Is the journey on colored belts the same as white?

[1PBCE1]

When I started as a white belt, all other white belts could dominate me. Now a couple of years on, I can hold my own against the tougher whites, and dominate the newer ones.

Will the experience be the same as a blue belt?

 

[lechien]

Hard to tell.
The disparity of skills within a belt color is huge.
Let not even consider between gyms.
And then you have weight difference etc..
But yeah, in general you will get dominated by a 4 stripes blue belts the day you get your blue belt.
I mean you are looking at someone that trained an extra 2 years.

 

[yetanother]

I have met a lot of higher belts that just stopped developing their jiu jitsu. It's not that rare to dominate a brown belt who got his belt by training for ages instead of getting truly good as a good blue belt.

 

[pesadissimo]

I think of all the belt levels (white included), blue has the biggest disparity of skills from fresh blue to 4 stripe on the cusp of purple. So this may be really frustrating and it's probably one of the big reasons there's such an exodus at blue.

At white, you could have an athletic new guy or someone with a wrestling background take it to a 4 stripe white belt and no one would think twice of it. The 4 stripe white belt simply doesn't have the skill level to take on all comers.

At purple and beyond, I think the skill gap lessens considerably, so if you had a good competition record at blue, by the time you get to purple you should still be very competitive and the same goes for brown.

Black belt has a large disparity as well, since if you stick it out this is the belt you'll have the longest. But I think the differences in skill level are much more in the minutiae and not that huge. The biggest difference between world class competitors and hobbyists is largely physicality again. Interesting how it comes full circle

 

[irishmac22]

We belonged to a dojo that promoted on time spent at the school. I seen guys and girls that could barely balance on one leg while throwing a kick and get promoted. If its a legit school there will be a huge uptick in technique.

 

[Allan san]

This is an almost impossible question to answer.

90% of it has to do with you. Some people in this world collect items, I like to collect hours. I have found that, to no surprise, that the months I log a lot of mat time, I have made significant strides in my overall game.

There are gyms that promote competitors on a much harsher scale than the hobbyist. Look at ATOS. One of their guys won purple belt worlds and hasn't been promoted to brown belt yet. Nothing wrong with this at all, but these are the types of people you might find yourself bumping into.

 

[Uchi Mata]

This is an almost impossible question to answer.

90% of it has to do with you. Some people in this world collect items, I like to collect hours. I have found that, to no surprise, that the months I log a lot of mat time, I have made significant strides in my overall game.

There are gyms that promote competitors on a much harsher scale than the hobbyist. Look at ATOS. One of their guys won purple belt worlds and hasn't been promoted to brown belt yet. Nothing wrong with this at all, but these are the types of people you might find yourself bumping into.

I don't know, I kind of think there is something wrong with that. Do belts have meaning or not? If not, everyone should just compete in an open class (I think there's actually a pretty good argument for this in the pro ranks), and if they do, then how can you possibly justify someone who has literally proved to be the best in the world at their belt level not being promoted? To not do so undermines the belt system and is unfair to all the other people at that belt level who will have to fight this guy who is clearly above their level. It would be like if an NCAA coach could keep a 1st round guy from going pro because he thinks he's 'just not ready' for the NBA.

 

[Allan san]

I don't know, I kind of think there is something wrong with that. Do belts have meaning or not? If not, everyone should just compete in an open class (I think there's actually a pretty good argument for this in the pro ranks), and if they do, then how can you possibly justify someone who has literally proved to be the best in the world at their belt level not being promoted? To not do so undermines the belt system and is unfair to all the other people at that belt level who will have to fight this guy who is clearly above their level. It would be like if an NCAA coach could keep a 1st round guy from going pro because he thinks he's 'just not ready' for the NBA.

I completely understand your side and how you see it. It is just a different world in the "full time" ranks to be honest. I feel like it does make us hobbyists a little apprehensive when trying to compete at the top level.

I think the belts have meaning, but there is such a skewed idea of the requirements for that belt. Andre must have watched his guy's matches and despite his success, does not meet his personal idea of what a brown belt is. Just so much disparity in this sport!

 

[Hellcat93]

I don't know, I kind of think there is something wrong with that. Do belts have meaning or not? If not, everyone should just compete in an open class (I think there's actually a pretty good argument for this in the pro ranks), and if they do, then how can you possibly justify someone who has literally proved to be the best in the world at their belt level not being promoted? To not do so undermines the belt system and is unfair to all the other people at that belt level who will have to fight this guy who is clearly above their level. It would be like if an NCAA coach could keep a 1st round guy from going pro because he thinks he's 'just not ready' for the NBA.

Pretty much how I feel as well