I've been 4 stripes white belt for about a year and a half now, most of the people who joined about the same time as me were promoted to blue belt a month ago, I don't feel bad, I also think I'm not ready for the blue belt. Honestly I prefer to be a "good" white belt than a blue belt that sucks. Now I'm working on improve the areas where my skills are not good enough. :)
@@wahoo31151 My son is going on 2½yrs with 18mths of that straight consistent, 3 public classes per week with 9mths of that substituted with a Private Class every week and had 2yrs Judo prior to BJJ. Still only a 1 Stripe White Belt! Ah wellz, bit disheartening for a young lad to get stonewalled but have counseled him that as long as he walks away with the skills the belt doesn't mean jack. I also told him the only reason they gave him the first stripe was so they could cause a scene and claim they had dibs on him should he ever go train elsewhere. Politics!
I started back in 2013, now faixa roxa, probs 2 - 2 1/2 years from white to blue, blue to purple 3 1/2 - 4 years. I’d say just enjoy it all. It’s not you vs others in class. It’s you vs you. Enjoy the ride. I’ve really broken my game down now. Really basic stuff; escaping bad situations from bottom, trying to get a better top game. I’m even thinking of trying to be better stood up which I hate. Never hit a double leg...EVER!!! I’m actually pretty happy seeing others at Stealth get stripes, blue, purple and brown belts. Every single one is a stone cold killer and I’m lucky to train with them all. Focus on the journey, you’ll get to the destination when you’re ready. Jiu Jitsu never ends.
It's all about having fun. I've been feeling a bit impatient wanting that blue belt but honestly, it doesn't matter too too much. It's just a marker for progress, the progress is what counts :)
when you get black belt you stop caring about the belt and stop caring about anybody whines also about not getting promoted who you knew for years. You are detached from the rat race
Being honest, I think we all want that recognition. Part of the pain of not getting our belt is realizing that we aren't ready or that we just aren't at that level yet. IMO that is the true bitterness of getting passed up for promotion.
Yes. For me, it's the fact I get no feedback or guidance as to what I'm doing wrong or not well enough to get a new stripe. I want to know what the standard is and how to get there. Example: just last night was our promotions night. I am a one stripe white belt, been training over a year. Coach gave a second stripe to a guy whose been there for 6 months and only come to open mat for like a month. He also gave a second to a female who hasn't come to any open mats at all. I'm in class 3-5 times a week and doing open mat after. I just want to know what I'm doing wrong to be looked over and how to get there.
Its really easy to tell someone “it’s just not your time” when you’re getting a consistent $160 + monthly payment. Many instructors are definitely taking advantage of the whole “never ask for promotions” aspect of the instructor/ student relationship.
@@mikegawlik7784 There's any chance you can raise trainning days up to 4-5 days/week sir?, or are you being an example for the lower grades wb?, are you being respectfull towards your instructor/colleagues?. By my experience, achieving the next belts are not always only about adquiring new skills but also evolving as a person aswell
This was (and still is) one of the biggest struggles that I have in my journey to becoming a blue belt. I’m currently a 1-stripe white belt and have been doing Jiu Jitsu for almost a year come November 2022 at the time of writing this (and I understand that I have a LONG…Long journey to go), and sometimes I become discouraged, as well frustrated, because it takes me longer than others to get the promotion of stripes. I’m also prior military (U.S. ARMY) and have skills in that aspect as well. I’ve talked to my other coaches/Instructors on what I need to work on, where I need to improve, etc etc and I have been doing double overtime as far as being on the mats and getting that extra work in and everything in between. I’ve done everything from being a good uki/training partner (dummy) to being very competitive when it comes to rolling (one coach even told me I should start smashing people). I’ll admit it, sometimes it’s hard to come into the class and watch others get their stripes, but I can also understand that it’s a team effort and everyone has their own journey. I witnessed someone this past Thursday (October 27th, 2022) recently receive their 4th stripe white belt, who I was proud of. But at the same time I felt discouraged because I was expecting my name to be called, but I didn’t. My question is this: *”What should my FOCUS be towards obtaining my 2nd stripe towards my white belt??” Edit: sorry this comment is so long, but I’ve really been struggling with this discouragement for some time.
Fuck-em you smash their ass! Im a 1 stripe white training for a year and a half. I've tapped purple, brown, and black, but a river of white and blue tears lay behind me. I laugh at the newly promoted 1 stripe whites who think they are my equal..... They are not! This is JIU JITSU!
Hello there! I've just read your comment and it's from last year. Where are you now on your jiu jitsu journey? I hope you are still training and got some of that hard earned stripe 💪😊
@@Mondamu All good 👍🏼 I hadn’t realized it’s already been a year lol Still training in Jiu Jitsu for a little over two years now. I’m currently at my second stripe in the white belt category and IMOH I should be at my third, but I guess the timing is according to my Coaches. HOWEVER, the last tournament I was in (which was around July of last year) I placed 3rd place in both Gi and No Gi events, as well as being ranked 12th in the State of North Carolina. I want to say that our team placed 2nd as the school with the most awards (and the most prestigious in sportsmanship). Everyone has their journey in Martial Arts, and mine has had its ups and downs. I’ve fought depression and suicide quite a few times and I can say that I am a 3x Suicide survivor. I’ve also picked up other styles of Martail Arts along my journey (Muay Thai, Taekwondo, Krav Maga, Kickboxing, Wrestling; basically MMA). Again, sorry this is so long and so much, but I wanted to share and get my story/testimony out there. Every "Underdog" has a story 😊
@@jarrettbatchelor1873 awwww! Huge congratulations on your tournaments! 💪💪 So glad to hear you are still training and obviously progressing on your journey ☺️. Haha! Let's come back to this comment in 5 years time and you might already be a purple or brown belt by then. It's good to read your reply.
I got my blue in less than a year. Had to move and ended up at a school where the instructor just didn't like me for whatever reason. Spent 3 and a half years there not getting a stripe. Left and ended up being a blue belt for about 14-15 years. Finally found a decent black belt to train under and I'm now a brown belt after 21 years of training.
Oh man. I literally had the same thing happen for my blue belt. The 5th white belt stripe..... He still gave the blue belt anyway. I realized his mistake, it kind of had me down for a couple days, but then it massively motivated me to train even harder to actually show I'm at that level and the progression started coming faster than before.
I had four stripes on my white belt when I joined a new school. Life got in the way and I moved. I found the school I wanted to pick up my training at it which is an “old school” jiu-jitsu academy with a very reputable head instructor. After I enrolled he basically said you have no stripes. I respect him immensely and put my self under his care so I was willing to surrender my previous accomplishments. I’m glad I did. When I finally received my blue belt from him I knew he felt I deserved it. It was an awesome experience! Their were times when I saw other people get promoted ahead of me that I thought weren’t as good or as experienced but I kept my ego in check and brought it back to the journey. It was hard at times but boy am I glad I did.
I don't respect instructors that don't respect prior accomplishments or other coaching styles. I had a similar situation when I left for a few years. I was a four stripe white belt and I asked if it was ok to wear my other belt because I worked hard and competed wearing it. They said it was fine. I trained at that academy for 5 months and after researching me and finding out that I legitimately trained/competed for two years prior and was destroying blue belts at the new academy I was given a blue belt. Some were extremely disappointed because I was still considered new but most were relieved that I was steamrolling over. I've been a purple belt for 2.5 years now and I'm in no rush.
Snowman17 I’m glad you had a positive experience with your new school and I respect your perspective. It’s been a slow journey for me. I’m looking forward to getting my purple belt some day.
that sounds like bullshit. all that blood sweat and tears to get 4 stripes and then some instructor decides no get rid of them cause you didnt earn them under his watch. lol fuck that
Bjj is bjj man it dont change?????? No body gives a shit on how the instructors style is as we individually grow in bjj we creat ower own way style as an artist you create after you have learned it the way you roll with someone your lvl is different than the other guy and thinking processe but as long as your happy im cool with that
I switched schools as a three month white three stripe and actually contemplated taking st least one of those down but did not. I suspect the wait for a fourth was extended by about four months as I proved my way in the new school as I would have been expected to attend a promotion class as Four stripe white much sooner at the old place. EDIT. Just switched again and took them all down as no one wears them here.
I think the point is more about the journey. With that said, there is a lot to be said for getting that next belt. It is much more about the progression and less about the color of the belt. BJJ offers many things to players; sometimes its learning you are not what you think, or feel like you area just yet.
Lol, it was the opposite with us. I remember the first time, when we were promoted to blue, most of my team mates and I dreaded the time when the belt promotions were announced. We would've been happy if our names weren't called because that meant no pressure on us. We started as an MMA team back then and most of our core members have fought professionally, we were just happy to be able to train jiujitsu and add the technical ground game to our skills. So when our names were finally called for the blue belt promotion, we moaned and groaned saying we were not ready yet and we didn't think we deserved it. But our instructor was adamant and pointed out that we've been training and competing for so long(5 years for me), that if we didn't rank up, we'd be looked at as sandbaggers.
Which is great, they are supposed to. If it is an mma FIGHT gym, not Thai Chi Twue--Yoga, well that may be the other extreme. If you wanna do traditional martial arts, go do traditional martial arts and train form and kata and be awesome. If you go to the butcher, it is for meat, not salade.
missed out on my first stripe tonight whilst people who joined same time as me got theirs. A little down but more happy for them as they’ve improved so much; hopefully my time will come soon!
