No Gi belt translation?

[OhNoZ]

So I was curious about everyones opinion if someone has only done no gi what belt would they translate to in gi. not meaning if they start doing gi grappling but basically skill translation.

reason i bring this up is cause last week my instructor didn't show up all week so the people in the classes looked to me to teach since i'm usually dominant in rolling. I only taught twice but both times after the training i had people asking me if i was a blackbelt. i'd say hell no and then they would ask what belt i am and i can't give them a correct answer since i don't do gi grappling. I would explain that but they still wonder what i would be equivalent to.

i know some schools that do submission grappling or just no gi give out equivalents like a wrist band or something but i don't know what guidelines they follow... so if yall can "rate" me (oh my god not another rate me thread) or probably more importantly give me some sort of guidelines of what each belt may be equivalent to in no gi in your opinion

me - trained one year straight with a teacher/fighter out of jeremy horns gym. I was extremely fortunate because this guy had about 10 years of fighting experience as well and he offered personals for FREE. he liked 2-3 a days and had a home gym for night when he was watching his kids and thats when i got to train with him.

so i would get 2-5 days a week in with him for 2 hours a day with the occasional guest appearances of some of utahs best. after the year he ended up moving to cali and is instructing at one of the L.A. boxing sites. since he moved he gave me all his equipment and mats and i opened up my little garage gym and was teaching/training with a lot of newbs and police cadets for about 4 months. winter hit so i ditched the garage and joined a very good gym nearby and trained there for about a month so far.

almost everyone there is bigger then me im 5"7 150lbs and i still out roll almost everyone bigger then me besides the occasional stall. highest gi belt i've rolled with though is a brown belt and we would trade off subs even though he still had 15lbs on me but this being no gi. i can destroy the wrestlers there that have been doing it all there life and they have been the ones asking if i'm a blackbelt.

sorry for the long read and probably annoying post but the question is, is there a translation of belt ranks from gi to no gi and what would/could be the guidlines? i eventually told them i might be a purple skill level but i can't give them a for sure.

 

[Graunie]

White belt.

Edit: Unless I read something wrong it look slike you have about 1-1/2 years experience grappling. No disrespect, but there is no way you would be able to legitimately trade with a brown belt with less than 2 years experience unless there is some crazy circumstance.

 

[OhNoZ]

honest, but why? time training?

 

[Noob 1.0]

The simple answer would be: There is no translation of belt ranks to no-gi.

A slightly more vague answer would be that it's subjective, but there is still no direct translation of belt ranks to no-gi.

 

[elbigsam]

You aren't going to get a solid answer. Id imagine if you have a comprehensive nogi game, good from the bottom and top, that would put you at a knowledge level of mid blue belt if you were in the gi. You would still have a ton of learning to do in the gi to round out the skillset to get graded as a purple belt. Its all pretty moot, if you are curious, find a reputable blackbelt to train with, you can probably move through the gi ranks fairly quickly if you can learn the new stuff and incorporate it into your game.

 

[greasemonk3]

You're most likely not purple belt level after training for only a year and 4 months...especially with only 1 month at a real gym.

 

[Noob 1.0]

You're most likely not purple belt level after training for only a year and 4 months...especially with only 1 month at a real gym.

Maybe not even a blue belt.

honest, but why? time training?

It's a little bit like saying that you've been training striking for a few years and asking what belt you would translate to in Taekwondo. You have a skill set that a beginner Taekwondo student would not have, but you've not trained nor been promoted in Taekwondo.

So, yeah, I'd say officially a white belt. Subjectively you could make a claim to be a blue belt equivalent or something but I'd be careful making such comparisons about yourself and ultimately it's just a point of comparison.

 

[Graunie]

Time training is a pretty good gauge for the majority of the population. Minimum time in service for a purple belt is generally accepted at 3 years, that's minimum. If you are a phenom that may be an acception.

Also, you don't train with a gi so you don't have the knowledge. That's why there can't be an equivalent. Doesn't mean you can't be a great grappler though, but it does mean you will probably have to win some competitions to prove it.

