How long does it take to get a BJJ black Belt? (hours)

[sb413197]

Can you imagine Helio in his challenge days rolling 5% of the time?

To be fair, we don't really know the circumstances of this (or if the quote is even accurate for that matter - do we have a source?). I remember some of Helio's quotes saying he was teaching for like 14 hours per day at one point (!) when the art was very young and growing. I could see him "only" rolling for 1-2 hours a day if that was the case. Maybe it stems from something like that - if you are teaching all day long it might be hard to roll all that much.

Also the positional drilling might basically be rolling if they are doing it with full resistance. Particularly if that is the case it might be accurate if he's talking about training 4+ hours per day.

 

[Balto]

To be fair, we don't really know the circumstances of this (or if the quote is even accurate for that matter - do we have a source?). I remember some of Helio's quotes saying he was teaching for like 14 hours per day at one point (!) when the art was very young and growing. I could see him "only" rolling for 1-2 hours a day if that was the case. Maybe it stems from something like that - if you are teaching all day long it might be hard to roll all that much.

Also the positional drilling might basically be rolling if they are doing it with full resistance. Particularly if that is the case it might be accurate if he's talking about training 4+ hours per day.

Yeah I would not consider teaching time to be the same as training time. It's actually the counter intuitive downside of being a teacher. Becoming a teacher usually results in less training time than before, not more.

I agree that positional rolling is still rolling. There is a continuum, and the line between drilling and rolling is kind of blurry. But generally, when people refer to drilling they mean relatively scripted things repped quickly in succession, and when people refer to rolling they mean relatively free form live training.

Rolling is what makes BJJ actually work. The fact that we do a lot of it is the best thing our art has going for it.

Also, "learning" anything new should be the smallest percentage of all. Way too many guys in BJJ have the Pokemon technique mentality. It's much better to drill a few core concepts to perfection and apply them during rolling. Technique collectors go straight to the bottom of the heap at blue belt and beyond.

The learn three new techniques for most of the class and roll one round at the end format is the absolute worst class format in existence in BJJ. I'm glad it exists though because 50% of the people in a competition have to lose in the first round, and those guys fill that very valuable role.

 

[lechien]

I expected this kind of response. So be it. I think details to technique are more important than winning on the mats and landing that sweet sub on your partner, but that's just me. To each his own.


And no offense but Rickson BJJ wisdom>>>>Sherdog wisdom

Do you have a link for your quote?

 

[Cross]

Do you have a link for your quote?

Unfortunately, no. My instructor received his black belt under Rickson and he was just repeating what Rickson said during his training with him.

 

[Kammler]

Well Judo is defo easier to get a black belt in. I don't think anyone would dispute that. I would say on average it takes about 700-1000 hours to achieve it. This number varies according to athleticism, size and quality of instruction. Since there is a competitive requirement whereby you must win 10 fights by Ippon against brown or black belts in competition. Alternatively you can win 5 fights in one day (including 3 in a row with no breaks in between) at a grading which is usually openweight although they try to match you with people your own size as much as possible. This is called a line up and is the preferred method of achieving the black. Heavier guys will find it easier to do it this way since they are less likely to be overpowered.

I did it in about 200 of the highest quality training with international level players, former olympians etc, but that obviously doesn't include all the time I spent thinking about techniques, shadow uchi komi (shadow boxing for judo players), looking up youtube instructionals, watching international Judo, talking to my flat mates about it, documenting my progress etc. I really threw myself into the whole scene as much as possible and got my black belt in just under 2 years. I did it through the 10 wins over a period of a few weeks method since Im not a particularly big gut although I did just miss out on my line up once (won my first two, got to my 3 in a row, won the first 2 by ippon but only won the last one by waza ari, a smaller score, so it didnt count. Before anyone says it is an IJF accredited black belt and not a mcdojo black belt, which includes a competitive requirement as well as a technical requirement to achieve. I am currently targeting national trial qualification within the next 18 months. If my remaining competitions go well this year I could make it in January although I think this is a little ambitious

2 yrs. to judo shodan is crazy fast by USA standards. I think average is about 5 yrs unless you're winning a lot of high level tournaments. The promotion you're talking about where you win 10 matches is called Batsugun.

 

[deadlizard]

Unfortunately, no. My instructor received his black belt under Rickson and he was just repeating what Rickson said during his training with him.

inb4eacrossgoallcrazyonme

 

[Cross]

inb4eacrossgoallcrazyonme

lol

I won't go crazy nor spend any more time on this argument, it's not that important. Do what you do.

Spoiler

roll constantly with shitty technique

 

[Vinyasa]

LMAO @ noobs who think they know better or more than Rickson Gracie. Regardless if you agree with it or not, show some fucking respect. None of you could even hold Ricksons jock

 

[greenmanwldcard***]

Crazy. Rickson says you should do the following if you want to remain in the sport all your life, even into old age:

80% learning the technique with partner
15% position drilling
5% rolling

If not, the result can be that you simply quit. You won't last 5 years in the sport otherwise.

If I only got to roll 5% of the time I would have quit in the first year. It would just be too boring. I'm there not only to learn, but also to have fun.

 

[jclaudevandamme]

There is a guy I know that trains around 5 hours a week for 10 years and he is almost getting his bb (4 stripes brown).
5*54weeksperyear*10years= 2700 hours. This, of course, not adding extra training for competitions, private classes, etc but he is not a serious competitor so these will probably not influence the final result too much. Injuries, travel, etc is not counted but it would not make a big change.

People that train lots of hours per week might think that this number is small but the total hours you train are not necessarily more important than consistent training for a long period of time when it comes to skill and knowledge standard because your brain needs rest to learn.