I personally never cared about belt promotions because I was in no holds bar mixed Martial arts Academy they didn't do a lot with promotions cuz everybody was a pro fighter it did more promotion for the younger kids it was a hardcore MMA School back in the day this was 2006
I didn't get a stripe on my white belt until I was told I was ready to test for blue. I watched everyone at the gym get so many promotions, and never once was I called on. I stayed quiet about it, but there were sooo many times I left the gym feeling like crap. Like, I didn't even deserve ove stripe. The day came and he pulled me up in front of the class to stripe me up, and just liked at me baffled. He said he thought I was about ready for blue, and just didn't realize. That Brazilian was pretty red in the face, so I tend to believe him, but I also wonder sometimes if there was another motive. 🤔🤔🤔
If I’ve said it once I’ve said it 100 times, Robin is one of the best instructors there is. He is very detailed and has forgotten more jiujitsu than I’ve ever learned. But like he said we all make mistakes. Many years ago when I was a four stripe training with Robin I was competing in a tournament. I thought after today I’ll get my blue belt. I was tapping most of the white belts and hanging with blue and purple. Then in my first match of the tournament I got beat on points. I was so mad and so disgusted with myself and said to Robin, I’ll never get my blue belt, I can’t even win a tournament. He said dude you are right there, don’t even worry about it. Then about 15 minutes later Relson came up to me and said “my friend, I can no longer hold you at a white belt” I believe you are ready for your blue belt. Then he handed it to me and I about past out. Thank you Robin for everything you taught me.
I had this one student who was so overly concerned about getting promoted to purple belt it actually regressed his performance and he got worse. He wound up transferring schools and the new school promoted him. It was so pathetic and he would get mopped by blue belts all the time. Belts don’t mean much these days just enjoy the process and training.
I learned this in my other martial art. I thought that I should have been promoted, but was passed over by the Master for whatever reason and figured that perhaps....perhaps my ego needed a check. I knew that I was crushing it in class and had improved a lot over the last year and a half and I was ready for the next belt. I was dismayed to say the least when I didn't get promoted. Later I came to the conclusion that my immediate teacher under the master supported me and petition the master that I be promoted. That was good enough for me! That the instructor that I trained with(who had 20+ yrs experience) supported me, but that Master who live far away on another coast said otherwise. So I just continued to train and improve to work on myself and my game. I later learn in this art there was a lot of nepotism, favoritism, etc., and that a lot of the time skilled didn't matter, but if the Master liked you, or if he saw you come to train with him a lot(on the opposite coast - $$$). I saw that ranking could be used as a tool by the Master for his own ego to control certain students and as a form to generate more income for himself and there was a lot that was unfair. So after my immediate instructor retired from the sport and moved away. I also disassociated myself from that group and found a new group where the Master live in the same state and it is much easier to train with him and he seems to be a lot more fair and honorable. I've been promoted once since and its not much but the lesson I've learned for myself(this doesn't include everyone else's experience) is that I don't really care too much about the belts anymore. They come when they come! Work on learning and improving everyday. Be the best student you can be by training hard, training well and soak in as much knowledge as you can.(FYI: This was what I was doing at my other school as well, just wasn't recognized for it!) Not every Master is a good person. Some people have issues/personal problems and are toxic with their students and for me I just had to leave that group. Love the art not certain teachers and spread venom and toxicity down to their students! Keep Training - Gassho
If you guys want to get your belt, here's what you do. Show up to all the classes. Maintain a level of kindness and courtesy towards your fellow students. Help out around the school. And do the best you can. Ability doesn't matter too much. I'm a purple belt from California, 50 years old. Because of my age, I get dominated all the time by lower belts. That's ok!
I've been a white belt for 2 years training on and off and my current gym is more wresteling dominated so we do mostly no gi and don't do much grading anyway. My coach told me I'm getting my blue early next year which is cool. I never really cared about it but I can see the appeal of it more now, not for any other purpose than I have something to show for, for all the times I thought I'll never be good at BJJ.
That’s crazy, simply have a curriculum for people to follow then you don’t discourage people as much, also everyone knows what to expect and we alleviate all of this silliness
@@gracieohioit really isn’t complicated. EVERY MARTIAL ART has a curriculum. A pathway to learning and progress. BJJ is the only one that just doesn’t. Except Roy Harris. And his schools are always packed. It’s not about just getting a belt. It’s about understanding what to do and not to do. Imagine spending 1-2 years of training to find out all that you did didn’t really matter. Or worse - you get the belt, and then watch someone who spent 1/2 the time and effort as you did get it alongside you.
I think the experience in training Jiu Jitsu should be enough motivation to train. I love training and whenever the belt color changes to me will be a bonus. Choyun Miyagi the founder of Goyu Ryu Karate never awarded a black belt to any of his senior students. The lesson was the same, train to train and be better everyday without the expectation of any recognition, just be grateful to train and learn--in my humble opinion. Oss
Announces “he’s a blue belt. I don’t have one for him right now but he is one…” would you not respect the student enough to take an hour out of your day to go and find one from somewhere to buy for him? 🤔
“Find one from somewhere.” From where? How many stores do you walk into daily that sell martial art belts? At least where I live, you’re only going to find mma gear in stores. Belts? Gotta get em online lol.
I started with Jay Dennis and live in wv and deals on treated us looks royalty also every time I visitedGracie Ohio you guys welcomed me with open arms of still be under relson if everyone didn't quit here in West Virginia and me believing in loyalty to your tea! Jay told.me to drive to a Royce school 2 hrs from me instead of drive a lil the way to his gym and I did with his blessing but I'm glad I started with relson and got to know the guy they story the way of Jiujistu lifestyle I use thing he taught.me to this day technique as well as life
sometimes coaches can fuck up, sometimes coaches are assholes, sometimes its basically both which is what happened with me xD first belt promotion that came around i had been training for about 9 months, 12-15 hours a week, did wrestling, basically smashed every white belt that was about to get their blue belt, there was also a LIST of things the coach expected from a blue belt (guide to your blue belt type list) and i blasted through that within like 6 months because the gym wasnt competitive and i went all in.. so obviously the guys that have been training for a couple of years got their blue belts because they basically stuck around long enough and i didnt get mine which looking back at it i was a few months away from really being a blue belt, fast forward a YEAR ad im getting frustrated since im tapping MY COACH more than he taps me and still no belt, he told me im gonna get my belt in the next promotion but he decided to do it as a once a year event and that theres gonna be a gap of about a year and a bit between ceremonies and he cant just make a ceremony to only promote me so hes sorry.. fast forward another 4 months and covid hit, we had a fight, i went to another gym and got my blue belt from another coach after 6 months there... and my new coach actually gave a long winded speech saying how everyone must have noticed something is VERY wrong with this guy having a white belt and hes been held back from unknown reasons but i had to make sure hes legit before i handed out belts to strangers but i think we can all agree its about damn time he stops tapping my purple belts with a white belt on hahahahaha long story short, find a good instructor whos also a nice dude
I just started like 3 weeks ago, just turned 40. I'm not after stripes and belts, I'm after techniques. In wrestling.... we didn't even have belts. Lol. That(wrestling) has carried me pretty well, now. I can give a seasoned blue belt a decent run, and end up on top often.... UNTIL I'm in their closed guard. That is where I'm TRULY a white belt. To me, I can have a brown belt level top game, but if I'm in their guard and I'm clueless, I fully accept not being a blue or even striped white belt.
I have a black belt in karate and I had a few times that when belt promotion came up I didn't get asked to test and the first time I was so pissed but my instructor told me the journey is about the knowledge that you gain not the color of clothes you wear on it
I only need one belt for wearing my gi correctly😏. I have noticed that since I don't have specific "goals" in BJJ and not competing, the belt colour doesn't matter and personally I don't care if I "win or lose". All I care about is if it's fun, am I doing the techniques correctly and how much less energy I need for rolling after every improvement. If the coach doesn't promote, it's not the end of the world because it won't change my acquired knowledge in any way. Colours are important mostly for competitors so that they know in which class to compete.
I know how this feels, it actually happened to me this weekend, but as a 3-strip purple belt. I graded to purple belt about 2 years ago, been training really hard, been smashing the other other purple belts I train with and even most of the brown belts I roll with. I'm also in the situation here in South Africa, were we don't always have a ton of black belts around to just grade you. And yes I was a bit bummed, I really hoped I would have been promoted to brown belt, but in the two days post the seminar I have realized I have so much I can still work on, and if I wait another year or two that is also ok. The goal now is not on the belt, but to become the meanest over 40 purple belt and possibly to go out and compete a bit more next year. When the belt comes it comes and when it does it will be more of a surprise, because I'm not going to ask for it, I'm going to earn it. Thank you for your post.
Belts are absolutely toxic and bjj should get rid of them apart from two. There should be a white belt and a black belt for instructors. I have just been through this experience. End all of this belt crap.
4 years, 4 tournament losses in the first round, and lack of consistency to show up. I’d have to agree that I feel more motivated to progress when I see my peers promoted
I am a 3 stripe white belt for 10 months now, there are a few peers in my group we were al 2 stripes then 3, then they were 4 and now they blue belts, promoted twice and me not at all. we were all similar skill levels, i couldnt beat them they couldnt beat me, we were all quite evenly matched, but now i can beat all but one of them, a couple of them very easily, like its not even close anymore, so i have progressed past them yet they have been promoted twice and are now blue belts and i am still a 3 stripe white. i do not humiliate nor mistreat anyone, i dont hurt anyone, my teammates like me. i go to 5 classes a week with rounds afterwards, i have a great attitude, helpful friendly i get along with all my teammates, so can anyone help me to understand just wtf is going on here? im beginning to get demoralized and thinking of leaving this gym as this is making me lose respect for the head guy for sure. i loved going to the gym before now its feeling like a chore, everyone can say it doesnt matter but when you see guys that you came up with that you have progressed past and they get promoted and you dont, it does matter then.
