Next 10thPlanet Brown Belts

[Chris Urbanski]

If you are serious about getting your TPJJ brown belt you gotta show me not get on the internet and tell me you deserve it.

The harder it is to earn a TPJJ brown belt the better it is for the entire association, I hope you all see that. If I gave out brown belts based on rolling stories I hear on the internet then the whole system suffers

AMEN Brother!!

[Chris Leavelle]

If you guys are so worried about belts your missing the whole point. Its the journey not the destination. Its one thing to be proud of the people you train with and a whole different thing to get on line and complain about so and so not being a higher belt then what they are. A 10th Planet belt should mean something more then other schools and the only way that it does is if its hard to get. When's the last time anyone was afraid or thought twice about rolling with a Gracie Blue Belt?

[Daniel Elizondo]

I just want to make it clear to everyone on here that what I put was based on my opinion not because anyone told me to. So again to make it clear to everyone involved KEVIN GREEN DID NOT TELL ME TO PUT THIS THREAD OR ANYTHING I SAID ON HERE.

[Brandon Mccaghren]

i think i may just quit the internet all together.

[frank-theman-james]

frank-theman-james,

Einstein's response was due to the fact that you should never ask your instructor for a belt promotion, whether it's for you or someone else, and on the internet?? That makes it seem like you think the head instructor doesn't know what he's doing. Usually when you ask your instructor for a promotion, it means now it's gonna take twice as long to get it so watch what you say.

And if you read my post correctly I said you have 2 choices Mr. James, not 1. If you can't afford to make it out to hq for your brown belt you can always just compete like purple belts Louis Ho, Brian Stuebner, Frank Barca, Kim Ferguson and Stewart Landry are doing. If they keep up the awesome job they're doing on their local competition circuit, they won't have to make the trip to hq for their brown belt test. If you are serious about getting your TPJJ brown belt you gotta show me not get on the internet and tell me you deserve it.

The harder it is to earn a TPJJ brown belt the better it is for the entire association, I hope you all see that. If I gave out brown belts based on rolling stories I hear on the internet then the whole system suffers

I wasnt implying that you dont know what you are doing, nor was I asking you for kevins sake. I was simply giving him a very much due compliment about him as an instructor. I also believe, and maybe you should consider this, while there are those who are very strong competitors, and those that are very good instuctors, not being one does not discount the other. I appreciate your criteria for promotions wanting only the best to represent you, but what about those of us who may have previous injuries that keep us from competing at our very best, does that mean we are less knowledgable than top performers. I just think that for your system to grow, you may need to consider some other options.

And as for you answering for einstein, isnt pretty much the same thing that you said I did. Your correcting me on his comments that were addressed to me and others on here who simply were giving respect and tribute to instructors that they feel like deserve it. As I'm sure you see and roll the guys on the west coast on a regular basis, you dont see the east coast guys but when you do a seminar. Maybe if travel and expense is the problem for your guys to travel to you, other concessions could be considered such as having one of your blackbelts fly out and view the instructors in their classes and report back to you as to their progression. Surely, this is not to far out of an idea to help prosper your system and grow your system to bigger scale. I'm not asking you to give anybody a belt that they dont deserve, but if you never take the time to look at the fruits in your garden, how will you know if they are growing or not.

I may seem overzealous, but I truly believe that this is a wonderful thing that you have created and I hope to see it continue to grow and expand past your wildest imaginations. As to everyone else who has commented to my post, I would like to hear from you when you think that you are deserving of a promotion and dont have the funds to travel to LA, or if you get injured and compete. So what then, stay where you are with your students looking at you wanting to get promoted but cant because you arent high enough to promote them.

[Scott Yockel]

the way I look at it is you get rank one way and one way only....Earn it! Eddie as stated for you to earn rank under him, go to HQ or win high level tournaments. If you dont have the cash, budget and set goals to get to HQ. Life is tough, if you want anything in life you need to find away to get it. I tell my students all the time, find away to win and dont give reasons why you can't. Not to mention this is Eddie's system he makes the rules. Just thoughts from a very proud purple belt!

