The belt system in Jiu-Jitsu does not just represent the skill level of people. There are many other meanings behind having a belt, which is exactly why people tend to misunderstand promotions. We’ve already talked about how your demeanor and overall approach also playa key role in your promotion. Another really interesting aspect is the mentality of each belt. If you stay in the sport long enough you’ll notice that certain traits repeat themselves with most people at certain times. One great example is the “blue belt instructor” Another is the BJJ purple belt know-it-all.
To be completely honest from the get-go this is not an article about downgrading purple belts. On the contrary, the BJJ purple belt is the most important time in a grappler’s career. The purple belt period usually lasts the most because it represents the bridge between beginner and advanced. It is not uncommon for some of the top instructors out there, as well as innovators within the art, to be purple belts. However, there’s also a different side to being a purple belt that we’ve all gone through – being an insufferable know-it-all.
The BJJ purple Belt
As much as the blue belt is a time for weeding out the serious grapplers, the purple belt is a time where the steel gets hardened. Getting the BJJ purple belt means you’re most likely in it for the long run. Purple belts are usually highly individuals who really embrace BJJ and commit to it. For me, it was the best period of BJJ, hands down. However, it was also a period that revealed a lot about me as a grappler, and not just a period of learning new stuff.
Most often you’ll see the purple belt period marked as the one when grapplers discover their styles. At blue belt, you first learn to survive and by doing so discover the power of the guards in Jiu-Jitsu. However, it is a purple belt that connections start to form. This is when everything that you’ve trained for starts to connect. You experiment a lot with different positions, most of which are brand new. This is imperative in finding out what works for you. However, it also gives birth to a very interesting phenomenon.
From my humble experience so far, the worst student you can find a BJJ academy tends to be the BJJ purple belt. This by no means true for everyone out there, but bear with me and you’ll most likely recognize yourself. How often do you see purple belts coming in late, and trying to slack off while they’re waiting for the open mat to try all their new stuff out? What about every time that they claim to know exactly what you’re talking about and then go about and do it their own (mostly wrong) way again? The BJJ purple belt is by far the worst possible student. Luckily, we all grow out of that phase.
The Know-It-All Syndrome
By the time you reach the purple belt level, you already have a lot of hours under your belt. In fact, you have just enough to exhibit a well-known phenomenon. It happens to everyone, from drivers to soldiers and athletes. You reach a point where you’re skilled enough to be good at what you’re doing, but you’re still a long way from being great. The thing is, being good gives you so much confidence that you end up making silly mistakes. In other words, you’re experienced enough to think you can’t make mistakes, but in truth, you’re a long way form bein as good as you think.
As a BJJ purple belt, I was all about the lastest in the submissions department. Moreover, I claimed that each one of those was going to work against anyone, given how unorthodox they were. It took a lot of mistakes and getting humbled (a lot) to actually realize that it is not all about the latest crazy move. Yeah, you get a few people along the way but they’ll soon wise up. Listening to what instructors teach you is the only proven way of actually progressing successfully. That doesn’t mean stop experimenting and having fun, it just means you need to also listen. And somehow, this seems to be the hardest part for a purple belt.
At this level, you’re so confident in your skills that you think you know everything there is. You’re aware you have a long way to got o black belt which is why you focus ion certain areas of the sport. However, the mistake is thinking you’re the utmost expert in those fields. Well, you’re not. As innovative as your stuff might be, black belts are going to shut it down without even breaking a sweat.
Growing Out Of It
The purple belt know-it-all is just another of the phenomena we encounter on our way to black belt. However, it is one that can annoy teachers and fellow students alike. Instructors are usually wise to it and let people grow out of it. Just like with blue belt spazzers, for example. However, that doesn’t mean the BJJ purple belt know-it-all make life easier.
To get out of this, make sure you always remember to stay humble. You can have immense knowledge in certain areas but you’re still a purple belt. And, if you want to be a solid brown and black belt one day, you need to learn how to listen. Staying humble doesn’t just mean tapping to higher belts. It means listening to what they have to teach. BJJ is all about experience and even if they don’t know the attest spinning flying move, they’ll certainly have things to teach you about it.
