Belts & Stripes

By this point in my BJJ journey, I have spent a considerable amount of time training BJJ. There are a few things I wish I had a better understanding of from the start and one of them was belts and stripes. BJJ is arguably one of the most difficult martial arts to understand and progress in and a clearer understanding of ranking would have been nice.

Belts were not always a factor of rank in BJJ and many would likely argue that today, they mean very little in the scope of measuring one’s proficiency. As an older grappler, this can be frustrating, especially when you have received your first colored belt or stripes and you find yourself a target of lower belts, looking to boost their ego by submitting you.

First, let me start by saying that belts and stripes are a weak indicator of the skill of any opponent. They are just a measurement of someone’s time in the study of BJJ. It’s not uncommon to come across a purple, brown, or even a black belt, that can be easily submitted by a purple, blue, or even the occasional white belt. This holds especially true when encountering older grapplers with colored belts. This is likely the thinking behind setting up Master’s brackets in BJJ tournaments. More often than not, stripes are mostly used for ranking in a class lineup of similar belts or help give instructors a visual reminder to consider what knowledge a particular student should have acquired by this point.

In most cases, stripes are awarded for time spent training and most associations have rules or standards, for how many stripes may be achieved, when a belt promotion may occur, and a minimum time frame. Most schools tend to require a specific amount of class time to achieve each stripe and at the point when the student is maxed on stripes, they become eligible for a belt promotion. Tests are sometimes required, before awarding new belts, but not always. It seems to be a consensus, that asking for a promotion is a big “No No” and your instructor ultimately decides when a promotion or stripe is appropriate.

Many schools use specialized software to track attendance. Some host gauntlets so to speak, for stripe promotions and full-blown tests for belt promotions. Belts are generally awarded only a few times per year, whereas stripes may be awarded at random intervals, based on the need.

Some schools award stripes and belts based almost entirely on competition success. Finding the right school for you can be the difference between staying on the mat and quitting, so I would highly recommend that you get a clear picture of the instructor’s choice of promotion methods, before committing to a long contract and countless hours of training, only to find that you are in the wrong school for your needs. Less than 1% of BJJ students will compete and a much smaller subset will do so with any frequency. With that said, some older grapplers may not be at all interested in competing and as such, may not fit in well in a competition-based promotion system. Most people do not compete, so don’t feel like you need to compete to find value in BJJ training. BJJ is so much more than just a competition art.

I have learned a few things about belts, stripes, and the opponents wearing them, so here are some of my incites.

White belts are the most dangerous in terms of predictability and hold the highest probability of injuring themselves and those they roll with. Stripes on a white belt are a means of motivation and mean very little in the scope of ability. More stripes may indicate a slightly calmer personality, but verify that, rather than assuming it is the case.

Blue belts are marginally less risky, but most are still white belts, just wearing a colored belt. Schools that require a student to complete a physical test to achieve a belt, tend to have a higher caliber of competency, whereas schools that promote based solely on time, often do not. A blue belt promoted early may have been a wrestler or have experience in another art and is equipped with a much higher degree of beginner competency. This often fades away by midway through the blue belt, where most of their outside experiences granting said advantages, are no longer much of a boost against more highly trained opponents.

Purple belts are highly experienced, knowledgeable enough that many teach and often know as much as a black belt, but lack the finesse, refinement, and time on the mat.

Brown belts are exceptionally skilled, more often instructors and from a competition standpoint, sit at the very pinnacle of skill, before having to move to the realm of the black belts, where skill levels can vary massively from one opponent to the next.

Black belts are the top of the art and most often the instructors. The skill level of the black belt is all over the map in terms of knowledge and ability and many black belts say they feel like a white belt all over again, upon receiving their black belt. Rest assured that most black belts are masters in the art.

So what does all this mean?

Stripes indicate how much mat time a person has at their belt. The more stripes, the more time at that belt. The difference between a no-stripe and a four-stripe is normally massive in terms of both knowledge and ability, but not always. Belts indicate time in the art and in many cases, the person wearing the belt has undergone extensive testing to ensure they possess the necessary knowledge for their belt. You’ll notice I did not say that belts and stripes indicate skill. While you can play it safer by assuming more stripes or a higher belt equates to more skill proficiency, in many cases you’ll find it matters very little.

