Need advice (trying to rank up)

ro1em0de1

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ok heres my dilemma, ive been grappling for goin on 7 years now(3 yrs hs wrestling, 2 yrs at team quest, 1 year independent, and a year training/teaching sub grappling at xtreme couture) however ive only been training in the gi (independently) for just over a year.

ive competed in about 8 gi tournaments since feb. 2007(6 in the the white belt division, and 2 recently in the blue belt division) and done well in all of the tournys. now heres my problem i dont currently train under a black belt or even a blue belt for that matter and i badly would like to obtain a ranking without just giving it to myself like the other instructors told me to do. now im a guy who works 40+ hrs a week and teach 3 days out of the week leaving me no time to find another gym with a black belt to train under.

so i guess my question for you guys is...is there any way to obtain rank without being a member of a school like thru seminars or anything of that sort?

it sucks teaching a class about jiujitsu while technically only having the rank of a white belt, shit even a couple of stripes would suffice...
 
........ it's not the same as training under a BB no.

what is the point of doing it through seminars and shit if you just going to answer to anyone who asks where you got belted 'oh, through these VHS tapes and seminars I attended!'

they will laugh.

make time for it, or get over it. You're already a great grappler obviously, it's just a belt. If the belt means that much, you'll find time to go to a school.

~Foz
 
If you've never trained under anyone who held even a blue belt in BJJ, then your skills probably aren't really from the BJJ lineage. That means that you really wouldn't have any BJJ rank.

That doesn't mean you don't have grappling skills, as not all grappling falls under the lineage of BJJ. In fact, it must be similar enough to work well in BJJ tournaments based on your performance. Still I would say it's not from the BJJ lineage though if you never trained with anyone from BJJ.

What I would do is just compete at the gi level you feel is the appropriate challenge. I think in tournaments they usually prefer you to wear the rank you are competing at, so just wear the appropriate color belt for that in the tournament.

As for what you wear in training, I think that's up to you. It sounds like you really have your own gi system that you've adapted from your no gi training, so you can have your own ranking system I think.

If you want to get promoted with official BJJ rank though, I think you will need to start training with someone who holds rank in BJJ. If you just want to continue your training and compete in BJJ tournaments, then I think what you are doing is just fine.
 
7 yrs training huh? maybe you should just go beat up some more beginner white belts in tournaments.
 
7 yrs training huh? maybe you should just go beat up some more beginner white belts in tournaments.

I don't think he is trying to sandbag on purpose.

There is a lot of stigma associated with sandbagging. There is also arguably even more stigma associated with promoting yourself (even if it's just temporarily for a tournament). When you are switching from no gi to gi, you can easily get caught in this trap.

I know that I ran into this when I competed in my first gi tournament. I competed as a white belt as I had only trained mainly no gi grappling with limited gi work under a blue belt. I walked through the opponents from the other schools because I was someone who had significantly more experience than the other 3 month white belts who entered.

The next tournament, I entered the blue belt division to be sure that this would not happen again. I just wore my white belt though because I did not have a BJJ rank. I was submitted towards the end of my first match, but it was a good match with a lot of back and forth action. It seemed to be the appropriate challenge to me, so I resolved to fight in the blue belt division from then on. Luckily, I was promoted to blue belt in BJJ a few months later so I did not have to deal with the "Why is a white belt in the blue belt division?" problem anymore.

I understand this guy's situation because I have been there myself. I don't think he should be harassed about it.
 
7 yrs training huh? maybe you should just go beat up some more beginner white belts in tournaments.

if you read it youd see 3 yrs hs wrestling(no submissions involved), 2 years at team quest(another place that really focused on my wrestling strengths), 1 year indipendant(me and 4 other guys had a basement team that trained primarily mma), and a year teaching/traing at xtreme couture vancouver.

to say i was beating up on white belts is a bit much, i competed in 6 tournys in the whitebelt division(cutting no weight i might add) and only placed 1st 2 times...so i was hardly beating anyone up...the northwest jiujitsu scene is pretty advanced i must say...imo
 
thanks guys for all the advice, and yes i have been teaching my own sytem of techniques that work for me...however id like to be able to "raise my stock value" if i use the term correctly by being granted a rank under someone. instead of just being a self proclaimed ____ belt...
 
thanks guys for all the advice, and yes i have been teaching my own sytem of techniques that work for me...however id like to be able to "raise my stock value" if i use the term correctly by being granted a rank under someone. instead of just being a self proclaimed ____ belt...

The only real way to get recognized BJJ rank is to train under another BJJ guy for some significant period of time. So if that is something that you truly want for whatever reason, you will have to make the sacrifice to do so.
 
It is definitely not a quick way but you could affiliate you self with an instructor that is reasonably close by. Go see him bi weekly and bring him in for seminars at the club monthly or bi monthly. Let him know that you are already teach grappling and want to add BJJ. Every time you go see him he can send you back with stuff to work on until the next visit. When he is ready, he can promote you and you can even have him promote the guys that train with you when they are ready.

Have I done this? No but it is something I could see myself doing soon. I will probably be posted in the next year to a place that has no BJJ or sub grappling at all. I may have to start up a club and not being ranked in BJJ that is the only way I could come up with that would let me progress and give the guys I end up training with some legit credentials of there own.
 
i never trained under any black belt, or even brown belt.

besides, i can't afford training under a black belt at some academy.

i just network and get mat-time with proficient grapplers
 
thats a good thought tony, im gunna look into something like that, maybe ill shoot some emails to schools around me..
 
i never trained under any black belt, or even brown belt.

i got my blue belt from Wander Braga at one of his seminars...

besides, i can't afford training under a black belt at some academy.

i just network and get mat-time with proficient grapplers

I've also heard that for a fee, some people including, Royce Gracie will test you at his seminars and judge the appropriate level you think you are. There are a lot of garage grapplers who live in far out places who actually are decent if not great grapplers but no one to judge, test, train under, etc and I believe that that is a fair way to get rank and be under someone, bjj lineage wise anyway. It gets a bad rep but its something.

If I was in the middle of nowhere and flew to a seminar and got tested and rank I would stand by it.
 
I've also heard that for a fee, some people including, Royce Gracie will test you at his seminars and judge the appropriate level you think you are. There are a lot of garage grapplers who live in far out places who actually are decent if not great grapplers but no one to judge, test, train under, etc and I believe that that is a fair way to get rank and be under someone, bjj lineage wise anyway. It gets a bad rep but its something.

If I was in the middle of nowhere and flew to a seminar and got tested and rank I would stand by it.

yeah thats a great idea ill have to look into finding some seminars being held around the northwest...
 
Is there not a legit BJJ instructor at Xtreme Couture. Because if there is you should find some time to do some privates with him. You can rank up fast doing privates under a black belt.
 
Is there not a legit BJJ instructor at Xtreme Couture. Because if there is you should find some time to do some privates with him. You can rank up fast doing privates under a black belt.

3+ year old thread. Some people will jump on you for bringing up old threads, but just pay attention to the dates and it will be all good.
 
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