance
4th: live rolling and competition performance
Purple belt: specialization in a position or concept
*it is during this phase that you are expected to change your specializations a few times before your next promotion
Brown belt: development of a full game
Black: Demonstrated a full understanding of the core concepts of BJJ
Black belt stripes: performance and contribution to to advancement of BJJ
There are a lot of factors that will come up in all BJJ journeys. You will get older, slower, you will have health problems and BJJ will get you injured and that's all part of the process. The question really is why should anyone get promoted? What does it say about a coach who promotes too readily? Does one person's promotion mean that BJJ will advance or water it down? Ultimately I think it comes down to whether or not the candidate loves and respects the art and how they understand it and can show that they understand it. As a coach you don't want to have a brown belt in your school that a blue belt obviously knows more keeps schooling. I have been in that position and I didn't go to that school. I've been a blue belt for I think 8 years and I will probably have two more before I go purple simply because I have been out of the game for a couple years and now I'm healing from a meniscus tear.
My advice to anyone wanting promotion is to talk to your coach and ask what you should be focusing on, not in order to get your next belt but in order to get better. Ask what strengths you have or weaknesses. Do stupid shit when you roll that you found on youtube. Read a book. Drill something fancy. Drill something boring. Focus on your weakest game (for me it's standing). Roll with intention. Make intentional mistakes with better grapplers to see how they handle it.
The last thought comes from Bruce Lee in his rejection of belts and that is it'll either be there when you need it or it won't. You could be a black belt in anything and if it doesn't work or you don't remember it/it doesn't come automatically then the color of your belt is meaningless.
Great reply, and thanks for your coaches thoughts too, which I would agree with. I think that’s how it works at our gym. I’m a four stripe white belt.
I’m also probably the oldest guy there. I don’t think age comes into promotion, (nor should finances) and we all have to work with what we have. As an older guy, I know I can’t do very fast or very athletic moves like younger guys do, but I have other moves that will work in defending.
I have a question and welcome answers/suggestions of all opposing views, popular or unpopular.
The question is this. Should things such as age, attendance, body type, flexibility, availability of competing (finances, injuries, health, etc) be considered or not be considered when one is being or not being considered for a belt promotion? All answers are welcome as the idea is to get a general consensus that is fair to all concerned. Thanks
LaudyStud (2)
2024-05-20 23:38In BJJ gyms, performance in combat is “supposed” to dictate promotions - other factors certainly are in play, especially at lower belts but the system is ideally combat tested.
Manushree Saxena a girl in India, recieved her blackbelt at the age of four. I won’t say more.
ChrisWrestling (38 )
2024-05-21 21:42(w odpowiedzi na)
In Karate. The IBJJF actually prohibits minors (under 18 I think) from obtaining a black belt
ChrisWrestling (38 )
2024-05-20 05:56If we look at the history of Karate, for example, in say the '70's I don't think anyone could argue for or against it's validity as an effective martial art because everyone was training to master it and those who sought out training was generally pretty committed. Then of course the karate kid came out in 1984 and there was an unsustainable influx of interest in karate but that interest was fleeting. Coaches were renting larger spaces and then losing their students because it became a fad. In order to keep interest up many would use belt promotion to keep students engaged but then we ended up with a bunch of blackbelts who weren't what a 1970's blackbelt would have been opening their own schools and thinking they were amazing and then their students got black belts and opened their schools and now karate is very much so watered down from what it used to be with many black belt teachers out there having never sparred a day in their lives. Keep that in the back of your mind.
In 1993 the UFC held it's first events and before then people were mostly looking at karate, kung fu/jeet kun do, aikido, and other predominantly standing styles. Well, the Gracies and Machados came in and cleaned house with BJJ and suddenly there were schools everywhere, most of them Gracie Barra. Over the last 30 years BJJ has evolved with a sort of tribalism to it, especially as every coach desires to stand out. Gracie Barra, however, took the opposite approach and wanted a more streamlined brand which has kind of shut down innovation within their schools. Eddie Bravo developed 10th Planet which the likes of Jean Jaques Machado have shut down by demonstrating that more foundational/traditional BJJ can kill most techniques within the rubber guard system. Meanwhile, there have been wrestlers who have been promoted very fast prompting the IBJJF to create belt minimum guidelines (you must be a white belt for at least 2 years, blue for 2, purple for 1, and brown for 1 I think) in order to combat the watering down of the art. This has lead to many Gracie Barra schools promoting based entirely on attendance rather than proficiency. That being said, because BJJ is a living martial art with new theories and games being invented every day what does having a black belt even mean anymore. A couple years ago there was a black belt who controversially demoted himself to purple belt because he felt the world of BJJ had advanced so far ahead of what he learned to earn his black belt.
