As Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu becomes more popular more and more people are looking to train all over the world and because of the increase in demand many believe that it could be a matter of time before BJJ undergoes the same transformation that martial arts like Karate did in the ’80s and ’90s.

For the most part, Jiu-Jitsu has remained true to itself because of one essential element of training that obligates practitioners to constantly prove themselves, and that is sparring or rolling. However, more and more schools are starting to use belt promotions as a way to get more students through the door.

In an interview with Joe Rogan, MMA legendary coach, and BJJ black belt Firas
Zahabi talked about how BJJ has been watered down and some schools in his
area of Montreal, Canada have started to give out stripes and belts based on
attendance and not merit.

This works because if people can get the prestige and personal satisfaction of
earning an advanced belt in Jiu-Jitsu with less work and in less time most people
would take that option. The same thing happened to Karate as it used to be one
of the toughest martial arts in the world, but today most schools will hand out
belts to people for performing katas and breaking boards rather than showing
real fighting capabilities.

Is Jiu Jitsu running the risk of falling into the same trap?

On one hand, I have personally seen instructors hand out stripes and blue belts like candy in order to get more students and ultimately make more money but at the same time even though BJJ is starting to become mainstream, it is still a very close-knit community. If you get a blue belt in six months and you go to compete in a tournament, chances are you will get destroyed in the first match. Therefore it would be pretty obvious to everyone that you were given that belt prematurely.

However what would happen if most BJJ gyms were like that? What would happen if most gyms handed out stripes and belts based on attendance or by administering tests every year or every six months? I’ve also seen several schools start using tests to promote people, and I’m not saying that there is anything wrong with tests but since I can remember belts in Jiu-Jitsu are given to you by your instructor when you showed that you were ready for that belt on the mats. Because you can have a good day or study really hard for a test, but the rest of the time does not perform at that level.

The One Thing Preventing This…

The one thing that prevents this from happening is in the very nature of Jiu Jitsu
and that is to roll and spar constantly. I believe it was Rickson Gracie who first
pointed out that one of the advantages of training Jiu Jitsu vs any other martial art is
that you can spar at 100% in a safe way and not get injured.
Because of that, anyone can immediately see if the belt you’re wearing is too big
for you and you will even feel the weight of that belt on you, feeling like you’re
starting from a disadvantage.

Another important element is what I mentioned earlier. BJJ is still a very close-knit community and because of it, you tend to run into a bunch of friends at
tournaments, open mats, seminars, and more. And within that community, the
best way to exchange and grow together is by training and rolling.

This is something that will help Jiu Jitsu stay true to itself and not get watered
down as other popular martial arts have in the past. I personally remain hopeful
that this will be enough to keep it from going in that direction but I could be
wrong.

What do you think?

It is no secret that a large percentage of blue belts end up quitting Jiu Jitsu or taking a long leave of absence right after getting promoted, but nobody has ever been able to explain why until now…

White belts quit at a much higher rate but we can understand that. If someone doesn’t get really invested in training BJJ they will hardly even make it to blue belt.

But what about those who do make it to the next belt?

Why is it that after dedicating years to training, missing birthdays, reunions, family events, and literally shedding blood sweat, and tears to get that blue belt these people simply quit? Well, psychology has finally been able to give us an answer to that question.

First of all, I want to preface this by saying that there are no scientifically validated studies on this exact subject but the contents of this article are based on the psychology of human behavior as it relates to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. So take it with a grain of salt…

Why do blue belts quit?

There can be a few reasons why but the first and most common reason is that people will make a blue belt the ultimate prize. In the pursuit of any worthwhile endeavor, there is always going to be a great sense of anticipation for the feeling that you are going to get from achieving that goal, many white belts see a blue belt as an ultimate goal that will bring them joy and satisfaction. But because they’ve built this moment up to be the ultimate prize, once they do get their blue belt they subconsciously stop striving for more because in their mind they reached their ultimate goal.

They got the blue belt, so now they can relax. This is not a conscious thought because we all know the journey is not over yet but whatever we repeat to ourselves we tend to believe on a subconscious level. This is why a blue belt might have every intention of going all the way to a black belt, but their mind is saying “Why to bother? We already made it”.

Analysis Paralysis:

Another common reason why blue belts tend to quit is because of what is known as analysis paralysis. It’s no secret that this martial art will constantly test you and shatter your ego a hundred times, but that doesn’t make things easier. When white belts get to that level of blue belt many learn for the first time that the road ahead is only going to get harder and longer, once people get a sense that this might be a lot harder than they anticipated they tend to shrink. Maybe this has happened to you at some point.

