BJJ Red Belts?

Was reading up here: http://bjj.org/a/ranks.html And was a bit puzzled by the inclusion of 10th degree Red Belts and 9th and 8th degree Red and Black Belts. Saw a picture of Helio Gracie and sure enough he was brandishing a Red belt. Can someone explain to me the inclusion of a Red belt? I was under the impression Black was the best for BJJ (as most other arts). Thanks

 

Nah Red is the best you can do i think...

 

it's a ranke that's more then about skill

 

If Helio is wearing red, then red is the best. If Helio is wearing white, then white is the best.

 

Good point.

 

The highest belt attainable in BJJ is still the Saku belt though
http://images.google.co.uk/images?q=tbn:HlWu3upJHkIJ:www.inspire.co.jp/sakuBELT.jpg

 

i think red belt signifies the "grand master of BJJ", hence only helio gracie has the honor wearing the red blety (being the only living grand master of BJJ,)

 

go to Kflo's school. they give belts away .

 

helio rocks - watch a show on discovery called " go warrior "

and they had royler and helio - awsome dude

 

The way I understood it, the red belt is basically given to people who have been black belts for a long time. The only two I can think of that have a red belt are Helio and Rorion.

 

It is reserved for those that advance the sport above and beyond any others.

 

My instructor is a 7th degree black belt and his belt is a combo of red and black

http://www.universalmma.com/pages/trainers.html

 

OMG! what if he was wearing rainbow with lil butterfly stickers on them!!!

 

red means grandmaster red and black is the next step down

 

If I remember correctly, Once you attain the BJJ black belt, you advance one 'rank' in Black(or one 'degree') every 3 years. A 10th Degree becomes red, and signifies at least 30 years of maintaining regular practice in the art of BJJ AFTER you attain your black. There are other criteria behind the belt, such as status and influence to the sport. Right now, wearing the Red Belt in BJJ is so rare of a privilege that it's basically a billboard proclaiming 'I made this entire art. I've created and forgotten more techniques than you'll ever learn.'

 

thanks for your answer.

Helio is the man, without a doubt.

 

Rorion has a red belt too.

 

In some forms of martial arts a red belt is given to someone who though no longer posses the power to defeat a black belt has the greater knowledge.

Helio could not beat Rickson, or Royce etc but has the greater knowledge.

 

Helio, Rorion, and Carlson (the one who taught Helio) all have red belts as far as I know. No one earns a red belt as you would earn any other belt. They are only given to certain members for merit. I wouldn't be surprised if Rorion and maybe just one more brother got the red belt.

 

As I understand it 8th & 9th dan in BJJ have a belt that is red & black; the purely red belt is for 10th dan and you have to be a Gracie to reach such a level.

Also in some karate styles red belt is higher than black belt, 5th dan & above, I think.