[frank-theman-james]

the way I look at it is you get rank one way and one way only....Earn it! Eddie as stated for you to earn rank under him, go to HQ or win high level tournaments. If you dont have the cash, budget and set goals to get to HQ. Life is tough, if you want anything in life you need to find away to get it. I tell my students all the time, find away to win and dont give reasons why you can't. Not to mention this is Eddie's system he makes the rules. Just thoughts from a very proud purple belt!

I think everyone has missed the point of the entire thread. It was never meant to challenge the grand scheme of things. It was simply acknowledgement by some people as to instructors and their efforts that they put in. More of a compliment, then a basis for an argument. As for myself, I got upset when I was discounted as just a "whitebelt", like I havent done shit enough in my twenty plus years of martial arts to recognize true talent and knowledge of someones abilities. And then to have Eddie reprimand me for speaking for Kevin (which btw, I wasn't), and then turn around and speak in a dismissive tone on behalf of Einstein, seemed a little hypocritical to me. I stated my concerns for his policy on belt advancement, as has been done on here by several people, which leads me to think that yes, while it is his system, that maybe there are others who like myself, train very hard to learn it in hopes of one day being an affiliate to teach under him and spread his system, are concerned with his policies and our future in this system, because I know damn well, that I cant afford to up and take a hiatus from my business and responsibilities to go and try to impress him by tapping guys that have the luxury of training every week with him and the other bb in the system. And at 42 going on 43, I dont see myself burning up the tournament scene. I'm doing all I can do to learn all i can with the limited resources that are afforded me on the east coast. I'm traveling at great expense to cross train when I can. I'm having seminars with the east coast guys to bring them to me and let them see me in action, And yes scott, I'm even trying to work it out to have herzog here by summer, so what are my options...... anybody from the peanut gallery want to chime and tell me if they are doing as much with sooooo little, How bout you Eddie, do you not appreciate what I and the other underbelts who dont live near an affiliate are trying to do? Because in this thread, I'm not really feeling that what I have done is at all appreciated, so I can only imagine how discouraging it can be for others who are doing what they can with what they have.

So next time anyone wants to dismiss the "whitebelts", remember this, They are the future instructors who should be taken serious as so, and not mocked and talked shit to. This entire thread has me wondering whether all of my efforts are for nothing.

[Compella]

RESPECT YOUR SENSEI...break the wrist and walk away

[Chris Leavelle]

Frank, man it sounds like your doing everything you can at this point. Just keep training and have fun, all that other shit will take care of itself.

[Jay Chow]

Frank you need to realise that you aren't being "dismissed". When you earn the respect of people you will get it, but by whinging and moaning about something you are never going to get it. You want to be an affiliate, yet you aren't willing to save up to get to LA or another affiliate or even try the online ranking. Then there is no hope for it. I have been to HQ twice, and whereas my responsibilities aren't huge, I still have some. I still worked my ass off for a year and a half and saved a lot of money just to fulfil my dream of going to HQ and I am 10 hours away in the UK! It costs £700 for the flight alone. Not being funny but I've just searched flights from you to LAX and its $300 man

How can you question his belting policies...again, being a white belt? Let me just say, nobody in this sport/martial art cares if you have 300 years experience doing Karate and Tae Kwon Do. You are a white belt in 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu. You cannot possibly comment on how good someone is in the system. That would be like me telling a world renowned Black Belt in Karate that his grading policy is flawed and that he should promote a guy I trained with for a couple of days because I am a good judge of character and a blue belt in 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu. I'd get the same treatment as you.

Don't get me wrong, I think what you said in the first place was fair enough, you can give your opinions. You can't take Einstein's insults seriously, and you can't be arguing about it. You should learn to respect the opinions of about 10 higher ranked people than you. At 42, I'd of thought you would be wayyy more respectful to Black Belts than this! Especially with your Martial Arts background.