We don’t have a promotion season it’s completely up to coach. No test or fees either. When he thinks someone is ready they get called out at the end of class or sometimes during a roll. The only thing that’s always the same is promotions only happen during a gi class, that’s where he hides stripe tape and belts.
I’ve had conversations with my coach about his philosophy on promotions. He absolutely refuses to charge for promotions. The way he looks at it is that if you go to a college and pay for your college education, they don’t make you pay extra for getting your degree. You just get it. He feels the same way about jiu jitsu. On a personal level, I’ve been a white belt for about 3 years and don’t really want a promotion. There’s the added pressure once you have a colored belt. I just want to enjoy training without any pressure. I’m also 47 and about 135 lbs.
One of the first "red flags" for me is belt test fees. I am paying you to teach me, i should not have to pay you MORE to show you that you've taught me something. I recently moved and a VERY reputable school was close by and I checked it out. It was outrageously expensive, plus stripe (white tape LMFAO) and belt fees, absolutely no way to cancel your contract I literally asked "what if I come in the next day and one of your students breaks my leg?" i was told that i could not cancel. As well as a number of other red flag from that school. (DFW area)
Promotions are really chill at my academy, but take a long time. 3 + year white belts are pretty common. Every now and then the Prof pulls a belt out after class and calls someone up. We dont do stripes either which I am fine with tbh. I find BJJ to be a little too belt focused. Its kinda nice rolling no-gi and not knowing what belt I am rolling with.
Thanks for checking out the video and leaving a comment. I find that the majority of the belt focus comes from students who are brown belts or less most of the time. Most schools lack frameworks or expectations for their students to operate within. I believe this causes students to question their current rank, abilities, or the direction their heading in, leading to belt-focus talk.
@@ChasenHill Yeh I went for a time really wondering how long it would take to get a blue. But lately I have been trying to adopt more of a purple belt mentality as a white belt if that makes sense? Refining what I know as much as I can and adding to it bit by bit. Of course there are massive holes, but I am taking it step by step until the gaps fill. The best advice I heard is, its not on you to worry about what belt you are, its your profs. job to worry about what belt you are. You need to worry about what you are learning. You might have said that lol, cant remember.
I pay tuition and that's all - and that's all I want to pay for. The cost of the belt, or a certificate, etc. should just be included in the monthly fee. If 3 years down the road coach wants to give me a new belt I'd like to think he put away 50 cents a month from my fees to pay for it. I get the idea of a test - maybe a special testing and a special time outside of regular class - and compensation for the extra time but that just seems dirty to me. I hit a pretty slick sweep one time with a visiting instructor watching and he got all excited saying that deserved a stripe and he gave me one. That was very meaningful to me.
My opinion is that I really think an academy is better off rolling those costs into tuition. The school could get away with slightly higher fees, make more money, and not piss people off as much by simply rolling it in. Even if it is cheaper in the long run, it "feels bad" to pay for the promotion or test. That being said, if you are taking two hours for an eval... that is different. My school doesn't do it, but I don't fault those that have an objective standard. I might even prefer that, but I am happy where I am tbh.
If you cant afford to pay for a promotion then you cant get promoted. That would be my biggest issue with the practice. It shouldnt be more of a hardship for the less fortunate in terms of wealth to receive a promotion.
I live in the french part of Canada, and promotions are sooooo rare, that students would pay no prob for promotions. Many school over here test every 2 years, so I'll let you figure out how desperate students are to rush toward those promotion sessions. Been a blue since 2005, si if my instructor ask me for 100$ fr the purple test, I'll pay. But fortunately he doesn't have belt testing. He'll just have those surprised belt sessions fo us.
Buy it, but can you back it up. Would be fun to be around a group of peeps who bought their belt, especially if I was an upper belt. Would be fun to see their reaction lol😂
Over my last two years at the same place I think I’ve seen about an equal amount of impromptu promotions and end of the year party promotions. Stripes are only for kids and all adults walk the gauntlet (instructor is a youngish but old school Kurt osiander protege). Got my blue on December 30 after just shy of two years. Some browns and purples thought I’d have earned it over summer but I’d rather get it late than too early 😄🤙 If due to proximity the only place I could train had paid tests/promotions I’d simply be a white belt sandbagger. Toward the end of my white belt when I’d visit other place’s open mats, it was super fun catching blues and purples off guard when they’d play too nice with me.
What are your thoughts on paying for BJJ promotions?
We don’t have a promotion season it’s completely up to coach. No test or fees either. When he thinks someone is ready they get called out at the end of class or sometimes during a roll. The only thing that’s always the same is promotions only happen during a gi class, that’s where he hides stripe tape and belts.
Surprises are always nice!