You say you have a great attitude etc and do a great job of promoting yourself to others but saying you beat others etc shows you lack humility....rounds are not competition, they're to help you both improve
It is totally about becoming better and acquiring the skills to tap ppl out and more importantly to use your jiu jitsu for self defense...but not gonna lie sometimes it messes with you when you are waiting to be promoted and your time hasn’t come...If not for this pandemic I’m sure I would of had my 4th stripe on my white belt oh well... at this point I’m happy that I can defend myself with my jiu jitsu
When someone gets passed over for promotion, and they express their disagreement, they are automatically pictured as being "wrong", "jealous" or mean for being jealous and not supporting his/her teammates, or in some negative light, whereas the instructor is this infallible being with almost deity qualities that can do no wrong and is never wrong. Well, I don't agree, instructors are human and they make mistakes and favor people they like (or they are "dating"-don't want to use bad word here-). I saw it myself in my ex-academy, two members of a family group being promoted one stripe, both (pa and ma) are purple, in those three months he didn't roll not even once, she attends maybe once every other week. I know that because is a new, small academy. Also, a woman who is purple, never set foot on the mats got promoted too, but she has two kids, so like the other two who are paying a lot, because jiu-jitsu is expensive, so basically they are buying the rank, anyway you want to dress it, that's what it is, buying the rank, like in karate and taekwondo. So, if that's what the instructor wants to do, fine by me, but he shouldn't be spewing around these big words about "I reward the effort", blah, blah, blah, shut up your face and promote those who are paying the most, at least is more honest that way, we all need money, no? And no, in this case there is no "talking to the instructor", because he will make up some excuse, dismissing your progress saying "oh, you didn't do enough", the truth is "you don't pay enough". There are many cases like this, people are not jealous or mean, if you are putting a lot of effort, you want a reward, it's normal and it's human, and we are paying a shitload of money here, but I guess family groups are paying more
This made me laugh because i realized we all went through the same damn struggle. Maybe not the 5th stripe struggle, but a struggle none the less. You guys should do a video on the EXACT OPPOSITE of this video. The dangers of over promotion in schools.
I'm a one stripe white belt. And I've consistently showed up to class for 10 months tap some blue belts all of the other white belts but they got more stripes then me.
@@quickhands6347 I've always thought it was super cool when people tap their training partners, in training and then use the internet to tell as many people as they can.
@@JollyRogerProductions I actually do Ju Jitsu in real life.. Sooo what I think your eluding to is I'm bragging to get some kind of kudos. Which I'm not being that you can't even see my face or name for me to really enjoy a kudos. And to be truthful I like my training partners so much I have to really force my self to tap them.
Let’s not forget about the owners/coaches that teach and open the mat up for rolls then leave every day. They don’t even see the progress because they don’t even watch you roll. I wouldn’t own a gym solely based on the money.
I think it was the same thing I was like crushing all the white belts and this was in 1990. And they had guys coming in from Brazil but was funny as soon as they got in there they were all purple belts and we just beat the crap out of them. They got so mad at us, back then it was really hard because they really didn’t give out belts it didn’t matter who you were that’s kind of like well you’re not from Brazil. That’s how we felt! Do you know the thing is that was really hard for me, Pedro left to go teach at the Naval Academy and there really wasn’t anybody around here in my area that even was good Jujitsu. So I went on to do other stuff got my black belt in judo, started working in Hapkido so learning my wrist locks and different types of other throwing. All while I was wrestling I had been wrestling since I was four and I’m a very high national champion level wrestler. I really started To do more Japanese jujitsu. So I am a purple belt in Brazilian jujitsu and I’ve been that for almost 30 years training six times a week and teaching classes. I go to seminars I just got to the point where I didn’t care anymore. I still love going to different things and I have my students Go to tournaments. I try to support all my Brazilian Jujitsu instructors and that’s pretty much it
belt dont matter for hobbyist but if you are a competitor it matter if you train consistently you skill pass your current belt but you coach holding back and stay in lower belt for long time you will not improve
I just got my Blue Belt. I'm 16. I've been training since I was 14, so I'd been passed by my peers who I remembered walking in the gym for the first time, but they got promoted ahead of me because I wasn't of age. The professors weren't sure if I was ready for my promotion to Blue Belt since my promotion day was on my birthday. But Professor Kayron decided to give me a Blue Belt and I'm so honored to say that I am now a Blue Belt in Gracie Barra Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Keep training everyone, now matter how long you wait, it is definitly worth it.
Currently a 2 stripe blue. Got the blue in Dec2018. Goal for the year is to be a damn good 3-4 stripe blue. Purple comes whenever it does even if its 2-3 years away
Only thing that sucks about white belt is IBJJF doesn’t do Absolute brackets for us... when I compete I just want more opportunities to roll. Other than that I just put my head down and train my ass off.
That's nothing, I had 7 white stripes until I got my blue belt! after 3 .5 years since I started bjj...so don't worry, NEVER SWEAT YOUR BELT COLOR! Focus on tapping everyone out! Including the instructor!
When I first join Judo, I never consider to get a blue belt. It took a year to get to blue and another 4 years to get Brownbelt. Amazing, but you get into details, even it was along time you didnt practice it, you will still remember what the instructor teach you. Anyway, your 'Dont Ask.' sounds like Aliens 1986.
Pro tip if you feel you should get promoted and you havent been. Show that by going to competitions. If you keep winning all the whitebelt competitions it will start to look bad if the club dont promote you in the long run. Or you just don't care and take it whenever it comes.
I did this, except i put myself in the expert division and won beating 4 browns as a blue which i had been for 1.5 years. They still didn’t promote me.
7year whitebelt here train consistently won many whitebelt tournament instructor still said you not good enough to be bluebelt (i know he hold back for more win to club and for his coach profile) while promoted his friend who never train any grappling before to 4 strip white belt in 5 month sometime coach suck 😬 but im stupid too i have gym loyalty i don't want to change gym and end up in this situation 🤣🤣🤣
I take karate and I’m curious now. Is it a lot harder to get belts in jiu jitsu or are there just less belts so getting one belt would be like getting two in karate? I’ve been taking karate for about 10 years now and just last week I received my black belt.
Yes bjj is way harder. One of my coworker's son got his black belt in karate whe he was only 12 years old. In jiu jitsu, it takes 10 years on average to get a black belt! And u must be a certain age
As new can I ask instructor the requirements for first belt ?? So too study and have a inculine of ?? Not rushing anything just love too have any idea??
I was kept as a Blue Belt for five years and I was kept as a White Belt for two years. I've been a Purple Belt for about a year now. It was very sad, and it was weird, because I saw white belts getting promoted right away to blue belts and it was fine u know, whatever, but then these guys got promoted to purple after like two years only, and I was left at Blue... Now the issue I had with that, was the initial fact that these Blue Belts, they sucked... I mean they were terrible, I could dominate them any time. Well I kept quiet. I didn't agree with it, I felt that it was wrong, I was more than upset, but whatever. Eventually I got my purple belt, these purple belts that I said that sucked ass, they got their two stripes shortly after. I left my gym after being banned. It started with people complaining that I hurt them too much... Apparently no one felt it necessary to tell me anything in person, instead go tell teacher on me. So I just went easy on people, then they complained saying that I wasn't even trying... But it was like God sending me message at one point, when I got banned. I was rolling with a three stripe purple belt, and I took him down and had him in a Kimura lock, this was like a few seconds in, he wouldn't tap, I guess cus he had an ego, well I dislocated and popped his shoulder, he was in pain, when I got home on my Facebook I got alot of shit for that. My instructor texted me saying I was banned, and I left, found another home gym. My new instructor gave me a stripe and told me "Don't worry man, I won't hold you back." Ever since then, I finally got friends who liked me, a dojo that was awesome. The original gym, while yeah, had two legit black belts from Alliance, it was not a good experience for me. And for that I'm thankful to Fight Sports for taking me in. And while I got a little off track, I will be a black belt in maybe three or four more years, all I gotta say is, don't promote ur students if they can't fight. All ur doing is lying to them with that misrepresented rank. U can have all the knowledge in the world, if u can't put it to use, then what good is it? In all honesty, if ur a purple who loses consistently to blue belts, then ur not a purple belt. That's the truth and a hard one for people to accept.
Well. Sorry for your experience. But I think there is a little wiggle room there in your final point. Some people do Jits to compete and smash people. Some do it to move, learn and share comradery and community with like minded. If the higher ranked belts you smashed were older, lighter, injured or less competitive, I think it's not fair to tell them they don't deserve their belt because a young stud can smash them physically. You were probably "that guy" and I think I was too back when I first started. Submissions made possible through hucking, pulling, jamming and cramming. I recently picked up bjj again after a 7 year break and my view of things is about 90% different now. I focus mainly on control through technique and keeping myself and others injury free. And yes, that means I suck balls compared to what I used to.
