Bjj blue belt vs gjj blue belt.

cardkid

cardkid

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So I have kept coming across the same sort of comments about Gracie jiu jitsu belt rankings, more importantly the blue belt.
Everytime I see it mentioned someone immediately jumps in with negative comments etc about it and I just wanted to know why?
It's thought that they just hand belts out quick to people but according to Gracie academy it takes on average of 2 years to achieve a blue belt. Now I know for a fact there's plenty of bjj blue belts who've got theirs in a shorter time period but it's apparently worth more because they "earned" it.
I'm not saying it's not true, just wanted to know what everyone else thought.
 
If you don't have to roll to earn it, it's not earned in my opinion. I also think you should compete at least once to get your blue belt (unless you are too old, or want to stay at white for a longer period of time). In general I don't care about the belts, because there is no unified requirement system. In my academy they are given primarily for success in competition.

For example I got my purple belt last august, I've been training for 3 years and 3 months now, and I've had 122 matches during this time. There was a guy who got his purple at the same time, he wasn't a competitor though, he had spent 6,5 years at blue.
 
Karihtala said:
If you don't have to roll to earn it, it's not earned in my opinion. I also think you should compete at least once to get your blue belt (unless you are too old, or want to stay at white for a longer period of time). In general I don't care about the belts, because there is no unified requirement system. In my academy they are given primarily for success in competition.

For example I got my purple belt last august, I've been training for 3 years and 3 months now, and I've had 122 matches during this time. There was a guy who got his purple at the same time, he wasn't a competitor though, he had spent 6,5 years at blue.
Click to expand...

Ok now this is what I'm talking about. If a guy doesn't compete because of his age should he be promoted? Is it fair to make allowances for people's age?
Sometimes because of the unclear requirements for a bjj blue belt doesn't it sometimes seem hard to say when its legit or not? I keep seeing guys going"I earned my belt!" Really pumped up about it like the Gracie dudes haven't. So let's say it takes them 3 years. What about guys who are just as good at 3 years as they were at 2 years in but they're a blue belt now? Should they not have been promoted sooner?
 
cardkid said:
Ok now this is what I'm talking about. If a guy doesn't compete because of his age should he be promoted? Is it fair to make allowances for people's age?
Sometimes because of the unclear requirements for a bjj blue belt doesn't it sometimes seem hard to say when its legit or not? I keep seeing guys going"I earned my belt!" Really pumped up about it like the Gracie dudes haven't. So let's say it takes them 3 years. What about guys who are just as good at 3 years as they were at 2 years in but they're a blue belt now? Should they not have been promoted sooner?
Click to expand...

It's a hard question indeed. I kinda understand older people (45+) who do physical work and can't risk injuries because of competition. They might be technical and overall good in jiu-jitsu. It would be stupid not to allow them to get belts.

It's a same thing when a black belt gets older, at some point (maybe at 60?) a black belt will get crushed by 20 year old blue belts. Should they be demoted because they get old?

It's not easy to say who should be promoted and who shouldn't. Since there are no official guidelines, it's up to the instructor. This might or might not be a good thing. I think the stupidest possible solution is the IBJJF "minimum year system". According to it it's okay to promote a guy from purple to brown in 1,5 years. But there might be a guy who trains 8-10 times a week, and there might be a guy who trains 8-10 times a month. It doesn't make any sense.
 
I'd prefer to just be a white belt forever and avoid the question of whether I deserve it.
 
Being a blue belt is not that big of a deal. Of course everyone wants to be great at whatever belt they are at(or in general ) but in reality you can be a so-so blue belt with many holes in their jiu jitsu and still be legit blue belts. To me a blue belt is someone who can handle himself/herself against an 'untrained' opponent in the real world.

I would say beginning at purple belt is when you actually need to start being 'good' at jiu jitsu. That being said I can see why gjj was 'selling' blue belts on line because being a blue belt is not a big deal.
 
The issue as many see it; for a while the brothers (gjj) were giving/selling belts online after a video was submitted to them. Lots of trash talk, infighting, and general pissyness after that. Road to McDojo etc.....
 
