Belt Promotions

[Psylo]

I know every academy varies in how they handle belt promotions. I was just curious on what your guys' thoughts on how they should work. I'm asking because we have a black belt come in to our academy every 6 months to promote stripes and give out belts. Me and another white belt of the same we're there and the black belt asked out instructor(who seems always very short and rude with me.. Hes a purp belt btw) how long we've been doing it for. Him about 6 months longer than me. I've been subbed by him one time in about 30 rolls together and I've subbed him around 20 with the remaining being draws. He got a belt promotion while I was left without one... I thought it was based off of skill and technique not just when you've started. I'm trying not to sound like a whiny bitch but it just left me kind of confused. I have a great attitude toward jiu Jitsu and put a lot of work in improving even at home when I'm not on the mats. What does anyone else think? Should it be just when you've started and if you've been w/o a promotion for awhile it's about time for one. just skill/technique no matter when youve started if you gain progress fast or both? Or should it be the other option of a paid test of techniques. Let me know what everyone thinks on this. I personally think it should just be skill and dedication... You can have been doing jiu Jitsu for 10 years but a guy with 5 years has more mat time then you.

[Psylo]

Me and the other white belt are both 175 btw

[Josh Passini]

What I tell everyone is enjoy the ride and don't get hung up on the belt thing. Bruce lee said belt are used to hold up your pants. Enjoy the journey and your time will come. When i was at HQ nick lentz from the ufc was there and he had no belt rank at the time. His skill was on par with black belts but he was a white belt.

[Kyle Hilfiker]

Theres a million ways of promoting grapplers, it just varies depending on the coaches. Some coaches are out to get $$ by keeping thier students interested in the sport by handing out belts as time goes on, while others will base it on their own standard of ability. For example, a karate sensei running an academy will often promote by years/classes attended, whereas Coach Zog (youll see him on the forum as time goes on.. hes kinda a big deal XD) Will promote on overall ability. Also keep in mind that many new recruits to submission grappling have experience in other grappling standards (judo, wrestling, etc.) And will have say.. blue belt ability in one area and be clueless in another. The best thing you can do is to learn as much as you can, roll with technique and calm, and hope you earn respect to gain your next belt. Just keep at it. It will come with time.

[Slick Rick]

What Josh and Kyle said are key!
One thing to know is that the belt will come just give it time. But you have to want to learn jiu jitsu and be on the mat often. A rule of thumb I use is:
blue) 1000 - 5min matches and you can consider yourself a blue belt.
purple) 3000 - 5min matches and you can consider yourself a purple belt.
brown) 5000 - 5min matches and you can consider yourself a brown belt.
black) 7500+ - 5min matches and you can consider yourself a black belt.

Of course, these matches have to be no pansie matches. Train to learn. Your knowledge will be apparent at this point.
And finally, this is a rule of thumb. When I ask people how long they've trained for I'll quickly do the math to figure where they are at without even knowing whether or not they have a belt.

For instance if someone says I've been training for 2 years. I think to myself they have probably been training maybe 3 times a week, maybe 5 matches a session.
3*5*104=1560(5 min matches)... That puts them just over a blue belt.

Only you, the grappler, know how many 5 minute matches you've been in, so use this formula to see where you are sort of at.

Hope this helps man,
Slick Rick

[Jeremy Gates]

Keep putting in the hard work and youll get promoted when the time is right. It sounds like your better than your buddy , you don need a belt to prove it. I'd rather work my ass off and get a well deserved promotion than be a whiny bitch as you said and ask for one. Belt color doesn't mean much of it isn't earned the old fashioned way: hard work

[Psylo]

Yeah, you're all making great points that seem to have the same theme. It is nice to see your hard work paying off with unbiased promotions but you're all right it's about the ride not the end result. Thanks guys I was pretty bummed out and confused after yesterday's class. Youre all awesome and very helpful!

[Greg W]

+1 to Josh's comment. I have been a white belt for more than 10 years! According to Slick Rick's formula, 2 times per week for say 7 years(I had some slacker periods, so I'll be conservative and say 7), but I roll more like 8 matches per session. 2*8*364=5824. That would put me into brown. When I travel and roll against other belted people from other gyms I try and guage how I compare. I don't feel I am a Brown, more like purple. If I was still at the gym I started with, I might have been a Brown or even a black by now, but I don't feel i would be any better than where I am at right now skill wise. Besides, it is way better to be a white belt every where I go, so I have no standard to live up to. If I feel like going cruse control to work on my technical escapes at another gym, I can. If I feel like only working newer parts of my game and leave out my "bread and butter" stuff just to see how the new stuff works on others outside my gym, I can. White belt has some advantages. Don't fret the belt thing, have fun, learn always and never give up. A guy trying to beat you up on the street doesn't give a rats ass what belt color you have.

[Brent Smith]

You will see many people get promoted that you dont agree with the promotion. Just enjoy your journey Itll go by quick. Then once you get that black you can really begin to learn

[Nick Powers]

I agree it should be based on skill and dedication, but at the same time if your instructor isn't just out for money, he'll promote you when he feels the time is right.

For example, I'm a blue belt. I was promoted back in December after about nine months of training. I started off relatively slow since I was a beginner, and there were only so many classes I could attend. However, once I reached two stripes I went as often as possible and despite always getting my ass beat, I stuck to it. My instructor promoted me based on my dedication I feel, not necessarily my skill.

There are blue belts who got promoted with me AND after me who beat my ass whenever we roll. It's just a matter of waiting until the time is right for you to get promoted. There happens to be a kid I train with who is UNBELIEVABLE and beats up on higher ranked belts often in class. He's so dedicated and talented, it's ridiculous, he lives and breathes BJJ. However, as far as rank goes, he's still a blue belt. He also competes often, and I'd imagine my instructor holds his standards high for this kid because of how good he is; he knows when to promote him and he will when the time is right.

Don't get too caught up on belts and rankings. It's like Royce Gracie once said, "A black belt only covers two inches of your ass. It's up to you to cover the rest." You'll get there!