@@patte4702 No, but everybody assumes I just smash and get submissions through brute strength. I'm fast, I'm technical, I did Judo and Greco Roman Wrestling for four years, I'm 28 years old, been doing Jiu Jitsu since I was 20. I'm very competitive, I dominate purple belts younger than me, some larger than me, am I the best? Far from it, I ain't nothing compared to a champion or even a high class or high tier grappler, I'm above average at the very least, but being above average is nothing to brag about either. I've had older purple belts beat me or match up to me, so while age matters, it's not normally an excuse. I've had injuries, however I don't seem to suffer any chronic pain or problems from them, my genetics are good I guess. I am heavy, however I've got solid appropriate technique, I know that for sure, and me being my own worst critic, I know to be true. I can't agree with u, a ranked belt is something to be respected, I cannot lie to someone and say they're Blue, Purple or Brown or even Black if it's not true. I worked hard for my Purple Belt, if I go out there in the streets in a normal fist fight, I'm not just gonna win, I'm gonna absolutely destroy the majority out there. U know how awful it is for some of these purple belts that go into a fight with someone stronger and they can't win or barely win by the skin off their teeth after biting their lip? U know how awful it is to watch people being trained by people u know aren't legitimate black belts. And some may ask "how would u know what it takes to be a black belt if you've never been one." I don't know what it is yet to be a black belt, but I know what it's like to go up against a legit black belt, I've trained with normal black belts, so if ur not one, I know deep down ur not the real deal. It's a horrible reality people do need to face, and must work harder to earn it or prove themselves. U say it's not fair to compare myself to the lower tier, but life overall isn't fair, some people have to try harder than others, that's life and Jiu Jitsu is life, if ur arsenal doesn't help u lift up a rock you've been training to lift up for years, then did u even accomplish anything? No. (The rock is a metaphor by the way.)
I had a similar experience at my last club. I was killing all but one of the white belts (out of ten or so), training twice as much as they were and I was honestly the model student - I even taught the kids class for free on the weekend. I wasn’t sure what the standard for a blue belt was so I wasn’t expecting to be promoted, but I was dumbfounded when the other white belts were promoted above me. Some were honestly terrible and completely uncommitted.
Grading is actually nonsense. At my last club (where I trained for 5 days a week for 2 years) I was on the cusp of becoming a blue belt. I got injured, left that club and a year later joined another. At that club I am still a no-stripe white belt, after 3 months. I might not be a blue belt yet, but I am not a no-stripe white belt after 2 years of hard training. When I didn’t get a stipe at the last grading I felt angry for about 5 seconds and then I just laughed about it. My instructor is a totally decent guy and an excellent teacher, so I just don’t give s shit, but I don’t take belts seriously anymore. People don’t like hearing this: but there are some very mediocre black belts out there.
Lol if that’s u in the profile u built like hulk. U may not have all the technical details down because of your strength. It’s not your fault it’s just easier to do things less right when your stronger. Your margin of error is greater then someone weaker which allows for sloppier techniques. Sometimes I notice the strong guys in my gym don’t know how to turn of strength and just roll technical. It’s just finding the balance between how trying to match partners strength. That’s the curse of hulk strength when learning bjj
It all depends on if your sensei is organized and observant. Most grading selections I have observed are an absolute shambles. “Oh you haven’t trained for a year? Better promote you!”
The purple belts sometime only come 1 time a week and not everyday those are the ones that suck ass and slow ass brown belts problably from work related jobs who knows?? All the purple belts at my gym hardly ever come there are like only 3 or 4 of us on a bad day 3 today. On a good day full house mabe 20 people.
If you started training at two places, starting the second one a year and a half later and get a belt promotion at your first school, is it all good to be the new belt at the second school? Thanks for the advice
I have a buddy that had been a white belt for 5.5 years and is still a white belt. He can catch purple belts. Why? He dosent want to PAY for a belt promotion test. I dont blame him. I have a black belt in judo and never paid for promotion.....its like paying for college snd then having to pay to take all the mid terms and finals as well. F**k "pay to play". Its a ton of crap.
Most BJJ Ive seen makes people pay for belt tests. Its becoming what every other Martial Art has become.....a money magnet and its invaded even this. Hell, from what I understand some schools are even promoting based on how many classes you have attended and checking the "boxes".....the Gracie Barra website even has a section that tells you when you should expect to be promoted and it reads...(dosent come out and just say it) like its on ATTENDANCE. Im a wrestler and Judoka.....so Im going to go out and say that it seems like there is a little underside of this that keeps the people with more money cateted to while the ones that are not so well off just get what they get. Very Gracie....very, VERY Gracie.
Same, I grew up wrestling and boxing. You either win or lose. No such thing as a tenth degree black belt wrestler. It's just your weight and if you won.
I was in Bjj for about 7 or 8 months 10 years ago they never gave me a stripe on my white belt they didnt like me to much and i was the nice guy in a room full of douche bag dicks. So i left never came back. I came back to another school in for about 3 months now with private classes and going to siminars and open mats and as a no striper who now been in the art all together one year no strip i feel im pritty dam good for my belts ability. But i patiently wait for my first strip and at the same time eveyone around me gets promoted is crushing me everytime little by little i feel like it shouldnt just be on time and skill in but skill to and how fast you learn. But i have to remind myself to enjoy it. Relax dont be so serious all the time. And dont take it out on your teamates on the matts and end up hurting them. One time we headbutted each other like rams on accident the pain from that blow put me in an agressive rage and im a nice guy btw took him down and americana quickly after that i apologized to him for rolling with him to aggressive while angree i then told him i need to set out till i get my head right for rolling. I dont like rolling angree
Im torn. If youre a white belt and you're consistently subbing all the other white belts and majority blues and giving higher belts a hard time...can't really think of an excuse not to promote, unless you want that person to destroy other white belts in tournaments????
I'd be more than happy being overlooked at belt promotions. seems like the higher your belt, the more of a target for every spaz and dangerous former high school wrestler that walks in looking to tap out a higher ranking guy. I'm happy not to get promoted. I get my ass kicked enough as it is. WHITE BELT FOR LIFE!
the secret to regular promotion is go to a smaller school and make donations for new mats or new pads or something right before belt promotions come up. Guaranteed first time - every time. Work some OT at your job if you have to, because it's a lot cheaper to spend a few hundred bucks on equipment now, then go through another whole year of fees.
i been a white belt for 4 years, thinking of quitting. i got bronze at my last competition. i was looking forward to additional techniques allowed in. got passed over again. tired of being sore and accrued injuries only to not be promoted again. this shit isnt worth it to have 0 respect to me from my club, promotions do matter.
I got my blue belt in 8 months. Mind you I'm a quick learner and was able to hang with the blue belts by then but I always saw blue belt as having the skills to beat an untrained opponent. the real time should be blue to purple. I've been a blue belt for 1 year now and don't expect purple for another 1.5-2years
With all due respect I think its quite stupid not to promote someone who is clearly the level of the belt just because of a time requirement. In my mind, if a white belt is tapping purple belts a majority of the time I'd promote him
I've been 4 stripes white belt for about a year and a half now, most of the people who joined about the same time as me were promoted to blue belt a month ago, I don't feel bad, I also think I'm not ready for the blue belt. Honestly I prefer to be a "good" white belt than a blue belt that sucks. Now I'm working on improve the areas where my skills are not good enough. :)
"Honestly I prefer to be a "good" white belt than a blue belt that sucks." great mentality.
@@wahoo31151 My son is going on 2½yrs with 18mths of that straight consistent, 3 public classes per week with 9mths of that substituted with a Private Class every week and had 2yrs Judo prior to BJJ. Still only a 1 Stripe White Belt! Ah wellz, bit disheartening for a young lad to get stonewalled but have counseled him that as long as he walks away with the skills the belt doesn't mean jack. I also told him the only reason they gave him the first stripe was so they could cause a scene and claim they had dibs on him should he ever go train elsewhere. Politics!
I started back in 2013, now faixa roxa, probs 2 - 2 1/2 years from white to blue, blue to purple 3 1/2 - 4 years. I’d say just enjoy it all. It’s not you vs others in class. It’s you vs you. Enjoy the ride.
I’ve really broken my game down now. Really basic stuff; escaping bad situations from bottom, trying to get a better top game. I’m even thinking of trying to be better stood up which I hate. Never hit a double leg...EVER!!!
I’m actually pretty happy seeing others at Stealth get stripes, blue, purple and brown belts. Every single one is a stone cold killer and I’m lucky to train with them all.
Focus on the journey, you’ll get to the destination when you’re ready.
Jiu Jitsu never ends.
@Algo+codehawk bruh 4 is max
It's all about having fun. I've been feeling a bit impatient wanting that blue belt but honestly, it doesn't matter too too much. It's just a marker for progress, the progress is what counts :)
Are we all still pretending that we don’t care about belts?! 😂
Let’s be real 💯💯
when you get black belt you stop caring about the belt and stop caring about anybody whines also about not getting promoted who you knew for years. You are detached from the rat race
Cause MF’s are gatekeepers and the don’t care about belts care about the journey bs. Is the gold standard escape cop out
I am a purple belt. I am 47. I don't care. I am a judo black belt :)
Being honest, I think we all want that recognition. Part of the pain of not getting our belt is realizing that we aren't ready or that we just aren't at that level yet. IMO that is the true bitterness of getting passed up for promotion.
Yes. For me, it's the fact I get no feedback or guidance as to what I'm doing wrong or not well enough to get a new stripe. I want to know what the standard is and how to get there.
Example: just last night was our promotions night. I am a one stripe white belt, been training over a year. Coach gave a second stripe to a guy whose been there for 6 months and only come to open mat for like a month. He also gave a second to a female who hasn't come to any open mats at all. I'm in class 3-5 times a week and doing open mat after. I just want to know what I'm doing wrong to be looked over and how to get there.
If your couch can't tell you why you're not ready for the next belt, then they need to give it to you.