Karihtala said:
If you don't have to roll to earn it, it's not earned in my opinion. I also think you should compete at least once to get your blue belt (unless you are too old, or want to stay at white for a longer period of time). In general I don't care about the belts, because there is no unified requirement system. In my academy they are given primarily for success in competition.

For example I got my purple belt last august, I've been training for 3 years and 3 months now, and I've had 122 matches during this time. There was a guy who got his purple at the same time, he wasn't a competitor though, he had spent 6,5 years at blue.
Click to expand...

Gracie academy and CTC students do have to spar as part of their blue belt test. They spar their instructor with strikes. Previously you had to spar just vale tudo where the instructor was striking you but you could not strike back. Now it is expanded and you have to roll gi, no-gi and vale tudo.
 
2008 said:
Being a blue belt is not that big of a deal. Of course everyone wants to be great at whatever belt they are at(or in general ) but in reality you can be a so-so blue belt with many holes in their jiu jitsu and still be legit blue belts. To me a blue belt is someone who can handle himself/herself against an 'untrained' opponent in the real world.

I would say beginning at purple belt is when you actually need to start being 'good' at jiu jitsu. That being said I can see why gjj was 'selling' blue belts on line because being a blue belt is not a big deal.
Click to expand...

So you'd consider a gjj blue belt to be legit? Because they are supposed to be able to defeat untrained opponents
 
cardkid said:
So you'd consider a gjj blue belt to be legit? Because they are supposed to be able to defeat untrained opponents
Click to expand...

It's a loaded question IMO. "Legit" is subjective. Is a blue belt (or higher) who has never been punched in the face during a roll legit? (I'm not looking for an answer, it's a rhetorical question)
 
cardkid said:
So you'd consider a gjj blue belt to be legit? Because they are supposed to be able to defeat untrained opponents
Click to expand...

If they are able to apply a RNC, armbar from mount/guard, triangle choke, ankle lock....on an untrained person who is combative/aggressive towards them, yes, that is at the very least, a high level white belt and I would say a low level blue belt.
 
Karihtala said:
It's a hard question indeed. I kinda understand older people (45+) who do physical work and can't risk injuries because of competition. They might be technical and overall good in jiu-jitsu. It would be stupid not to allow them to get belts.

It's a same thing when a black belt gets older, at some point (maybe at 60?) a black belt will get crushed by 20 year old blue belts. Should they be demoted because they get old?

It's not easy to say who should be promoted and who shouldn't. Since there are no official guidelines, it's up to the instructor. This might or might not be a good thing. I think the stupidest possible solution is the IBJJF "minimum year system". According to it it's okay to promote a guy from purple to brown in 1,5 years. But there might be a guy who trains 8-10 times a week, and there might be a guy who trains 8-10 times a month. It doesn't make any sense.
Click to expand...

Yesra of practice is a pretty bad indicator to use for promotion, mat time is what counts.
 
BJJ_Rage said:
Yesra of practice is a pretty bad indicator to use for promotion, mat time is what counts.
Click to expand...

What would you say is a good amount of mat time to justify the promotion?
 
Edison Carasio said:
If you train two hours twice a week that's about 37 and a half weeks. So less than a year I guess?
Click to expand...

Yeah about that. It also depends on the subject not everyone is the same some people pick up stuff way faster than otherS
 
BJJ_Rage said:
Yeah about that. It also depends on the subject not everyone is the same some people pick up stuff way faster than otherS
Click to expand...

Grace Academy is minimum of 80 classes to be Blue belt eligible (80 classes gets you 4 stripe white). Then you're allowed to test.
 
The whole thing is retarded. Should be everyone is white belt and only head coaches are black belt. If you are not going to dedicate your life to coaching amd running the gym, you have no business wearing a black belt regardless of personal talents.

In competitions, there are three categories. Beginner, intermediate and expert. You and your coaches should decide where you fit and just go from there.
 
Edison Carasio said:
Grace Academy is minimum of 80 classes to be Blue belt eligible (80 classes gets you 4 stripe white). Then you're allowed to test.
Click to expand...

Really? I'm sure I read on their site it takes about 2 years.
 
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