Just last year, a purple belt proved how deadly they can be, by conquering a double world title with all wins by submission. Now, you can use the same tactics as Roberto Jimenez thanks to his detailed instructional. “Take The Back Every Match” is a 4 part BJJ DVD that is the perfect recipe for competitors of all levels!
In Summary
Every BJJ belt brings about new challenges. The way people face them is highly individual, but oftentimes it manifests itself in similar ways. Purple belts, at a certain point in time, tend to be really difficult as students. That doesn’t mean they’re bad or won’t get past it. However, it’ll help to both understand this and guide them out of it as an instructor, and try and be less of a problem yourself, if you are a purple belt. After all, one day you’ll be the one trying to deal with the BJJ purple belt know-it-all.
When Are You Experienced Enough To Be A Jiu-Jitsu Instructor?
Luckily, there are people out there that have a different way of thinking. Reilly Bodycomb is an American Sambo champion and overall badass grappler. He perfected Sambo over a period of over two decades. Moreover, he did so training under a legend in the sport, Stephen Koepfer. Bodycomb did his fair share of Sambo competition, even fighting in the FIAS Sambo World Cup in Russia ten years ago. Normally as BJJ started to become the dominant grappling martial art, Reilly Bodycomb switched his attention.
Both the high and low top rock positions work from another classic passing position – the long step (or backstep) pass. In recent years, we’ve seen it open up leg locks on a regular basis, but never quite like this. In fact, Reilly’s system accentuates both the passing and leg locking opportunities from the position. That said, Bodycomb goes deep into the backstep as both a movement and a position before heading off to leg locks.
The organization of the presented material also very logical. Moreover, this is not just a technical DVD. Kristina offers her entire back attacks system, meaning you get entries, control, concepts, mechanical details, drills, and direct submission attacks. Everything is divided into two parts. The first one features key concepts that make or break the back control position. It also offers several ways of taking the back from a myriad of different positions. The second part goes over some key grip strategies, as well as side control entries. This part is also the best DVD ever recorded on the subject of the seatbelt grip. Submissions feature heavily throughout both volumes of the instructional.
The second portion of this volume goes over seat belt control. As simple as you might think this is, it is time to think again. The way you hold the seat-belt determines how successful you’ll from the back. To that extent, Kristina offers you nothing but the highest-percentage, purely technical submissions available. The bow and arrow choke features heavily, as expected. There are also plenty of transitional attacks that allow you to get a choke before you even get complete back control. Moreover, there’s a cool shoulder lock in there that I’d never seen before.
The Quintet grappling tournament is another format that popped up during the past year. It is based on Japanese wrestling rules and features 5 mean teams that battle it out between themselves. To that extent, there are no weight categories, and there are some wacky rules to it that make it cringe-worthy at times. For example, once the fight hits the ground, you have a certain amount of time to submit an opponent, otherwise, they stand you up. However, it does provide for some exciting matches, as we’ve witnessed so far.
In the opening volume of this Georgi Ivanov DVD, the focus is on the essentials of the 2 on 1 position. As we know this is one of the 
I particularly enjoyed the wrestlers O Soto Gari, which is a modification of the old Judo classic. As far as trips go, this one is guaranteed to get everyone to the ground. The best part about it is that requires next to no effort, unlike its Judo counterpart. Further innovations in the form of “the rolling thunder” and “the unknown double” make this volume on of the best grappling DVDs ever!
Stephen Whittier is a part of the famous SBG gym (Straight Blast Gym) in Portland. SBG is a worldwide gym, with more than 35 affiliate gyms around the world. The founder of the gym is Matt Thornton, a Chirs Haueter black belt and one of the best grappling teachers alive. His Rickson Gracie lineage means he has a very distinct style of JIu-JItsu, one that he shares with Whittier. Stephen Whittier is a third-degree black is a second-ranking coach in the SBG gym, with only Thornton having a 4th-degree black belt.
Part three heads off into the depths of actual clinch fighting. As you know, the clinch offers opportunities for both persons, so you need to know how to get the advantage. Having an opponent try and beat your frames is one of the most common issues you’ll encounter. Whittier has the perfect solution to it right at the start of this volume.