Its really easy to tell someone “it’s just not your time” when you’re getting a consistent $160 + monthly payment. Many instructors are definitely taking advantage of the whole “never ask for promotions” aspect of the instructor/ student relationship.
What kind of bjj gym is 160$ a month? That’s hella expensive.
@@guillermoboehringer5304 depends on the area
@@guillermoboehringer5304 that’s not bad tbh
@@guillermoboehringer5304Florida 179 for a individual 350 for 2 smh 🤦
I'm a 7th strip white belt
juntjoo nunya 😂
A year or 2? Ok mr mc dojo, I'm a white belt going on 4 years training 3 days a week
@@mikegawlik7784 There's any chance you can raise trainning days up to 4-5 days/week sir?, or are you being an example for the lower grades wb?, are you being respectfull towards your instructor/colleagues?. By my experience, achieving the next belts are not always only about adquiring new skills but also evolving as a person aswell
This happened to me tonight.
Thats cool dude.i test for my blue belt on the 30th of this month in Charlotte
This was (and still is) one of the biggest struggles that I have in my journey to becoming a blue belt.
I’m currently a 1-stripe white belt and have been doing Jiu Jitsu for almost a year come November 2022 at the time of writing this (and I understand that I have a LONG…Long journey to go), and sometimes I become discouraged, as well frustrated, because it takes me longer than others to get the promotion of stripes. I’m also prior military (U.S. ARMY) and have skills in that aspect as well.
I’ve talked to my other coaches/Instructors on what I need to work on, where I need to improve, etc etc and I have been doing double overtime as far as being on the mats and getting that extra work in and everything in between.
I’ve done everything from being a good uki/training partner (dummy) to being very competitive when it comes to rolling (one coach even told me I should start smashing people).
I’ll admit it, sometimes it’s hard to come into the class and watch others get their stripes, but I can also understand that it’s a team effort and everyone has their own journey. I witnessed someone this past Thursday (October 27th, 2022) recently receive their 4th stripe white belt, who I was proud of. But at the same time I felt discouraged because I was expecting my name to be called, but I didn’t.
My question is this: *”What should my FOCUS be towards obtaining my 2nd stripe towards my white belt??”
Edit: sorry this comment is so long, but I’ve really been struggling with this discouragement for some time.
Just keep turning up
Fuck-em you smash their ass! Im a 1 stripe white training for a year and a half. I've tapped purple, brown, and black, but a river of white and blue tears lay behind me. I laugh at the newly promoted 1 stripe whites who think they are my equal..... They are not! This is JIU JITSU!
Hello there! I've just read your comment and it's from last year. Where are you now on your jiu jitsu journey? I hope you are still training and got some of that hard earned stripe 💪😊
@@Mondamu
All good 👍🏼 I hadn’t realized it’s already been a year lol
Still training in Jiu Jitsu for a little over two years now. I’m currently at my second stripe in the white belt category and IMOH I should be at my third, but I guess the timing is according to my Coaches.
HOWEVER, the last tournament I was in (which was around July of last year) I placed 3rd place in both Gi and No Gi events, as well as being ranked 12th in the State of North Carolina.
I want to say that our team placed 2nd as the school with the most awards (and the most prestigious in sportsmanship).
Everyone has their journey in Martial Arts, and mine has had its ups and downs.
I’ve fought depression and suicide quite a few times and I can say that I am a 3x Suicide survivor.
I’ve also picked up other styles of Martail Arts along my journey (Muay Thai, Taekwondo, Krav Maga, Kickboxing, Wrestling; basically MMA).
Again, sorry this is so long and so much, but I wanted to share and get my story/testimony out there.
Every "Underdog" has a story 😊
@@jarrettbatchelor1873 awwww! Huge congratulations on your tournaments! 💪💪
So glad to hear you are still training and obviously progressing on your journey ☺️. Haha! Let's come back to this comment in 5 years time and you might already be a purple or brown belt by then. It's good to read your reply.
Promotions are a double edged sword for sure. With the honor and recognition, comes more pressure and responsibility. Be careful what you wish for.
I got my blue in less than a year. Had to move and ended up at a school where the instructor just didn't like me for whatever reason. Spent 3 and a half years there not getting a stripe. Left and ended up being a blue belt for about 14-15 years. Finally found a decent black belt to train under and I'm now a brown belt after 21 years of training.
wow
did you train those years apart or did you top for 10 years?
@@Hiaki1000 Yes, I was training. The longest break I've taken was about 6 months due to a torn shoulder.
Oh man. I literally had the same thing happen for my blue belt. The 5th white belt stripe..... He still gave the blue belt anyway. I realized his mistake, it kind of had me down for a couple days, but then it massively motivated me to train even harder to actually show I'm at that level and the progression started coming faster than before.
I had four stripes on my white belt when I joined a new school. Life got in the way and I moved. I found the school I wanted to pick up my training at it which is an “old school” jiu-jitsu academy with a very reputable head instructor. After I enrolled he basically said you have no stripes. I respect him immensely and put my self under his care so I was willing to surrender my previous accomplishments. I’m glad I did. When I finally received my blue belt from him I knew he felt I deserved it. It was an awesome experience! Their were times when I saw other people get promoted ahead of me that I thought weren’t as good or as experienced but I kept my ego in check and brought it back to the journey. It was hard at times but boy am I glad I did.
I don't respect instructors that don't respect prior accomplishments or other coaching styles. I had a similar situation when I left for a few years. I was a four stripe white belt and I asked if it was ok to wear my other belt because I worked hard and competed wearing it. They said it was fine. I trained at that academy for 5 months and after researching me and finding out that I legitimately trained/competed for two years prior and was destroying blue belts at the new academy I was given a blue belt. Some were extremely disappointed because I was still considered new but most were relieved that I was steamrolling over. I've been a purple belt for 2.5 years now and I'm in no rush.
Snowman17 I’m glad you had a positive experience with your new school and I respect your perspective. It’s been a slow journey for me. I’m looking forward to getting my purple belt some day.
that sounds like bullshit. all that blood sweat and tears to get 4 stripes and then some instructor decides no get rid of them cause you didnt earn them under his watch. lol fuck that
Bjj is bjj man it dont change?????? No body gives a shit on how the instructors style is as we individually grow in bjj we creat ower own way style as an artist you create after you have learned it the way you roll with someone your lvl is different than the other guy and thinking processe but as long as your happy im cool with that
I switched schools as a three month white three stripe and actually contemplated taking st least one of those down but did not. I suspect the wait for a fourth was extended by about four months as I proved my way in the new school as I would have been expected to attend a promotion class as Four stripe white much sooner at the old place. EDIT. Just switched again and took them all down as no one wears them here.
I think the point is more about the journey. With that said, there is a lot to be said for getting that next belt. It is much more about the progression and less about the color of the belt. BJJ offers many things to players; sometimes its learning you are not what you think, or feel like you area just yet.
Lol, it was the opposite with us. I remember the first time, when we were promoted to blue, most of my team mates and I dreaded the time when the belt promotions were announced. We would've been happy if our names weren't called because that meant no pressure on us. We started as an MMA team back then and most of our core members have fought professionally, we were just happy to be able to train jiujitsu and add the technical ground game to our skills. So when our names were finally called for the blue belt promotion, we moaned and groaned saying we were not ready yet and we didn't think we deserved it. But our instructor was adamant and pointed out that we've been training and competing for so long(5 years for me), that if we didn't rank up, we'd be looked at as sandbaggers.
John Lioyd Dy. I bet your feeling as you say was only superficial but deep inside you felt different.
I'm a RUclips black belt
RUclips Top Team
What do you mean by that im just curious
@@Ashes2ashes6292 he spends too much time on RUclips
That is the most meaningful belt! Period
I am a black belt at being a white belt.
Been training off and on for 10 years... got my blue belt last night
The Tree Whisperer 😂
Congratulations hope your still into Bjj!
Nice!!
That would make me want to quit bjj. How much time and money over 10 years to achieve your first rung on the ladder?
Find another gym.
I got bummed out. Today was our promotions and it hit hard man.
I spend four years as a white belt i recently got promoted to blue belt i couldn't believe it
You must Suuuuuuuuck 😐
I actually did I'm mainly a striker and spend of my time kick and punching people, slow progress is better than no progress
ThaiBoxer541
Good shit man
Fuck that Diablo guy that commented
@@luiscardozo9721 Thanks brotha I appreciate the support!! can't let the negativity get to you
Mma gyms focus so hard on fighters that the martial artist are overlooked
Which is great, they are supposed to. If it is an mma FIGHT gym, not Thai Chi Twue--Yoga, well that may be the other extreme.
If you wanna do traditional martial arts, go do traditional martial arts and train form and kata and be awesome.
If you go to the butcher, it is for meat, not salade.
GIVE ME MY DAMM BLUE BELT SO I CAN QUIT ALREADY!!! GRRRRR!!!!!!!
missed out on my first stripe tonight whilst people who joined same time as me got theirs. A little down but more happy for them as they’ve improved so much; hopefully my time will come soon!
I personally never cared about belt promotions because I was in no holds bar mixed Martial arts Academy they didn't do a lot with promotions cuz everybody was a pro fighter it did more promotion for the younger kids it was a hardcore MMA School back in the day this was 2006
Favorite band, the White Stripes.
Aaah!
I didn't get a stripe on my white belt until I was told I was ready to test for blue. I watched everyone at the gym get so many promotions, and never once was I called on. I stayed quiet about it, but there were sooo many times I left the gym feeling like crap. Like, I didn't even deserve ove stripe. The day came and he pulled me up in front of the class to stripe me up, and just liked at me baffled. He said he thought I was about ready for blue, and just didn't realize. That Brazilian was pretty red in the face, so I tend to believe him, but I also wonder sometimes if there was another motive. 🤔🤔🤔
Money. Black belts know people most quit at blue. So they prolong white.
