What does your rank mean to you?

[Tim Elliott]

This grading thing is foreign to me. Iv studied Muay Thai for years. I have always been critical of gyms that introduce grading systems. The great practitioners are not graded, so how do you justify grading people? A bit like what was said about Mohamed Ali.

Having said that, if you look at Muay Thai, once it makes its way to the west, you have no idea what people know, who they have fought etc. Did someone fight bone hard Thais who went pro at 6 years old, or is it all sex tourist fights against skinny amateurs paid to take a beating. You just cant know, and so its so hard to know if what your being taught is legit. I dont know how many times I have seen someone who has been taught utter bullshit get into the ring and get destroyed in a Kickboxing fight.

In Jiu Jitsu they would have had a way of telling whether or not this gym was just a random guy, making stuff up. Theres a lineage and people are accountable. I dont know about other countries but in NZ these gyms are common. Iv seen a BJJ whitebelt obliterate a black belt from a local "street jiu jitsu" gym on the ground in an MMA fight.

I dont need a belt to fight with confidence, but I would definitely like one to teach with confidence. Theres a big difference between putting your self on the line and putting someone else out there based on your knowledge, and having that knowledge judged by a master is a great thing.

[Joe O'Laughlin]

I think its more about having a goal to strive for . To belive in something whole heartedly and knowing it has a chance for advancement. Ive been doing jj for 5 years and mma training for 8 . Im not ranked by anyone but Im a surpise to anyone who thinks to highly of themselves . Id definelty like to have a badge of honor showing the hard work ive put in .For me ! ! for my mindset . has nothing to do with anyone else , cause the only others that matter your teammates know how good you are already .

Another factor is with 1oth planet just breaking out of its shell and becoming more respected. Im hoping to get affiliated one day after proving myself or getting one closer to my hometown. closest affiliate is 3hrs away one way. 4hours away another , or miltiech non 10th planet . or My own gym which we train.at ......... . Eddie hit up the midwest theres some resources out here lol... We have way to much training time and 10planets videos to watch , Cant wait for the moons to take over everything then they can blame someone else ..

[ifreez]

Like I've said, for me a belt is a relationship between me an my instructor. For me it's simple, and for no other reason than I know where I am because my instructors vast experience qualifies him/her to critique my game. And I expect him/her to be honest!

That's what the belt system is for me. It's not for me to brag at a bar, at a dinner table of in-laws, or to walk into another school, or a grappling event, and have people ooh and ah.

If you meet people who treat your belt, or that you train no-gi, with disdain, ignore them and just do your thing.
If your instructor has years of experience, he knows where you are and should answer to no-one, and that should be all that matters.

My point is that if your belt's worth is for others to measure, then you don't train for the right reason. For example, in BJJ, it's very common that I see someone (person-A) mad because someone else at their academy get a belt that person-A feels Person-B doesn't deserve, and all person-A can think about is that this possibly diminishes the value of his/her belt. Those cats are nothing but fragile egos to me. Or some people believe training under a world champion is better than training under a great teacher. Why is that?

And, yes, there has been tremendous criticism of 10th Planet on various MMA boards. Here is one of many crescendos, culminating from years of tension between 10th planet and the BJJ/MMA community.

http://www.mixedmartialarts.com/mma....1600097&page=1

[michael craig]

im going to go burn my bely right now and be a 10th planet ronin...wandering the jiu-jitsu wateland fighting evil

[Tim Elliott]

I told the guy who teaches me Muay Thai about how Eddie will grade you from afar. Now, I have never heard him say anything nice about belt systems. He has a Blackbelt in TKD and I think it left a sour taste in his mouth. When we lost BJJ from our gym and I said something about grading his reply was "fuck grading".

When I called him and told him it appeared if we put the work in with the 10th Planet stuff we could be graded by Eddie Bravo and get belts he went "really? fuck yeah, I want to do that".

So some people clearly put a much higher value on them.

[michael craig]

some people just want the blackbelt whether they earn it or not its something to just have

[John Roderick]

Jason Eisner, you are wise beyond your years. I couldn't have stated it better. If you're legit, you're legit. Jiu Jitsu is jiu jitsu.

[Neale Hoerle]

Personal growth is the most important aspect overall. While I can agree that grading or ranking is essential for reasons of heirarchy and Teaching I believe it is equally important to grow day by day. Eddie recognizes this and it is apparent in all of the coaches he chooses for his system. See yourself as a student of the system, not a belt. I see personal growth in myself, my 10TH Planet Family, and my students every day. As for our Purple being equalivalent to a blue anywhere else... I'd say thats a bit skewed... We have the best system bar-none guys.

Believe

[ifreez]

Thats good stuff Jason.
Ive heard that Jake Shield has only trained no gi does anybody know if there is any truth to this.

Yes, taken from his twitter, he said he has only trained in the gi for 4 hours of his life.

[Kevin Green]

Ive been training and fighting since 91. Traveld and trained with alot of different people at alot of different schools (Military Life) and feel like Ive gotten a wealth on knowledge from a variety of great fighters (which is another topic all together - better to have a variety or stick with the same instructor??). I Had a fight team in AZ and finally (in 2006) moved to DE when I got out of the Military. It was my first opportunity to settle in one place and take a formal class and try to stick with one instructor. It was a Gi school. The guy was a Black Belt under a student of Rickson (Luis Something). Anyway. Day one of class (remember I'd been training for about 15 years at this point) the guy didnt respect any of what Ive accomplished or learned or the time I put in and he gave me a white belt Im not into that at all, just wanted to train and learn some new stuff. So, I put it on. I smashed him, his purple blue and brown belts. Needless to say, after being there for 3 moths or so he started promoting me very quickly (which ment nothing to me at this place seeing that he hadnt taught me a thing). Long story short, I opened my own place (I hate the Gi)and several of his instructors and many of his students left to train with me.

My view, the belt shows the time someone has put into the art...and I have respect for anyone who dedicates that much time to this sport or any sport for that matter. But dont lose sight of the fact that there are many people who have lots and lots of time in this sprot and art and have taken an unconventional path....dont discredit their mat time and their hard work over the belt they wear.