For many blue belts, just thinking about all the time and effort it will take just to make it to purple belt becomes extremely overwhelming and it causes them to freeze and self sabotage their progress by quitting. Because if they quit they can at least avoid feeling disappointed or frustrating.

And our brains are naturally wired to avoid painful experiences (physical, emotional, or spiritual pain), so if that blue belt feels like the road ahead will be extremely painful they will most likely quit.

Last but not least, Overconfidence.

This tends to happen especially in classes where most of the students are white belts and one of them gets promoted to blue belt. This tends to trigger the famous “big fish in a small pond” mentality, causing that student to feel like they are so good they don’t need to improve anymore. Like I said before, Jiu Jitsu will constantly shatter your ego time and time again, yet there are still some egos that manage to survive and some students’ heads will get too big for their shoulders.

When this happens to a blue belt they will often just show up to every other class until the rest of the students catch up and start to really challenge them. At that point, they will either humble themselves and continue training, or (most likely) they will quit completely.

Conclusion:

Often times teachers know their students and their personalities so they can kind of predict how they will react to certain situations. If you know that your student is getting extremely invested in getting a blue belt make sure to put things in perspective for them. If your student tends to shy away from challenges and gets overwhelmed easily, help them take a step back and take their training one day at a time. And if you know your student can be feeling him or herself a bit too much, make sure to show them where they need to get better and get them excited about their future in BJJ.

If you are a blue belt that has fallen into one of these traps, it’s never late to go back. Put on your gi and step on the mats again, don’t worry about belts, just roll and enjoy the sport and the martial art.

Are BJJ belts forever? This is something many people have been discussing within the BJJ community for the last couple of years and it is a very charged question.

On one hand, when you put in the hours in the gym and you make it all the way to – for the sake of an example let’s say – purple belt, that’s an accomplishment that you earned through hard work and consistency. But on the other hand, if you stop training for four years after getting that purple belt, are you still a purple belt?

The knowledge would theoretically still be there but you would no longer be able to roll in the same way at all, you wouldn’t be as agile, the timing would be off, cardio and reaction time would certainly take a hit. Lower belts would probably be able to submit you and even though that does happen from time to time to the best of us, it starts to raise questions if it happens more than once.

Are you still a purple belt then?

Up until now, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has characterized itself by being somewhat consistent with the skill level that is required for each belt. There are of course some exceptions and variables to consider but for the most part, a blue belt in America should, in theory, have the same level of ability and knowledge as a blue belt in Brazil. If a group of blue belts took five years off and then returned to the sport, some would make a solid case that they have returned to the white belt. In fact, some academies have that same policy in place, yet that doesn’t often apply to higher belts such as purple, brown, or even black.

Because if, for example, a purple belt is getting tapped left and right by the blue belts and is allowed to remain a purple belt, they may be bringing down the entire martial art.

Then it could possibly turn into what happened to Karate in the ’80s where everyone and their neighbor wanted to start a karate school and were handing out belts like candy on Halloween.

But does this mean anyone who takes time off should be demoted?

As we already talked about, when you take a long time off of Jiu-Jitsu you will lose the ability to roll with the same intensity, timing, cardio, and agility you once had but at the same time, the knowledge should still be there in theory. You still should know how to perform basic submissions, you should still know how to stabilize a position and you should still know where the dangers are. Also, if you’ve already earned that rank it is because you put the work in. If you go to college and earn a degree in engineering but you don’t use it, you’re still an engineer as long as you retain that knowledge and that diploma.

This brings me to the topic of competition, some old-school black belts state that a true black belt has to compete. Some black belts though do not compete but they can still kick your ass on the mats. Should they lose their black belts for not competing?

In Conclusion:

I know it seems like I’m going in circles here but I want to make clear to you why this is not as straightforward as you might think. It’s a sensitive issue and should probably be reviewed on a case-by-case basis but I will say this, and this is my humble opinion, you can leave yours in the comments below.

If you’ve taken a long time off from Jiu-Jitsu and you come back, you should be able to keep your belt but you need to go through a period of validating that you indeed deserve to wear that belt color no matter how fast you got your BJJ belt. If you can’t do that, you should be demoted but chances are you will be able to.

What do you guys think?