If your skill and ego are good, you have nothing to lose. Except the match. If a lower belt is game to roll me, I take on all comers. If I get scalped so be it. Dude was good. What's the alternative? Sit out, or roll. Rolling is funner.
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The major ones do. Most regional ones could care less.
I would of been sandbagging pretty bad entering the white belt division. Because I won the blue division consistently. Then I got promoted so I could stop with the fuckery. I like challenges. I also never claimed rank. I just told them what division I wanted to compete in and dressed accordingly. Had to borrow the gi too.
I've never denied a match but I can understand people who do. There are plenty lower belts that should be higher belts, so it's better to go against someone that's actually repping his true belt, than to lose to someone who should be a higher belt. If the guy is really a lower belt level, then I'd rather let someone else have the free win and I'll earn my way to the gold with a legit match.
Op be trippin, man.
Just made 3 years. I'm sure you could just throw on a fake belt to compete at a higher level and no one would question it if no one knows you at the tournament. I've asked my instructors if I could do this before and they've denied me every time. I know naga will throw you in the purple belt division if you enter advanced nogi but that's the only tournament I've heard about that does this.
Its not disrespectful. Its a game. I show up and pay them money to compete. I want the best in the building.
If I posed as a belt and charged for classes, now that's fucked up.
Other than egos Im guessing its usually higher belts that teach and dont want their students quitting because their instructor got beat by some low belt ranked person. I think its the fear of losing the cult leader mind control some instructors have on their students. Maybe it cant be helped that a lot people dont know any better other than to think their instructor is invincible, and shouldnt be disrespected by being challenged or beating by some first year grappler
What a mind fuck though if someone saw you compete as brown/black belt and wanted to sign up at your academy and saw you were actually a purple belt. I feel people judge a lot of credibility off an instructors belt rank and would in certain cases not sign up. Though I completely agree with your logic in the situation and believe you should continue challenging yourself I feel if the area isn't producing guys that are at my level or higher you have to go explore competitions outside my usual area. I am sure there some bad ass purple belts out there that are searching for that same step up in opponent.