 

[Uchi Mata]

lol

I won't go crazy nor spend any more time on this argument, it's not that important. Do what you do.

Spoiler

roll constantly with shitty technique

I've met a lot of karate black belts with beautiful form who make you want to cry at the beauty of their high side kicks, but because they barely spar those kicks instantly go to shit as soon as someone else starts throwing them too. Techniques are never as pretty in live rolling as they are in practice, but the whole point of learning them is to execute them in live rolling, not just have pretty technique. Should you drill technique a lot? Yes, you should. But 5% of your time rolling means that in a 90 minute class you'd roll ~1 5 minute round. That's ridiculous. You'll never get good at applying your pretty technique with that little rolling. Now, if you're training full time then technique will probably take a larger slice of your training time, but that's true of very, very few of us.

All the top guys I've ever trained with spend a lot of their time rolling, I'd estimate in the 30% range if not more. And I can assure you, their technique does not suck.

 

[Leify]

LMAO @ noobs who think they know better or more than Rickson Gracie. Regardless if you agree with it or not, show some fucking respect. None of you could even hold Ricksons jock

Because Rickson is some elemental force of nature that is infallible in thought, right?

Certain forms of skepticism are a good thing.

 

[Balto]

Because Rickson is some elemental force of nature that is infallible in thought, right?

Philosophical skepticism is a good thing.

Claim was debunked as bullshit in another thread anyway.

 

[HEAVY GRAPPLER]

People that train lots of hours per week might think that this number is small but the total hours you train are not necessarily more important than consistent training for a long period of time when it comes to skill and knowledge standard because your brain needs rest to learn.

I can get behind what you are saying here. I think it takes time for information to settle in, no matter how many reps you do.

I progressed fairly fast from blue to purple, partially because I got my blue late IMO, but also because I took the slow-and-steady approach. I don't train every day, but I train every week. Until recently, I have been very lucky with regards to injuries. I never take time off - even training on vacation. And I put in study time off the mat.

One thing I do is unusually long sessions. It's because I have kids and don't want to be out of the house too often at night.

So at my old gym at white belt, I would do the beginner and intermediate classes back to back. This would mean about 3 hours solid training every time I went. This was critical to my development getting to blue. I was probably doing this 3X/week + open roll on the weekend.

Now - when I am not injured- I train 2 night/week + open roll on Sundays. A typical class at our gym is one hour technique and warmup, one hour rolling (7 minutes on, 7 minutes off.) Then I drive to the University for Judo for about 2 hours. Add in a two hour open roll and I am getting 10 hours training/week while only being out of the house two nights and Sunday afternoon.

I am building a mat room in my new house and planning to drill 5X/week for 52 weeks as an experiment and to put the push on for the higher belts.

If anyone is keeping score I reckon I am at 3000 hours (+/- 500 hours,) and I have been a purple belt for two years.

 

[trn450]

How are you not dead?

That leaves you less than 5 hours of free time a day not including time to shower, cook, clean, travel to and from the gym and work, get ready for training, get ready for work etc which basically means you have no free time (i've included 8 hours sleep in there)

I often work a 75 hr week (not an exaggeration; 6:00 am to 7:00 pm 6 days per week, with some days going later than 7:00 pm) I also spend about 4 hrs/wk lifting weights. That leaves me about 1.5 hrs to 3 hrs/wk of BJJ training depending on the week. The hours usually don't work with many gyms, so I pay for private lessons.

That's 82 hrs/wk of total work and training time, not counting time with wife, dogs, chores, etc. So, considering he works a 42 and trains 15-20, I definitely think it's possible as that's only 57-62 hrs total. The catch: I get about 5 hrs sleep per night.

 

[Kalma]

I often work a 75 hr week (not an exaggeration; 6:00 am to 7:00 pm 6 days per week, with some days going later than 7:00 pm) I also spend about 4 hrs/wk lifting weights. That leaves me about 1.5 hrs to 3 hrs/wk of BJJ training depending on the week. The hours usually don't work with many gyms, so I pay for private lessons.

That's 82 hrs/wk of total work and training time, not counting time with wife, dogs, chores, etc. So, considering he works a 42 and trains 15-20, I definitely think it's possible as that's only 57-62 hrs total. The catch: I get about 5 hrs sleep per night.

Do you ever feel like burning you're out ? How long can you maintain this for ?
My schedule revolves around a combination of fulltime work and university study and trying to squeeze in BJJ .

I tried a routine of sleeping only 3 or 4 hrs per night routine and it didn't work out very well. I also struggle with 5 hrs per night. It feels ok for a while but it all seems to crash down quite abruptly after a while.

 

[QingTian]

Well, tell us how many hours it takes to become a Judo BB.

About 2000 hours. I'd say a new Judo BB is worth about a purple belt as far as overall grappling exp.

 

[Diablo Ryu**]

I've tapped higher belts when I started with just brute strength...I should have collected their belts

 

[mattemate]

Not many people keep track. Slideyfoot keeps track of his hours.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pVFOoxMQ3nIs0r6b1OCbDcw&gid=2

Looks like ~500 for purple.

Jesus Christ, that's nothing. When Phil Cardella gives a stripe it represents 90-100 hours of mat time. That's a watered down purple belt.

 

[Mavant]

Jesus Christ, that's nothing. When Phil Cardella gives a stripe it represents 90-100 hours of mat time. That's a watered down purple belt.

No. The guy is being very forward and honest about counting only his mat-time. He is not counting rolling as a instructor. He is not counting lots of the drilling either. Notice how he is training 3x/wk and sometimes only counted that as 1 hour on his spreadsheet.

Take a closer look and you'll see his actual time in a BJJ gym is closer to 1500 hours.