I’ve had conversations with my coach about his philosophy on promotions. He absolutely refuses to charge for promotions. The way he looks at it is that if you go to a college and pay for your college education, they don’t make you pay extra for getting your degree. You just get it. He feels the same way about jiu jitsu. On a personal level, I’ve been a white belt for about 3 years and don’t really want a promotion. There’s the added pressure once you have a colored belt. I just want to enjoy training without any pressure. I’m also 47 and about 135 lbs.
One of the first "red flags" for me is belt test fees. I am paying you to teach me, i should not have to pay you MORE to show you that you've taught me something. I recently moved and a VERY reputable school was close by and I checked it out. It was outrageously expensive, plus stripe (white tape LMFAO) and belt fees, absolutely no way to cancel your contract I literally asked "what if I come in the next day and one of your students breaks my leg?" i was told that i could not cancel. As well as a number of other red flag from that school. (DFW area)
What gym was it and what town I also train in DFW
@@monkeystripper48 don’t want to say.
Promotions are really chill at my academy, but take a long time. 3 + year white belts are pretty common. Every now and then the Prof pulls a belt out after class and calls someone up. We dont do stripes either which I am fine with tbh. I find BJJ to be a little too belt focused. Its kinda nice rolling no-gi and not knowing what belt I am rolling with.
Thanks for checking out the video and leaving a comment. I find that the majority of the belt focus comes from students who are brown belts or less most of the time. Most schools lack frameworks or expectations for their students to operate within. I believe this causes students to question their current rank, abilities, or the direction their heading in, leading to belt-focus talk.
@@ChasenHill Yeh I went for a time really wondering how long it would take to get a blue. But lately I have been trying to adopt more of a purple belt mentality as a white belt if that makes sense? Refining what I know as much as I can and adding to it bit by bit. Of course there are massive holes, but I am taking it step by step until the gaps fill. The best advice I heard is, its not on you to worry about what belt you are, its your profs. job to worry about what belt you are. You need to worry about what you are learning. You might have said that lol, cant remember.
I pay tuition and that's all - and that's all I want to pay for. The cost of the belt, or a certificate, etc. should just be included in the monthly fee. If 3 years down the road coach wants to give me a new belt I'd like to think he put away 50 cents a month from my fees to pay for it. I get the idea of a test - maybe a special testing and a special time outside of regular class - and compensation for the extra time but that just seems dirty to me. I hit a pretty slick sweep one time with a visiting instructor watching and he got all excited saying that deserved a stripe and he gave me one. That was very meaningful to me.
My opinion is that I really think an academy is better off rolling those costs into tuition. The school could get away with slightly higher fees, make more money, and not piss people off as much by simply rolling it in. Even if it is cheaper in the long run, it "feels bad" to pay for the promotion or test.
That being said, if you are taking two hours for an eval... that is different. My school doesn't do it, but I don't fault those that have an objective standard. I might even prefer that, but I am happy where I am tbh.
If you cant afford to pay for a promotion then you cant get promoted. That would be my biggest issue with the practice. It shouldnt be more of a hardship for the less fortunate in terms of wealth to receive a promotion.
I would switch to another BJJ school if my school did paid belt promotions. BJJ in general is hella expensive as it is
Thanks for check out the video and leaving a comment. Just curious, what if it was an evaluation with feedback about your game?
If you're paying for a seminar or a testing. You're paying for the black belts time. It's like paying to test for your driver's license.
I live in the french part of Canada, and promotions are sooooo rare, that students would pay no prob for promotions. Many school over here test every 2 years, so I'll let you figure out how desperate students are to rush toward those promotion sessions. Been a blue since 2005, si if my instructor ask me for 100$ fr the purple test, I'll pay. But fortunately he doesn't have belt testing. He'll just have those surprised belt sessions fo us.
Buy it, but can you back it up. Would be fun to be around a group of peeps who bought their belt, especially if I was an upper belt. Would be fun to see their reaction lol😂
Does your professor not watch your progress during class? Paying to be evaluated for a belt is a joke.
Over my last two years at the same place I think I’ve seen about an equal amount of impromptu promotions and end of the year party promotions. Stripes are only for kids and all adults walk the gauntlet (instructor is a youngish but old school Kurt osiander protege).
Got my blue on December 30 after just shy of two years. Some browns and purples thought I’d have earned it over summer but I’d rather get it late than too early 😄🤙
If due to proximity the only place I could train had paid tests/promotions I’d simply be a white belt sandbagger. Toward the end of my white belt when I’d visit other place’s open mats, it was super fun catching blues and purples off guard when they’d play too nice with me.
We only get promoted when our instructor feels that we're ready for it. For me, at least, there's no value in a paid promotion 😕
Promo-SM