 

[Noob 1.0]

it does mean you will probably have to win some competitions to prove it.

Agreed. Enter a tournament or two. That should clear any confusion for you.

 

[OhNoZ]

thanks for the advice guys. i just remember when i first started before i got my free training i went to a gym where they trained Combat submission wrestling and the instructor trained with erik paulson for years. they used a wristband to signify what rank you are so i was wondering if you guys heard of anything like that and there guidelines?

i agree with the bluebelt now that i think about it more, especially because i haven't had as many rolling partners as most in the time i've had since i havent been in a real gym. i just felt weird telling these two guys (one that wrestled for 12 years and the other wrestled for 8) that they were being taught by a bluebelt equivalent.

 

[elbigsam]

I would stay away from the equivalent line. If you know what you are teaching is solid stuff, that should be enough, they can tell you are skilled if they attend a class taught by you. This is the problem with shirking the system and learning from garages, if you want to teach, you lack a supervisory instructor, as well as a legit lineage/certificate. Now that you are at a gym, put on the pajamas, build a relationship with your coach. It may turn out to be a rewarding experiance.

 

[HardEight]

NoGi and Gi are completely different animals. They may be the same species and some things interchange, but to me, the deeper you get into it, the more differences you will find. If you want to be good at both, train both. Then whatever belt you earn in Gi you can call yourself that when asked. Otherwise you will have to go through the trouble of explaining to them that NoGi grappling doesn't have a belt system. The differences between the two is why there is no equivalent belts.

 

[Balto]

thanks for the advice guys. i just remember when i first started before i got my free training i went to a gym where they trained Combat submission wrestling and the instructor trained with erik paulson for years. they used a wristband to signify what rank you are so i was wondering if you guys heard of anything like that and there guidelines?

i agree with the bluebelt now that i think about it more, especially because i haven't had as many rolling partners as most in the time i've had since i havent been in a real gym. i just felt weird telling these two guys (one that wrestled for 12 years and the other wrestled for 8) that they were being taught by a bluebelt equivalent.

I'm glad that you are agreeing to equate yourself to a blue belt now even though multiple people told you that you're a white belt if anything. You sound like Ari or something.

There is no equivalent from no gi experience to gi belts. Period. There is just not an equivalence. If you were to start BJJ tomorrow, you would be a white belt.

People who don't train BJJ have this idea in their head that somehow BJJ belts are determined solely by who can tap whom. That is very far from the truth. There is a correlation with a higher rank and competition ability, but it is definitely not the sole determining factor or even the biggest determining factor in every case.

If you walked into a BJJ school tomorrow, you would be a white belt. If your first class you tapped out a brown belt, you'd still be a white belt.

 

[Baconator69**]

White Belt.


Fuckign Tim Silvia had to earn his blue even after being world champion and handling a world class BB in Jeff Monson in a MMA match.


/end teh fuckign debate.

 

[OhNoZ]

Balto, i understand what your saying but you misunderstoof my post. I don't really have ambitions to train with a gi as i just would rather spend my time doing no gi because i compete in MMA. the question isn't what belt am i in bjj because yes very clearly i would be a white belt. the question was if no gi had a ranking system what would be the guidelines and where would i fit?

i can't consider myself bottom of the barrell in no gi because i know what i am capable of. i read on another post somewhere something of this sort as far as skill goes even though it was pertaining to bjj. i added belt equivalents for the purpose of this thread.

you start by getting schooled by everyone and learning as you go and eventually picking up techniques that work for you, this could be white belt.

your able to defend off almost any submission and good at positional control, this could be blue

you get very good at positional control, your transitions are getting good and your game has turned more into a chess match then what can be considered a scramble fest in no gi, this could be a purple or higher blue

your position control is top notch, your transitions are smooth, your baits and counters are getting good and you can submit more often now, this could be purple to brown

your technique is phenominal, transitions are top notch, baits and counters are innovative, and your submission game can't be stopped, this could be brown to black.