How do you benefit from stripes and belts?

Stripes remind you and others of where you are in your belt, in terms of time. They are a good way to encourage motivation and often grant you a position in the lineup. Belts indicate that you have demonstrated the knowledge required to achieve that belt and often move you further up the same lineup, as a reward for your commitment.

In GI competitions, belts determine brackets, along with weight and age. There are sand-baggers, that jump from school to school, avoiding promotions, to gain an advantage in competition.

In no GI competitions, time in the art is the measure of brackets, often cheated by simply jumping from school to school and telling each school they are brand new to the art. Luckily, platforms like Smooth Comp are being used more and more, helping out these people.

So stripes and belts can give you some warning of a person’s ability, but I find more often than not, that I vastly overestimate my opponent’s abilities, based solely on stripes or belts.

What should I be doing at each belt?
I once saw a post from a black belt (below), that summed it up for me.

White belt, elementary-level school BJJ student. Learns names of moves, and fundamentals and keeps coming back, despite the pain, suffering, and being constantly tapped. Offers countless opportunities to be submitted to opponents, easily submitted by upper belts, but praised for their effort.

Blue belt, high school level BJJ student. Has a good grasp of fundamentals, actively learning to escape everything, regardless of opponent’s attributes or rank. Offers fewer opportunities to be submitted to opponents and is marginally harder to submit. Often the target of white belts and tap hunters.

Purple belt, 4-year college BJJ student. Fundamentals are a breeze, beginning to master submissions, developing chained techniques, competent enough to teach others, yet new enough to still understand and sympathize with lower-ranked students. Expert escape artist and very dangerous to black and brown belts. So dangerous in fact, that higher belts may no longer take risks with them. Offers few opportunities to be submitted and is very difficult to submit, but not always aware of complex traps set by higher belts.

Brown belt, 6-year college BJJ student. Advanced technique savvy, chained techniques and escapes that turn into submissions are common. Often instructs and is a regular target of purple belts. Prefers to murder purple belts and possesses a keen sense of all aspects of BJJ. Offers almost nothing in terms of opportunity to opponents and is nearly impossible to submit. On the rare occasion they give an opponent something to work with, it most likely ends poorly for the opponent. Can make lesser-skill opponents fall into traps easily, despite them seeing it happen in advance.

Black Belt, PhD BJJ student. Most likely an instructor. Possess an extensive BJJ knowledge base with a highly tuned sense of risk -vs- reward. Can be boring to roll against for a lack of attack options, but highly respected among BJJ practitioners. Offers nothing to opponents, that does not include a heavily stacked risk for the opponent. Nearly impossible to submit by anyone under a brown belt and often leads opponents into traps, with little to no indication of danger. Plays dead during rolls and can turn any situation around to their advantage.

There are very few instructors I’ve met who hand out praise and rightfully so, if you look at things from their perspective. To a black belt, a white belt probably looks like a would-be brawler, waiting to be victimized. Anyone with less knowledge is likely very boring to watch and it’s probably hard to hand out praise when you see a grown adult doing a technique for the 300th time, like a five-year-old takes on rocket science. Stripes and belts, serve as our praise and often come with a healthy dose of respect from other students.

Being an older grappler, stripes, and belts remind me of the time and effort I’ve put in and my place along my BJJ journey. The level of respect that comes with a belt is nice, but in reality, I see stripes and belts as rungs on a ladder. Having a higher belt does not mean I have the secret to defeating all those with less rank and I do not measure my success by my belt. I will say that with every new belt, I felt inadequate for that new belt and just before the next belt, I felt like I was finally befitting of the previous belt.

In the end, your belt represents your rank based on your potential ability. This also explains the vast differences in peoples ability by belt rank.

As for competition and belts, if you are chasing gold medals, be the big dog in the fight, not the little dog. A new purple belt is a slightly better blue belt. A new brown belt is a slightly better purple belt. If you want to be the big dog, compete at your rank, when you are proficient at that belt.

See you on the mat - Pops
This article was written by 59-year-old - BJJ Black Belt Todd Nelson (aka Pops)