If I’ve said it once I’ve said it 100 times, Robin is one of the best instructors there is. He is very detailed and has forgotten more jiujitsu than I’ve ever learned. But like he said we all make mistakes. Many years ago when I was a four stripe training with Robin I was competing in a tournament. I thought after today I’ll get my blue belt. I was tapping most of the white belts and hanging with blue and purple. Then in my first match of the tournament I got beat on points. I was so mad and so disgusted with myself and said to Robin, I’ll never get my blue belt, I can’t even win a tournament. He said dude you are right there, don’t even worry about it. Then about 15 minutes later Relson came up to me and said “my friend, I can no longer hold you at a white belt” I believe you are ready for your blue belt. Then he handed it to me and I about past out. Thank you Robin for everything you taught me.
fuckin nice bro! inspirational
I had this one student who was so overly concerned about getting promoted to purple belt it actually regressed his performance and he got worse. He wound up transferring schools and the new school promoted him. It was so pathetic and he would get mopped by blue belts all the time. Belts don’t mean much these days just enjoy the process and training.
true 10 years ago even a purple belt was really something special and rare.
thats a lie, belts do matter. only a higher rank will say they dont.
I learned this in my other martial art.
I thought that I should have been promoted, but was passed over by the Master for whatever reason and figured that perhaps....perhaps my ego needed a check.
I knew that I was crushing it in class and had improved a lot over the last year and a half and I was ready for the next belt.
I was dismayed to say the least when I didn't get promoted.
Later I came to the conclusion that my immediate teacher under the master supported me and petition the master that I be promoted.
That was good enough for me! That the instructor that I trained with(who had 20+ yrs experience) supported me, but that Master who live far away on another coast said otherwise.
So I just continued to train and improve to work on myself and my game.
I later learn in this art there was a lot of nepotism, favoritism, etc., and that a lot of the time skilled didn't matter, but if the Master liked you, or if he saw you come to train with him a lot(on the opposite coast - $$$).
I saw that ranking could be used as a tool by the Master for his own ego to control certain students and as a form to generate more income for himself and there was a lot that was unfair.
So after my immediate instructor retired from the sport and moved away. I also disassociated myself from that group and found a new group where the Master live in the same state and it is much easier to train with him and he seems to be a lot more fair and honorable.
I've been promoted once since and its not much but the lesson I've learned for myself(this doesn't include everyone else's experience) is that I don't really care too much about the belts anymore.
They come when they come!
Work on learning and improving everyday. Be the best student you can be by training hard, training well and soak in as much knowledge as you can.(FYI: This was what I was doing at my other school as well, just wasn't recognized for it!)
Not every Master is a good person. Some people have issues/personal problems and are toxic with their students and for me I just had to leave that group.
Love the art not certain teachers and spread venom and toxicity down to their students!
Keep Training - Gassho
One word: Politics.
If you guys want to get your belt, here's what you do. Show up to all the classes. Maintain a level of kindness and courtesy towards your fellow students. Help out around the school. And do the best you can. Ability doesn't matter too much. I'm a purple belt from California, 50 years old. Because of my age, I get dominated all the time by lower belts. That's ok!
I've been a white belt for 2 years training on and off and my current gym is more wresteling dominated so we do mostly no gi and don't do much grading anyway.
My coach told me I'm getting my blue early next year which is cool. I never really cared about it but I can see the appeal of it more now, not for any other purpose than I have something to show for, for all the times I thought I'll never be good at BJJ.
That’s crazy, simply have a curriculum for people to follow then you don’t discourage people as much, also everyone knows what to expect and we alleviate all of this silliness
It’s a little more complicated than just curriculum.
@@gracieohioit really isn’t complicated.
EVERY MARTIAL ART has a curriculum. A pathway to learning and progress.
BJJ is the only one that just doesn’t. Except Roy Harris. And his schools are always packed.
It’s not about just getting a belt. It’s about understanding what to do and not to do.
Imagine spending 1-2 years of training to find out all that you did didn’t really matter. Or worse - you get the belt, and then watch someone who spent 1/2 the time and effort as you did get it alongside you.
I’ve been a white belt for 5 years, I’ve tapped out brown belts in practice. It’s politics.
You serious ? You must have some sound grappling background prior to BJJ right ?
I think the experience in training Jiu Jitsu should be enough motivation to train. I love training and whenever the belt color changes to me will be a bonus. Choyun Miyagi the founder of Goyu Ryu Karate never awarded a black belt to any of his senior students. The lesson was the same, train to train and be better everyday without the expectation of any recognition, just be grateful to train and learn--in my humble opinion. Oss
Announces “he’s a blue belt. I don’t have one for him right now but he is one…” would you not respect the student enough to take an hour out of your day to go and find one from somewhere to buy for him? 🤔
“Find one from somewhere.”
From where? How many stores do you walk into daily that sell martial art belts? At least where I live, you’re only going to find mma gear in stores. Belts? Gotta get em online lol.
I started with Jay Dennis and live in wv and deals on treated us looks royalty also every time I visitedGracie Ohio you guys welcomed me with open arms of still be under relson if everyone didn't quit here in West Virginia and me believing in loyalty to your tea! Jay told.me to drive to a Royce school 2 hrs from me instead of drive a lil the way to his gym and I did with his blessing but I'm glad I started with relson and got to know the guy they story the way of Jiujistu lifestyle I use thing he taught.me to this day technique as well as life
I'm a proud 3rd degree white belt. Greetings from the Philippines. 🇵🇭🤍🥋
sometimes coaches can fuck up, sometimes coaches are assholes, sometimes its basically both which is what happened with me xD
first belt promotion that came around i had been training for about 9 months, 12-15 hours a week, did wrestling, basically smashed every white belt that was about to get their blue belt, there was also a LIST of things the coach expected from a blue belt (guide to your blue belt type list) and i blasted through that within like 6 months because the gym wasnt competitive and i went all in.. so obviously the guys that have been training for a couple of years got their blue belts because they basically stuck around long enough and i didnt get mine which looking back at it i was a few months away from really being a blue belt, fast forward a YEAR ad im getting frustrated since im tapping MY COACH more than he taps me and still no belt, he told me im gonna get my belt in the next promotion but he decided to do it as a once a year event and that theres gonna be a gap of about a year and a bit between ceremonies and he cant just make a ceremony to only promote me so hes sorry.. fast forward another 4 months and covid hit, we had a fight, i went to another gym and got my blue belt from another coach after 6 months there... and my new coach actually gave a long winded speech saying how everyone must have noticed something is VERY wrong with this guy having a white belt and hes been held back from unknown reasons but i had to make sure hes legit before i handed out belts to strangers but i think we can all agree its about damn time he stops tapping my purple belts with a white belt on hahahahaha
long story short, find a good instructor whos also a nice dude
I just started like 3 weeks ago, just turned 40. I'm not after stripes and belts, I'm after techniques.
In wrestling.... we didn't even have belts. Lol.
That(wrestling) has carried me pretty well, now. I can give a seasoned blue belt a decent run, and end up on top often.... UNTIL I'm in their closed guard. That is where I'm TRULY a white belt.
To me, I can have a brown belt level top game, but if I'm in their guard and I'm clueless, I fully accept not being a blue or even striped white belt.
I'll wait as long as it takes for the blue belt, I've 4 stripes and wanna keep it that way #notsandbagging 😂
I have a black belt in karate and I had a few times that when belt promotion came up I didn't get asked to test and the first time I was so pissed but my instructor told me the journey is about the knowledge that you gain not the color of clothes you wear on it
I only need one belt for wearing my gi correctly😏. I have noticed that since I don't have specific "goals" in BJJ and not competing, the belt colour doesn't matter and personally I don't care if I "win or lose". All I care about is if it's fun, am I doing the techniques correctly and how much less energy I need for rolling after every improvement. If the coach doesn't promote, it's not the end of the world because it won't change my acquired knowledge in any way. Colours are important mostly for competitors so that they know in which class to compete.
I know how this feels, it actually happened to me this weekend, but as a 3-strip purple belt. I graded to purple belt about 2 years ago, been training really hard, been smashing the other other purple belts I train with and even most of the brown belts I roll with. I'm also in the situation here in South Africa, were we don't always have a ton of black belts around to just grade you. And yes I was a bit bummed, I really hoped I would have been promoted to brown belt, but in the two days post the seminar I have realized I have so much I can still work on, and if I wait another year or two that is also ok. The goal now is not on the belt, but to become the meanest over 40 purple belt and possibly to go out and compete a bit more next year. When the belt comes it comes and when it does it will be more of a surprise, because I'm not going to ask for it, I'm going to earn it. Thank you for your post.
Belts are absolutely toxic and bjj should get rid of them apart from two. There should be a white belt and a black belt for instructors. I have just been through this experience. End all of this belt crap.