There's also the question of why are YOU doing it and what do you want to get out of it? How does one decide when to promote someone who doesn't compete in tournaments seeing as tournaments are an overall gauge of where the BJJ community is as a whole. Clearly a whitebelt who always takes home gold should probably be promoted, right? But if you never compete then how does a coach decide? I think for the lower belts it can be a little easier to judge as there are indicators of proficiency so I'll share what my coach told me:
For white:
First stripe: attended the lowest numbered 12 of the 48 core classes.
Second stripe: attended the 13th-24th
3rd: tested on the first 12
4th: tested on 13-24
bluebelt: tested on all 24 classes and can demonstrate the techniques in live rolling
1st stripe: tested on classes 25-36
2nd: tested on 37-48
3rd: live rolling and competition performance
4th: live rolling and competition performance
Purple belt: specialization in a position or concept
*it is during this phase that you are expected to change your specializations a few times before your next promotion
Brown belt: development of a full game
Black: Demonstrated a full understanding of the core concepts of BJJ
Black belt stripes: performance and contribution to to advancement of BJJ
There are a lot of factors that will come up in all BJJ journeys. You will get older, slower, you will have health problems and BJJ will get you injured and that's all part of the process. The question really is why should anyone get promoted? What does it say about a coach who promotes too readily? Does one person's promotion mean that BJJ will advance or water it down? Ultimately I think it comes down to whether or not the candidate loves and respects the art and how they understand it and can show that they understand it. As a coach you don't want to have a brown belt in your school that a blue belt obviously knows more keeps schooling. I have been in that position and I didn't go to that school. I've been a blue belt for I think 8 years and I will probably have two more before I go purple simply because I have been out of the game for a couple years and now I'm healing from a meniscus tear.
My advice to anyone wanting promotion is to talk to your coach and ask what you should be focusing on, not in order to get your next belt but in order to get better. Ask what strengths you have or weaknesses. Do stupid shit when you roll that you found on youtube. Read a book. Drill something fancy. Drill something boring. Focus on your weakest game (for me it's standing). Roll with intention. Make intentional mistakes with better grapplers to see how they handle it.
The last thought comes from Bruce Lee in his rejection of belts and that is it'll either be there when you need it or it won't. You could be a black belt in anything and if it doesn't work or you don't remember it/it doesn't come automatically then the color of your belt is meaningless.
f4leglock (10)
2024-05-20 22:14(w odpowiedzi na)
Great reply, and thanks for your coaches thoughts too, which I would agree with. I think that’s how it works at our gym. I’m a four stripe white belt.
I’m also probably the oldest guy there. I don’t think age comes into promotion, (nor should finances) and we all have to work with what we have. As an older guy, I know I can’t do very fast or very athletic moves like younger guys do, but I have other moves that will work in defending.
ChrisWrestling (38 )
2024-05-21 21:40(w odpowiedzi na)
There are people who get promoted to black belt at 80 years old, you got this buddy
f4leglock (10)
2024-05-21 22:21(w odpowiedzi na)
Thanks man. I’m just enjoying the journey, and the people I have met along the way. It’s been one of the most amazing sports I have ever done.
BJJWrestlerLasVegas (13)
2024-05-20 04:33I have a question and welcome answers/suggestions of all opposing views, popular or unpopular.
The question is this. Should things such as age, attendance, body type, flexibility, availability of competing (finances, injuries, health, etc) be considered or not be considered when one is being or not being considered for a belt promotion? All answers are welcome as the idea is to get a general consensus that is fair to all concerned. Thanks