Progression & the Belt System
The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Belt System is a far
stricter than in most other martial arts. It can take upwards of 10 years to
achieve the black belt. As there are only a few belts, you will spend a
long time on each one. Also, your progress will not be linear. You will spend
weeks or months on plateaus before being rewarded with a jump in ability.
Sometimes it will actually seem as if you are getting worse instead of better.
But the plateau is actually your friend and is itself an indicator of progress.
It is those who have the mental strength to keep going when they find
themselves on a plateau that break through to a higher level of ability.
White Belt
As a white belt, your goal is to create a frame of
reference for your future learning. You need to learn what you don’t know.
Think of BJJ as a jigsaw puzzle that you are trying to figure out. The
white-belt is where you create the ‘outline’ of the picture, before filling in
the centre. Using flow diagrams will help greatly.
Learning to relax is an absolutely essential skill
and white belt is the best time to acquire it. I cannot overstate how important
this is. The only way you will be able to do this by learning to control your
ego. Remember: nothing is expected of you at this stage. Try to focus your
energy on the experience instead of ‘winning’ or ‘losing’.
Some Suggested Goals at White Belt:
1. Learn the names of each of the main positions
and acquire a basic familiarity with each of them. e.g. be able to identify the
guard position.
2. Learn to control your ego by accepting that you
will be beaten by the more advanced students. If you are big and naturally
athletic this will be even more important for you.
3. Get used to the ‘feeling’ of jiu-jitsu. Pay
attention to how your body moves on the ground and the way a resisting opponent
uses his strength and weight.
4. Choose one technique and try to master it.
Blue Belt
I once asked Roger Gracie, the best jiu-jitsu
fighter on the planet, what made him so good. After thinking about it for a
while, he replied: “I built my game off a solid defence. I first made it almost
impossible for anybody to tap me out.”
Hearing that made a deep impression on me. From
that point on I focused almost exclusively on my defence. I will not give any
of my students a blue belt unless they have a decent defence. I want to see
them able to escape from all the major positions with relative ease.
Secondly, You will need to learn to pass the guard.
To me, passing the guard is the most difficult aspect of jiu-jitsu. You will
spend a great deal of time in your opponents’ guards, so you should become very
proficient at dealing with the position.
Some Suggested Goals at Blue Belt:
1. Have two solid escapes from Mount, Back Mount
and Side Mount.
2. Master two techniques for passing the guard.
3. Compete in at least one Competition.
Purple Belt
This is the belt of movement and momentum. You will
learn how to use the momentum of your own weight as well as that of your
opponent to achieve your movement objectives. A lot of the ‘wasted movement’
that exemplified your game at the previous belts will be shaved away.
Purple belt is also where you will finish laying
the foundation of your entire game. As mentioned earlier, I suggest that this
foundation be a solid defence. You should try to spend your time at this belt
focusing on the weakest aspects of your jiu-jitsu – these are known as the
‘holes in your game’.
A good purple belt also has a great offence and is
dangerous from any position. This is also where the jiu-jitsoka should start
learning to attack using combinations of techniques.
As a purple belt your guard should be very
effective. You should have a familiarity with all the different guards and
specialize in at least one, preferably two.
Some Suggested Goals at Purple Belt:
1. Have 3 combination attacks from guard position.
2. Have 3 submissions from Side Mount, Mount and
Back Mount.
3. Become familiar with all the variants of the
Guard position.
Brown Belt
Although not yet a master of the art there will be
very, very few positions or situations a brown belt is unfamiliar with. By now
you will have your own style and will probably be recognized as a top-player,
bottom-player, all-rounder etc.
A decent brown belt is able to teach the art to
others. In fact, this is when many BJJ players realize that they have a passion
for teaching and decide to embark on coaching as a career path. He also
understands that teaching is a good way to consolidate the knowledge he has
gained up to this point.
A brown belt is evil from the top positions. In
mount and side mount he knows how to use his bodyweight and makes sure the
person on the bottom feels every ounce of it. He will pass the guard at even
the narrowest window of opportunity. His balance will make him very difficult
to sweep.
At this stage, he will also have developed counters
to almost all the most commonly encountered techniques. This means he will be
one or two steps ahead of lower-level opponents.
He will also have several ‘signature’ techniques.
These are moves which he has mastered and can get to work on almost anybody.
Some Suggested Goals at Brown Belt:
1. Try to teach a few classes at your academy
2. Perfect your weight distribution and balance in
the top positions.
3. Work on counters to common attacks.
Black Belt
The jiu-jitsu black belt is truly a master
grappler. He is a person who knows far more about his body, his mind and his
limitations than the average individual.
He is humble, friendly and respectful of others. He
is a highly efficient and dangerous martial artist but uses his skills and
abilities to defend and help those less capable than him.
The black belt starts to look at everything with a
fresh set of eyes. He can take the most basic movement that he has practised
thousands of times and realize that he is still able to refine it.
A black belt moves with an economy of motion and
grace. More importantly, he also knows when to move and when not to move. His
jiu-jitsu is not only effective it also looks good.
Some Suggested Goals at Black Belt:
Understand that the journey is not over. Remain
humble and continue to learn and grow.
Red Belt
Don’t worry about the red belt. Seriously.