4 years, 4 tournament losses in the first round, and lack of consistency to show up. I’d have to agree that I feel more motivated to progress when I see my peers promoted
I am a 3 stripe white belt for 10 months now, there are a few peers in my group we were al 2 stripes then 3, then they were 4 and now they blue belts, promoted twice and me not at all. we were all similar skill levels, i couldnt beat them they couldnt beat me, we were all quite evenly matched, but now i can beat all but one of them, a couple of them very easily, like its not even close anymore, so i have progressed past them yet they have been promoted twice and are now blue belts and i am still a 3 stripe white. i do not humiliate nor mistreat anyone, i dont hurt anyone, my teammates like me. i go to 5 classes a week with rounds afterwards, i have a great attitude, helpful friendly i get along with all my teammates, so can anyone help me to understand just wtf is going on here? im beginning to get demoralized and thinking of leaving this gym as this is making me lose respect for the head guy for sure. i loved going to the gym before now its feeling like a chore, everyone can say it doesnt matter but when you see guys that you came up with that you have progressed past and they get promoted and you dont, it does matter then.
You say you have a great attitude etc and do a great job of promoting yourself to others but saying you beat others etc shows you lack humility....rounds are not competition, they're to help you both improve
It is totally about becoming better and acquiring the skills to tap ppl out and more importantly to use your jiu jitsu for self defense...but not gonna lie sometimes it messes with you when you are waiting to be promoted and your time hasn’t come...If not for this pandemic I’m sure I would of had my 4th stripe on my white belt oh well... at this point I’m happy that I can defend myself with my jiu jitsu
When someone gets passed over for promotion, and they express their disagreement, they are automatically pictured as being "wrong", "jealous" or mean for being jealous and not supporting his/her teammates, or in some negative light, whereas the instructor is this infallible being with almost deity qualities that can do no wrong and is never wrong. Well, I don't agree, instructors are human and they make mistakes and favor people they like (or they are "dating"-don't want to use bad word here-). I saw it myself in my ex-academy, two members of a family group being promoted one stripe, both (pa and ma) are purple, in those three months he didn't roll not even once, she attends maybe once every other week. I know that because is a new, small academy. Also, a woman who is purple, never set foot on the mats got promoted too, but she has two kids, so like the other two who are paying a lot, because jiu-jitsu is expensive, so basically they are buying the rank, anyway you want to dress it, that's what it is, buying the rank, like in karate and taekwondo. So, if that's what the instructor wants to do, fine by me, but he shouldn't be spewing around these big words about "I reward the effort", blah, blah, blah, shut up your face and promote those who are paying the most, at least is more honest that way, we all need money, no? And no, in this case there is no "talking to the instructor", because he will make up some excuse, dismissing your progress saying "oh, you didn't do enough", the truth is "you don't pay enough". There are many cases like this, people are not jealous or mean, if you are putting a lot of effort, you want a reward, it's normal and it's human, and we are paying a shitload of money here, but I guess family groups are paying more
Proud 1 degree white belt for 2 years now. Enjoying it alot :3
A five stripe white belt. very dangerous. lol great story.
It's about your skill, not your belt.
My instructor got the 5th stripe on his purple belt 😂
This made me laugh because i realized we all went through the same damn struggle. Maybe not the 5th stripe struggle, but a struggle none the less. You guys should do a video on the EXACT OPPOSITE of this video. The dangers of over promotion in schools.
I'm a one stripe white belt. And I've consistently showed up to class for 10 months tap some blue belts all of the other white belts but they got more stripes then me.
Cool story.
@@JollyRogerProductions Na not really
@@quickhands6347 I've always thought it was super cool when people tap their training partners, in training and then use the internet to tell as many people as they can.
@@JollyRogerProductions I actually do Ju Jitsu in real life.. Sooo what I think your eluding to is I'm bragging to get some kind of kudos. Which I'm not being that you can't even see my face or name for me to really enjoy a kudos. And to be truthful I like my training partners so much I have to really force my self to tap them.
@@quickhands6347 Just don't tap and tell, because no one really cares how many people you tapped at your last training session.
Let’s not forget about the owners/coaches that teach and open the mat up for rolls then leave every day. They don’t even see the progress because they don’t even watch you roll. I wouldn’t own a gym solely based on the money.
I've always heard that a new Blue Belt is just a 5-stripe white belt...
I think it was the same thing I was like crushing all the white belts and this was in 1990. And they had guys coming in from Brazil but was funny as soon as they got in there they were all purple belts and we just beat the crap out of them. They got so mad at us, back then it was really hard because they really didn’t give out belts it didn’t matter who you were that’s kind of like well you’re not from Brazil. That’s how we felt! Do you know the thing is that was really hard for me, Pedro left to go teach at the Naval Academy and there really wasn’t anybody around here in my area that even was good Jujitsu. So I went on to do other stuff got my black belt in judo, started working in Hapkido so learning my wrist locks and different types of other throwing. All while I was wrestling I had been wrestling since I was four and I’m a very high national champion level wrestler. I really started To do more Japanese jujitsu. So I am a purple belt in Brazilian jujitsu and I’ve been that for almost 30 years training six times a week and teaching classes. I go to seminars I just got to the point where I didn’t care anymore. I still love going to different things and I have my students Go to tournaments. I try to support all my Brazilian Jujitsu instructors and that’s pretty much it
i almost joined your school, but ronin was closer. thats were i met venessa “ little monster”. next time im in town ill be sure to visit
Belts dont matter. Get it out of your head and you will progress faster.
They do matter to hold my gut in and my head and ego humble.
belt dont matter for hobbyist
but if you are a competitor it matter if you train consistently you skill pass your current belt but you coach holding back and stay in lower belt for long time you will not improve
I just got my Blue Belt. I'm 16. I've been training since I was 14, so I'd been passed by my peers who I remembered walking in the gym for the first time, but they got promoted ahead of me because I wasn't of age. The professors weren't sure if I was ready for my promotion to Blue Belt since my promotion day was on my birthday. But Professor Kayron decided to give me a Blue Belt and I'm so honored to say that I am now a Blue Belt in Gracie Barra Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Keep training everyone, now matter how long you wait, it is definitly worth it.
Currently a 2 stripe blue. Got the blue in Dec2018. Goal for the year is to be a damn good 3-4 stripe blue. Purple comes whenever it does even if its 2-3 years away
Keep at it! Great attitude! Chase the skill and the belt will follow.
Only thing that sucks about white belt is IBJJF doesn’t do Absolute brackets for us... when I compete I just want more opportunities to roll. Other than that I just put my head down and train my ass off.
That's nothing, I had 7 white stripes until I got my blue belt! after 3 .5 years since I started bjj...so don't worry, NEVER SWEAT YOUR BELT COLOR! Focus on tapping everyone out! Including the instructor!
When I first join Judo, I never consider to get a blue belt. It took a year to get to blue and another 4 years to get Brownbelt. Amazing, but you get into details, even it was along time you didnt practice it, you will still remember what the instructor teach you.
Anyway, your 'Dont Ask.' sounds like Aliens 1986.
Dang I'd be so mad if I got promoted but didn't get the belt hahaha
Pro tip if you feel you should get promoted and you havent been. Show that by going to competitions. If you keep winning all the whitebelt competitions it will start to look bad if the club dont promote you in the long run. Or you just don't care and take it whenever it comes.
I did this, except i put myself in the expert division and won beating 4 browns as a blue which i had been for 1.5 years. They still didn’t promote me.
The only thing a belt is good for is to hold your pants up-Bruce Lee
This happened to me tonight.
7year whitebelt here train consistently won many whitebelt tournament instructor still said you not good enough to be bluebelt (i know he hold back for more win to club and for his coach profile) while promoted his friend who never train any grappling before to 4 strip white belt in 5 month sometime coach suck 😬 but im stupid too i have gym loyalty i don't want to change gym and end up in this situation 🤣🤣🤣
I’m good. I’ll sandbag for ten years 😂😂😂
"Stop saying OSS."
The Ricochet Method why
OSS!!!!
I take karate and I’m curious now. Is it a lot harder to get belts in jiu jitsu or are there just less belts so getting one belt would be like getting two in karate? I’ve been taking karate for about 10 years now and just last week I received my black belt.
Its the same thing. You go in, and grind.
Having done both. It’s way harder to get a belt in BJJ than karate
@@BotGamePros ive done both too. I had to fight about 10 ppl without a break
Yes bjj is way harder. One of my coworker's son got his black belt in karate whe he was only 12 years old. In jiu jitsu, it takes 10 years on average to get a black belt! And u must be a certain age
Also in karate all u have to do is attend class and you will get promoted. In bjj it's performance based. You have to roll a lot
Is it better to be a head among foxes or a tail among lions?
As new can I ask instructor the requirements for first belt ?? So too study and have a inculine of ?? Not rushing anything just love too have any idea??
I was kept as a Blue Belt for five years and I was kept as a White Belt for two years. I've been a Purple Belt for about a year now. It was very sad, and it was weird, because I saw white belts getting promoted right away to blue belts and it was fine u know, whatever, but then these guys got promoted to purple after like two years only, and I was left at Blue... Now the issue I had with that, was the initial fact that these Blue Belts, they sucked... I mean they were terrible, I could dominate them any time. Well I kept quiet. I didn't agree with it, I felt that it was wrong, I was more than upset, but whatever. Eventually I got my purple belt, these purple belts that I said that sucked ass, they got their two stripes shortly after. I left my gym after being banned. It started with people complaining that I hurt them too much... Apparently no one felt it necessary to tell me anything in person, instead go tell teacher on me. So I just went easy on people, then they complained saying that I wasn't even trying... But it was like God sending me message at one point, when I got banned. I was rolling with a three stripe purple belt, and I took him down and had him in a Kimura lock, this was like a few seconds in, he wouldn't tap, I guess cus he had an ego, well I dislocated and popped his shoulder, he was in pain, when I got home on my Facebook I got alot of shit for that. My instructor texted me saying I was banned, and I left, found another home gym. My new instructor gave me a stripe and told me "Don't worry man, I won't hold you back." Ever since then, I finally got friends who liked me, a dojo that was awesome. The original gym, while yeah, had two legit black belts from Alliance, it was not a good experience for me. And for that I'm thankful to Fight Sports for taking me in. And while I got a little off track, I will be a black belt in maybe three or four more years, all I gotta say is, don't promote ur students if they can't fight. All ur doing is lying to them with that misrepresented rank. U can have all the knowledge in the world, if u can't put it to use, then what good is it? In all honesty, if ur a purple who loses consistently to blue belts, then ur not a purple belt. That's the truth and a hard one for people to accept.
