AN E-MAIL FROM A BJJ BLACK BELT I JUST RECEIVED ON THIS SUBJECT:::
I got an email question this week and immediately
thought it deserved an article onto itself:
"We had belt testing this weekend and some of my
fellow bjj'ers received stripes some their blue,
purple etc. how do you deal or advise some of
these white belt bjj'er that think they should
have more stripes or moved up a color? i will
admit the mats this week have been violent and
pecking order is being reset...lol. i enjoy
watching the young guns gun for each other. i'm
just a 40yr old with the passion and love of the
art. this is just entertainment to me but i do have
a lot of them voicing their disappointment to me.
it must be my calm yoda like jiujitsu you have
been covering."
This brings up a very, very common phenomenon in
BJJ: rank promotions.
I have written about some of the pitfalls of
ego-driven attitudes, and many of the subtle ways
they can manifest in individuals as well as in
cliques within schools. Hand-in-hand with common
problems like keeping score (who taps who) is
where the student believes he or she should be
with respect to rank.
I've seen a lot of this over the years.
And I do understand that some instructors frankly
have some weird, inconsistent standards, play
favorites, etc., and in some cases it's
understandable that these can lead to students
being frustrated.
For me, however, I have to be 100% clear. When it
comes to belt promotions, it is not a democracy. I
have a clear criteria for what I'm looking for and
do not compromise on those standards, period.
But no matter how explicit you make these
criteria, there will be some whose egos and
insecurities will get in the way. Often to the
tune of "But I can tap that [higher rank] out,
so I should be [that rank]."
Not necessarily. It all comes down to technical
performance.
Just because, for example, a white belt can submit
a blue belt sometimes, or is superior in one aspect
of the game, such as a killer guard, does NOT make
him a blue belt...
To be a blue belt, they have to have a technical
blue belt game, meaning: blue belt guard, blue
belt passing, blue belt defense and escapes, etc.
Another self-deception is how students will
represent their use or non-use of attributes. I've
known some guys who were tough rolls, competed
well, etc. and always boasted about how they used
no strength, when it was very clear that their "A
game" depended on just that. Or on the other end
of the spectrum, you'll see some physically weaker
individuals accuse anyone who stuffs their game as
using too much strength, sometimes justified but
often not. One of the biggest reality checks is
when getting shut down by someone with a wrestling
background (wrestling + BJJ is a great combination
when the athlete is willing to embrace both on a
technical level). I always find it amusing when this
happens, and hear post training gripe about how
someone is just using strength and no technique, when
in this case the opponent in question is a technical
wrestler who has a great base and tight positioning
that just feels strong.
The next thing you know, the student who was
complaining will be avoiding rolling with wrestler
and coming up with all kinds of justifications for it.
And sometimes these people will move on to greener
pastures to another instructor who grades on different
criteria, and who will put up with such nonsense (which,
by the way, is not good for the learning environment as
a whole).
An HONEST focus on technical performance as the
standard eliminates all of this.
Now I do not expect that a 50 year old who's had two
knee surgeries and a bum shoulder will have the
same pace as the 25 year old "stud." In fact the 25
year old may ultimately tap him every time. But if that
50 year old can play the game technically (meaning, without
over-reliance on factors like strength and explosive speed)
with the 25 year- olds of that rank, then he is that rank.
And as a side note, match-ups must always be
considered in these evaluations as well. Fact is,
everyone has at least a style or two that, when
they encounter it, is like a kind of kryptonite.
There are degrees to this, but the point is that
just because Student A can easily beat Student B,
and Student B can easily beat Student C, this does
not mean that Student A will easily beat Student C.
In the logic of Jiu-Jitsu, Student C could very well
give Student A a hell of a run!
Part of the process for creating a healthy culture
is to make sure everyone realizes - and appreciates -
the ranking criteria, and more importantly, why it
is in their best interests to have these standards.
At my school, it's a big deal when someone gets a
belt promotion, even a blue belt. But the big deal
isn't in the status the new belt carries, it's in
the real, material technical ability that the belt
color signifies!
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