Differences in skill between blue belts

[jjwvic]

I started training about two weeks ago and i love it. I get my ass handed to me by most of the blue belts when we roll after practice. One of the blue belts though I rolled with and tapped him three times in about 5 minutes. He is very unathletic but I figured he would still be able to handle me easily since my lack of experience and the fact he has probably 70 pounds or so on me. The other blues are probably 5 times better than he is. Is this normal for their to be such a large gap in skill between people of the same belt color?

 

[Deloitte]

Yes, blue to purple takes the longest for promotion.

 

[DonkeyKong]

Not only that but also everybody has good and bad days, and your style and inclinations could very well match up poorly against his own.

Blue to purple takes the longest and the most commitment.

 

[Tony Manifold]

He could also have been coming off a big layoff. There is a huge difference between knowing how to do the techniques and getting the body to do what you tell it to.

 

[ILGrappler]

Also you're a phenom. 2 points for the Bob Marley quote (even though you quoted him slightly incorrectly).

 

[jjwvic]

Also you're a phenom. 2 points for the Bob Marley quote (even though you quoted him slightly incorrectly).

lol thanks..yea i just put what i could remember off the top of my head cause i was too lazy to look it up again lol

 

[zaoh]

I have felt that, there's a long walk in blue belt to purple belt so a new blue belt doesn't compare to a semi-purple blue belt.

 

[Bucketbot]

Yes as others have mentioned there is a long period between blue and purple...

Having said that...without more info it is really hard to say. Again, as others have said the dude you where rolling with could have simply been having an off day, he could have been working on technique (and you happened to get him in something that he is currently having trouble with), or he could just be "learning from the tap"

And there are different "skill" levels at blue as well...it is not an absolute, rather a continum (?spelling)

 

[BenWS]

Some blue belts are just crap and dont really derserv the belt. Sounds like thats whats happening here. If he outweighs you by 70lbs and you are tapping him 3 times in 5 minutes with only 2 weeks grappling experience then i think his promotion must be very questionable. Did he get his blue belt from royce?

Is there any reason why his performance is so bad? is he really old? How does he perform with other people?

 

[stlnl2]

Some blue belts are just crap and dont really derserv the belt. Sounds like thats whats happening here. If he outweighs you by 70lbs and you are tapping him 3 times in 5 minutes with only 2 weeks grappling experience then i think his promotion must be very questionable. Did he get his blue belt from royce?

Weight can also be alot of fat. I have rolled with blue belts from alot of name guys royce, Rickson, Irvin, Relson, etc. And I can tell you there isnt alot of difference between any of their new blues. you either have an agenda to say Royce specifically or are just green.

 

[Darksky]

Agree with Donkeykong and a belt is just a belt IMO. Just being able to tap someone is only one aspect of a blue belt.
A few years back I was teaching a BJJ class and a division 1 wrestler came in for his first class. He dominated and tapped a few higher belts even tho he had no experience in BJJ. Since he tapped a purple belt does he deserve a BJJ belt? I dont know.

At the Pan Ams there is a blind guy and a mentally challenged guy that compete, or what about girls? or the 60 year old guy training for 5 years? What about the guys that get serious injuries?
How you conduct yourself on the mat, how well you understand the drills, and how much time you dedicate to the art are all factors in your rank. A few friends that have trained in Brazil have told me that the range between sparring skill is much broader among the belts there, with even the black belts, some getting caught by blues.

When I was a blue belt I caught one of the best BB Ive ever rolled with, next class he tapped me 6 times and I never caught him again :]. Just remember even a blind chipmunk finds a nut once in awhile and its just a belt :]

 

[blanko]

Darksky,
I agree about blue belts but there is no way an untrained wrestler comes in to my gym and starts tapping out purples. And we have had some accomplished wrestlers judokas come to our gym.

 

[jjwvic]

Some blue belts are just crap and dont really derserv the belt. Sounds like thats whats happening here. If he outweighs you by 70lbs and you are tapping him 3 times in 5 minutes with only 2 weeks grappling experience then i think his promotion must be very questionable. Did he get his blue belt from royce?

Is there any reason why his performance is so bad? is he really old? How does he perform with other people?

he's probably 17 or 18 i'm guessing..yea all the weight he had on me was fat

 

[BenWS]

Weight can also be alot of fat. I have rolled with blue belts from alot of name guys royce, Rickson, Irvin, Relson, etc. And I can tell you there isnt alot of difference between any of their new blues. you either have an agenda to say Royce specifically or are just green.

The only reason i mentioned Royce is that he is known to give out bluebelts if you just go to one of his seminars.

 

[Darksky]

blanko, all im saying is maybe she was a blind, mentally challenged, 60 year old who just had knee surgery.

:]

All I can tell you is this division 1 wrestler was a serious monster on the mat. Just touching the guy and you were exhausted, believe me when I tell you he was a beast. Ive trained with hundreds of wrestlers and this division 1 guy was a different animal. I think he wrestled for a college in SC.

 

[Throwing Dummy]

I'm one of these - I have had my blue for almost a year, but I am old and nursing bad injuries all the time, somedays I challenge the purples and some days the whites all seem to have my number. But my instructor says I deserve the blue, so I wear it.

It's been a long time since a two week White Belt came close to giving me a hard time though, and we do get some wrestlers through the gym.

 

[irc]

People are saying blue to purple takes the longest. I may be totally wrong, but it seems like purple to brown takes a really long time.

 

[blanko]

some schools give out purples faster than others. It used to be that you stayed at blue a very long time...

 

[The Colonel]

Yes there is a pretty wide skill set when it comes to blue belts. I've been a blue belt for forever and most higher belts feel that I'm ready to make the jump to purple. I roll with some blue belts and just completely handle them (sometimes I even give purple belts a good run for their money) where as other blue belts may give me just as tough a time as a purple.

 

[350 lbs fist]

There are competition blues who get their belts for doing good in that aspect.
There are technical blues who get their belts for doing good in training.
There are mat time blues who just dedicate enough time to training to warrant a blue. They might get their asses kicked by the competition and technical blues but they are still of sound enough technique to earn the belt.

And people coming off an injury break, who are old/young, in bad shape, who have just got tooled to the point of exhaustion etc are all "easy" to tap. It still doesn't make them less of a blue belt.

And stylistical problems is a real issue. I have a blue at my club whom I outweigh by 70 lbs whom I have a hard time sweeping, subbing and passing. Another purple at our club who is more his size taps him with ease. And I roll on an equal level with that purple.