Well. Sorry for your experience. But I think there is a little wiggle room there in your final point. Some people do Jits to compete and smash people. Some do it to move, learn and share comradery and community with like minded. If the higher ranked belts you smashed were older, lighter, injured or less competitive, I think it's not fair to tell them they don't deserve their belt because a young stud can smash them physically.
You were probably "that guy" and I think I was too back when I first started. Submissions made possible through hucking, pulling, jamming and cramming.
I recently picked up bjj again after a 7 year break and my view of things is about 90% different now. I focus mainly on control through technique and keeping myself and others injury free. And yes, that means I suck balls compared to what I used to.
@@patte4702 No, but everybody assumes I just smash and get submissions through brute strength. I'm fast, I'm technical, I did Judo and Greco Roman Wrestling for four years, I'm 28 years old, been doing Jiu Jitsu since I was 20. I'm very competitive, I dominate purple belts younger than me, some larger than me, am I the best? Far from it, I ain't nothing compared to a champion or even a high class or high tier grappler, I'm above average at the very least, but being above average is nothing to brag about either. I've had older purple belts beat me or match up to me, so while age matters, it's not normally an excuse. I've had injuries, however I don't seem to suffer any chronic pain or problems from them, my genetics are good I guess. I am heavy, however I've got solid appropriate technique, I know that for sure, and me being my own worst critic, I know to be true. I can't agree with u, a ranked belt is something to be respected, I cannot lie to someone and say they're Blue, Purple or Brown or even Black if it's not true. I worked hard for my Purple Belt, if I go out there in the streets in a normal fist fight, I'm not just gonna win, I'm gonna absolutely destroy the majority out there. U know how awful it is for some of these purple belts that go into a fight with someone stronger and they can't win or barely win by the skin off their teeth after biting their lip? U know how awful it is to watch people being trained by people u know aren't legitimate black belts. And some may ask "how would u know what it takes to be a black belt if you've never been one." I don't know what it is yet to be a black belt, but I know what it's like to go up against a legit black belt, I've trained with normal black belts, so if ur not one, I know deep down ur not the real deal. It's a horrible reality people do need to face, and must work harder to earn it or prove themselves. U say it's not fair to compare myself to the lower tier, but life overall isn't fair, some people have to try harder than others, that's life and Jiu Jitsu is life, if ur arsenal doesn't help u lift up a rock you've been training to lift up for years, then did u even accomplish anything? No. (The rock is a metaphor by the way.)
I had a similar experience at my last club. I was killing all but one of the white belts (out of ten or so), training twice as much as they were and I was honestly the model student - I even taught the kids class for free on the weekend. I wasn’t sure what the standard for a blue belt was so I wasn’t expecting to be promoted, but I was dumbfounded when the other white belts were promoted above me. Some were honestly terrible and completely uncommitted.
Grading is actually nonsense. At my last club (where I trained for 5 days a week for 2 years) I was on the cusp of becoming a blue belt. I got injured, left that club and a year later joined another. At that club I am still a no-stripe white belt, after 3 months. I might not be a blue belt yet, but I am not a no-stripe white belt after 2 years of hard training. When I didn’t get a stipe at the last grading I felt angry for about 5 seconds and then I just laughed about it. My instructor is a totally decent guy and an excellent teacher, so I just don’t give s shit, but I don’t take belts seriously anymore. People don’t like hearing this: but there are some very mediocre black belts out there.
Lol if that’s u in the profile u built like hulk. U may not have all the technical details down because of your strength. It’s not your fault it’s just easier to do things less right when your stronger. Your margin of error is greater then someone weaker which allows for sloppier techniques. Sometimes I notice the strong guys in my gym don’t know how to turn of strength and just roll technical. It’s just finding the balance between how trying to match partners strength. That’s the curse of hulk strength when learning bjj
It all depends on if your sensei is organized and observant. Most grading selections I have observed are an absolute shambles. “Oh you haven’t trained for a year? Better promote you!”
What is your opinion on schools charging for stripe/belt test to get a promotion?
What a scam
s f yep
That's very karate school...
Forget that, it's not okay. I taped a purple belt when I was just with three stripes.
The purple belts sometime only come 1 time a week and not everyday those are the ones that suck ass and slow ass brown belts problably from work related jobs who knows?? All the purple belts at my gym hardly ever come there are like only 3 or 4 of us on a bad day 3 today. On a good day full house mabe 20 people.
A black belt is just a 20 stripe white belt
none sense
I think I’m not gonna get promoted tomorrow. So I’m just mentally preparing lol
Awesome video thank you oss
If you started training at two places, starting the second one a year and a half later and get a belt promotion at your first school, is it all good to be the new belt at the second school? Thanks for the advice
The longer you're there...the more dues you pay. Duh.
I have a buddy that had been a white belt for 5.5 years and is still a white belt. He can catch purple belts.
Why?
He dosent want to PAY for a belt promotion test.
I dont blame him.
I have a black belt in judo and never paid for promotion.....its like paying for college snd then having to pay to take all the mid terms and finals as well.
F**k "pay to play".
Its a ton of crap.
That just sounds heccin ridicc.
They make y’all pay for a belt testing? Wack
Most BJJ Ive seen makes people pay for belt tests.
Its becoming what every other Martial Art has become.....a money magnet and its invaded even this.
Hell, from what I understand some schools are even promoting based on how many classes you have attended and checking the "boxes".....the Gracie Barra website even has a section that tells you when you should expect to be promoted and it reads...(dosent come out and just say it) like its on ATTENDANCE.
Im a wrestler and Judoka.....so Im going to go out and say that it seems like there is a little underside of this that keeps the people with more money cateted to while the ones that are not so well off just get what they get.
Very Gracie....very, VERY Gracie.
Good for him
Same, I grew up wrestling and boxing. You either win or lose. No such thing as a tenth degree black belt wrestler. It's just your weight and if you won.
I was in Bjj for about 7 or 8 months 10 years ago they never gave me a stripe on my white belt they didnt like me to much and i was the nice guy in a room full of douche bag dicks. So i left never came back. I came back to another school in for about 3 months now with private classes and going to siminars and open mats and as a no striper who now been in the art all together one year no strip i feel im pritty dam good for my belts ability. But i patiently wait for my first strip and at the same time eveyone around me gets promoted is crushing me everytime little by little i feel like it shouldnt just be on time and skill in but skill to and how fast you learn. But i have to remind myself to enjoy it. Relax dont be so serious all the time. And dont take it out on your teamates on the matts and end up hurting them. One time we headbutted each other like rams on accident the pain from that blow put me in an agressive rage and im a nice guy btw took him down and americana quickly after that i apologized to him for rolling with him to aggressive while angree i then told him i need to set out till i get my head right for rolling. I dont like rolling angree
It's good that you got over looked. It means you won't over look your students
Nvm I finished the video 😂
I'm a 4 stripe purple. About to be passed over for brown...
Im torn. If youre a white belt and you're consistently subbing all the other white belts and majority blues and giving higher belts a hard time...can't really think of an excuse not to promote, unless you want that person to destroy other white belts in tournaments????
Can you reject a belt? I plan on rejecting mine if I get promoted and don't feel I deserve it.
i dont think he was bumbed out about it.
I'd be more than happy being overlooked at belt promotions. seems like the higher your belt, the more of a target for every spaz and dangerous former high school wrestler that walks in looking to tap out a higher ranking guy. I'm happy not to get promoted. I get my ass kicked enough as it is. WHITE BELT FOR LIFE!
this system of belt promotion is not right. it is to easy to be overlooked.
the secret to regular promotion is go to a smaller school and make donations for new mats or new pads or something right before belt promotions come up. Guaranteed first time - every time. Work some OT at your job if you have to, because it's a lot cheaper to spend a few hundred bucks on equipment now, then go through another whole year of fees.
Machado doesn’t say oss?
Wait why did he say stop saying OSS or 123 *clap*
i been a white belt for 4 years, thinking of quitting. i got bronze at my last competition. i was looking forward to additional techniques allowed in. got passed over again. tired of being sore and accrued injuries only to not be promoted again. this shit isnt worth it to have 0 respect to me from my club, promotions do matter.
I got my blue belt in 8 months. Mind you I'm a quick learner and was able to hang with the blue belts by then but I always saw blue belt as having the skills to beat an untrained opponent. the real time should be blue to purple. I've been a blue belt for 1 year now and don't expect purple for another 1.5-2years
Not doing it for belt promotions. That's not the point.
White Belt 4 life
Won a expert level tournament where i beat 4 brown belts and still didn’t get promoted. It’s not about skill it’s about time.
With all due respect I think its quite stupid not to promote someone who is clearly the level of the belt just because of a time requirement. In my mind, if a white belt is tapping purple belts a majority of the time I'd promote him
@@danggoobus this is why you're a white belt
I could be wearing a bathroom robe, but if I knew Jiu-Jitsu and could defend myself I'd be happy. Regardless of belt rank or color.
money money money, lol