 

[Balto]

Balto, i understand what your saying but you misunderstoof my post. I don't really have ambitions to train with a gi as i just would rather spend my time doing no gi because i compete in MMA. the question isn't what belt am i in bjj because yes very clearly i would be a white belt. the question was if no gi had a ranking system what would be the guidelines and where would i fit?

i can't consider myself bottom of the barrell in no gi because i know what i am capable of. i read on another post somewhere something of this sort as far as skill goes even though it was pertaining to bjj. i added belt equivalents for the purpose of this thread.

you start by getting schooled by everyone and learning as you go and eventually picking up techniques that work for you, this could be white belt.

your able to defend off almost any submission and good at positional control, this could be blue

you get very good at positional control, your transitions are getting good and your game has turned more into a chess match then what can be considered a scramble fest in no gi, this could be a purple or higher blue

your position control is top notch, your transitions are smooth, your baits and counters are getting good and you can submit more often now, this could be purple to brown

your technique is phenominal, transitions are top notch, baits and counters are innovative, and your submission game can't be stopped, this could be brown to black.

I guess you should just give yourself a blue belt then in the made up fantasy no-gi ranking system that you just created in your head and just so happens to be exactly like the BJJ ranking system.

 

[OhNoZ]

i guess i wasn't clear enough.

I am not doing BJJ. I am not asking that if i switch over to a gi what belt the instructor is going to give me. no gi and gi are two different worlds in my opinion they both develop different parts of your game and have advantages and disadvantages. i understand the stupidity of trying to find an equivalence between the two but being asked that made me curious on others opinions on this subject.

 

[OhNoZ]

I guess you should just give yourself a blue belt then in the made up fantasy no-gi ranking system that you just created in your head and just so happens to be exactly like the BJJ ranking system.

ok your fucking retarded, please leave the thread.

cant give myself a blue belt because i have no use for a belt. and oh wait its similar to the BJJ ranking system? NO SHIT hense why i'm asking equivalence and that seems like a pretty good outline that can go for both. If you read what i said about how i read similar to that on another post then you would know i didnt "create it in my head"

your and epic failure

 

[Galen Spielman]

almost certainly white, probably blue. Yeah, time in; because time in equates to getting better at grappling.

This is the one thing I've never really understood about our sport. People want to cling to the notion that you can get really good at BJJ without drilling for hours on end and spending an inordinate amount of time on the mat. The sport isn't (and was never) at the level where you could watch techniques on youtube, or train in a garage with another amateur and get really good. You get better by training properly with proper people. If I watched a bunch of instructionals on driving the lane and shooting free throws in basketball, and then went out and schooled my friend that also did the same thing, my level of proficiency is going to peak super low and I'll never be "good" in the big picture. I never really saw why training BJJ is different than training any other sport. Sure, BJJ/Grappling takes a whole lot of thinking, but I have to believe, when you get to the level that people aspire to be at, its all muscle memory, just like any other "regular" sport.

If you compete, I wouldnt care if you said you're technical level translates to black belt level. The great thing about this sport is that, A, you and everyone will know what level you're at when you start rolling with other guys, and B, the grappling community is so tight, that word gets out incredibly fast when people are giving false credentials.

Sorry for the big post and vent and i meant no disrespect if you picked up any while reading. Hope all of the training goes well!

 

[shouldercharge]

look at the way no-gi tournaments are graded,no belt equivalent just begginner,intermediate,and advanced.
beginner= up to 12 months training,white belts.
intermediate=12months-3 or so years. blue belts,whitebelts getting close to it,fresh purples.
advaced=3+ years of training purples and higher.

i'm not saying these belts are the gi equivalent in grade,more what grade bjj practitioners you would come acrs in a no-gi tournament.
theres no correlation or belt equivalent as far as time in no-gi to a gi bjj rank.

go and compete in an intermediate division at a no-gi tournament and see how you go.
if you manage to win your division at a good tournament you could say something along the lines of "i'm an intermediate level no gi grappler in no-gi competition i compete at a high blue belt level"