My thought on what a a blue belt should be able to do

[blanko]

in class today one of our new blue belts was sparring a new guy and had him in several submissions from the guard and the new guy basically hurt himself by defending the wrong way/not tapping. After the roll i talked to the new blue and told him to sweep and controll from the top if he spars a noob again. I told him that he should be able to controll a relatively untrained guy who is his size or smaller from uptop so he can controll the pressure when applying a submission hold. So IN MY HUMBLE OPINION. One should at least be able to gain/maintain positional dominance on somone his size or smaller to qualify for a blue belt. Now if the person did judo/wrestling it's a different story. But if you never grappled before, i think it's a good measuring stick.

 

[Afrofeet]

Thats is a minimum, in my opinion.

 

[Socal Duck]

a lot of new guys spaz harder when some gets on top of them. I like to put them in a closed guard, tell them I am not going to tap them. All they have to do is posture. If they can do this without subing from exhaustion we work on a basic pass.

Once they know they are not going to get tapped out and it's about position they seem to relax.

 

[GentileJitsu]

if you don't know how to maintain position and apply pressure correctly you should not be a blue belt.

 

[350 lbs fist]

IMO a blue should have at least 1 decent guard, 1-2 decent takedowns, 1-2 decent passes and 3-4 decent subs and a shitload of other less stellar stuff.

If he can play guard, top and the takedown game decently he's a blue IMO.

 

[Cardio King]

One should at least be able to gain/maintain positional dominance on somone his size or smaller to qualify for a blue belt. Now if the person did judo/wrestling it's a different story. But if you never grappled before, i think it's a good measuring stick.

I hope more people agree with this.

 

[FLMikeATT]

IMO a blue should have at least 1 decent guard, 1-2 decent takedowns, 1-2 decent passes and 3-4 decent subs and a shitload of other less stellar stuff.

If he can play guard, top and the takedown game decently he's a blue IMO.

Agreed.

I actually think a blue should have more than 1 decent guard though, as inevitably you will find people that can stifle the guard you're best in. For example, I have a good closed guard both 'classic', overhooking, high guard, some rubber/tight omoplata, and I've been experimenting with the 'Shawn Williams' guard. I also have a decent open guard, butterfly, and half guard game.

One of the things I noticed as I progressed from white to green to blue, is that when I was less experienced, I would hold onto the closed guard for dear life, and would hold on for dear life when in half guard. Now that I have a decent open guard, half guard, and escapes from side across, I open my guard all the time, and usually have no problems regaining guard or sweeping from half guard. This allows me to be more on the offensive, attacking with subs and sweeps, and I can transition between guards pretty easily when I feel like working a particular guard or a set of moves.

 

[BorrowDolla]

Hold someone down thats new at Jiu Jitsu & be able to transition on top = Blue Belt?

Sorry, but then everyone with 3 months experience would have a blue belt.

No, if that is your criteria then you're better off evaluating blues simply by how long they've been training/attendance.

 

[Delbjj]

There are alot of things.

Experience and basics. You need to have a compotent guard, and top game. Know some basic subs and sweeps and escapes. But the biggest thing is how you execute them, which is all based on experience.

 

[350 lbs fist]

Agreed.

I actually think a blue should have more than 1 decent guard though, as inevitably you will find people that can stifle the guard you're best in. For example, I have a good closed guard both 'classic', overhooking, high guard, some rubber/tight omoplata, and I've been experimenting with the 'Shawn Williams' guard. I also have a decent open guard, butterfly, and half guard game.

One of the things I noticed as I progressed from white to green to blue, is that when I was less experienced, I would hold onto the closed guard for dear life, and would hold on for dear life when in half guard. Now that I have a decent open guard, half guard, and escapes from side across, I open my guard all the time, and usually have no problems regaining guard or sweeping from half guard. This allows me to be more on the offensive, attacking with subs and sweeps, and I can transition between guards pretty easily when I feel like working a particular guard or a set of moves.

By decent I meant a guard which gives better people problems.

One where you can at least defend a blue or better's attacks and sometimes sweep/submit them.

Other guards should be able to give whites trouble.

 

[stu3ufc**]

IMO a blue should have at least 1 decent guard, 1-2 decent takedowns, 1-2 decent passes and 3-4 decent subs and a shitload of other less stellar stuff.

If he can play guard, top and the takedown game decently he's a blue IMO.

true--and hes been doin bjj at least 1-2 years

 

[stl_81_99]

In the school I'm most familiar with, a blue belt has mastered the basics. It takes, on average, 3 years of training at least 3x per week, and the belt is usually only awarded when you sweep a tournament in your division. At the test, the instructor makes you exercise and spar until you can hardly stand or move.

 

[Mikey Triangles]

In the school I'm most familiar with, a blue belt has mastered the basics. It takes, on average, 3 years of training at least 3x per week, and the belt is usually only awarded when you sweep a tournament in your division. At the test, the instructor makes you exercise and spar until you can hardly stand or move.

3 years for blue? jeeze... where do you train? that's way too long for an average IMO

 

[Prokofievian]

3 years for blue? jeeze... where do you train? that's way too long for an average IMO

I agree, that sounds ridiculous.

 

[jiujitsugirl86]

A 3 yr bluebelt unless the guy never trains is a sandbagged bluebelt... i hate that its cheating in my opinion to hold a good guy back for that long. Also, just because a white belt beats someone doesnt mean they arent a bluebelt... i know a couple of guys who are advanced belts now but were tapping blues when they were whites. If you have been training for 1-2 years and you are beating most people your size/your experience or less then its time for a belt change. There's no shame in being beaten or having a tough match with a guy whos had his white for three years and needs to be given a blue... in my opinion anyway.

 

[350 lbs fist]

I was a horrible white and it took me 3,5 years to get a blue. I was all power and little skill until it dawned on me to get with the program. I won a bronze and a gold at subsequent Scandinavian Open's as a white and still didn't get promoted.

I see today that it was the correct thing to do as I sucked technically.