paying to take a test for belts....BS

Stoic1 said:
Okay, its been done many times before...but here I go again.

How much does a belt actually cost? 10 bucks? And how about some custom embroidery with my name on it? 20 bucks? What about the certificate and the frame? Another 10 or 20?

And do you think that every single student should just be 'handed' these things out of the teachers pocket? How many promotions does that teacher do per year? 10? 20? Lets say he does 20 per year at an out of pocket cost of 30 bucks. That's 600 dollars every year.

I paid 40 or 50 for my purple belt test. OMGGGGGG. IM GETTTTING RIIPPPPED OFFFFF!!!!

Or am I?

Let's see. My instructor had to schedule extra time outside of class. His time. He had to coordinate getting a lot of people together for my test. I had like 12 guys to fight. It took over an hour to fight them all. That was just me. 2 other blue belts were promoted that day also. It took almost 3 hours. 3 hours of my instructors time is worth what?

After the test I got a really nice framed certificate and a custom belt. Like I said earlier I am not sure of the total cost but I bet it was at least 40 dollars. Considering the belt came from Brazil, he had to call long distance and talk with the other owner of Seishin Gi's to get the spelling right. Then he had to order a certificate, and make the trip to a store and buy a frame for me. This is a really nice frame, too. Not a walmart $3 job.

So you have to start thinking about all the 'other' stuff that goes into the test besides the test itself. My instructor spent some time preparing for it. He also spent some money. And it certainly isn't right to ask him to pay for it out of his own pocket. He came from Brazil to earn a living. And he should be paid accordingly. BJJ isn't some kind of social welfare system. It's a business.

Now look at other endeavors in life. Taking classes at the university isn't free. They charge you. They factor in all that shit like tests into fees. It isn't all 'credit hours' you are buying. Professions have re-certifications, seminars, etc and they all cost money. I want to get certified in CPR/First Aid I am going to pay. I want a drivers license I am going to pay. This is nothing new.

But lets be real here. This isn't some kind of socialism. Belts cost money. Time costs money. Asking your instructor to eat those costs on every student on every promotion is not fair to him. If you think those costs should be 'included' in your training fees than expect those fees to go up. And then don't cry about it.

Now some of you enjoy promotions by your instructor simply giving you the belt during rolling. That's fine. Some of you actually pay big bucks as white belts going to say...a Royce seminar...and secretly you hope to god that he gives you a blue belt on the spot. You paid. But did you get the same 'kind' of test that we did? Did you spend hours under the spotlight, end up with individual recognition for your achievements with custom gear that your instructor painstakingly picked out for you? Or were you one of those guys who got a cheap ass $5 belt thrown your way by a guy you met at the seminar? There is a difference. And I am willing to pay for that difference. You may not be. And THAT IS OKAY. We are totally different people.
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BJJ isn't some kind of social welfare system. It's a business.
best line ever.

What is the general cost for a BB test...doesn't the CBJJ have to certify you? What does it involve?
 
to be a true black belt you have to be certified by the cbjj.
they say only 3 stripe black belts can give out black belts, but there are guys getting them from other black belts now in the US.
the sport is being tae kwon do'ized in my opinion.
in 5 years there will be a bjj school on evry corner. the teaching will become more and more watered down, and there will be more and more fees
 
It seems to me that belt tests got their bad name from TMA schools that do them on a set time basis, such as once a month, and the fact that this results in social promotion of people who "kind of" know the moves, and who come to class often enough and pay their belt test fee. The key problem seems to be the social promotion. If the tests are challenging and not everyone passes on their first attempt, then they would be fine, so long as the school didn't charge you to take it again.
   It seems like a good idea to make sure that everyone is prepared for positions and submissions they may rarely or never be-in or do on a daily basis. It's not just the big guy who only only knows how to sidemount and keylock people. A majority of people are predominately top players, or bottom players. Most people are predominately right-handed and will almost always triangle people's right arm, sweep people to the left, pass guard to the left, etc. It seems like testing is the only way to make sure that people are well rounded and ambi-dexterous in all the moves they know. I don't even think most schools testing look for all of that, but veryifying a person's readyness for situations they rarely get in, or put themselvse in seems to be a good justification for giving a test, because the instructor would not have been able to determine this by just watching the person in class.
 
Most Martial arts it takes A 3rd degree to promote some one to Blackbelt . The whole CBJJ thing sounds fishey to me , like one group trying to control everyone. My instuctor is a 4th degree under Carlson Gracie Sr . All four of the guys he has promoted to black are awesome on the matt . I'm gonna ask but I don't think even knows about the CBJJ trying to control everyones blackbelt status .
 
Most Martial arts it takes A 3rd degree to promote some one to Blackbelt . The whole CBJJ thing sounds fishey to me , like one group trying to control everyone. My instuctor is a 4th degree under Carlson Gracie Sr . All four of the guys he has promoted to black are awesome on the matt . I'm gonna ask but I don't think even knows about the CBJJ trying to control everyones blackbelt status .
 
the cbjj is a good thing, it says you have to be this in order to promote--great idea
if your instructor is a 4 stripe under cg sr. he must be really technical. i am sure he has the confederation certificate right?
 
That just shows how pathetic our society is that people want to buy everything and are to weak to work for it
 
guardpasser said:
to be a true black belt you have to be certified by the cbjj.
they say only 3 stripe black belts can give out black belts, but there are guys getting them from other black belts now in the US.
the sport is being tae kwon do'ized in my opinion.
in 5 years there will be a bjj school on evry corner. the teaching will become more and more watered down, and there will be more and more fees
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guardpasser, i'd like to think you are wrong about that. as far as i know the majority of schools do not require a test fee. people like yourself will be going on to open schools in the future and not charging fees out hte ass. there will always be a few people trying to grab those extra few bucks but most people will not want to train at places like that.
 
I'm not sure if my teacher has the cert , I'll ask next class . Yea he is sick on the matt , old school BJJ . He grew up 1 block from Carlsons school in Rio . He has 30 plus years doing BJJ . What is really cool he knows BJJ is changing for the better , his mind is open to new ideas and techniques . We have a great wreastler teach class on tues nights and a bunch of other stuff that adds to the school ....The guy that teaches us the wreastling is on season 2 of T.U.F (Tom Murphy) ....
 
in my travels, i see about 70% of the places charge.
i hope it doesnt get worse, but i have a bad feeling.
i have only seen it in the last year though.
but as one place starts to charge, others will follow suit.

i have a new thread coming on the cbjj and black belts from the comment i made there also
 
Hater_Huntin said:
That just shows how pathetic our society is that people want to buy everything and are to weak to work for it
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I think its pathetic that our society wants people to simply 'give' them things. Especially material items and the time of others. FUCKING COMMIE~
 
At least in my school, we don't have to pay to take a test. Thought there is a specific day in the year that you have to be present if you feel you are worthy of being promoted. Then when you get promoted, they give you the belt but you just have to pay for the belt. While the teacher can give you a stripe anytime.
 
Rip Van Winkle said:
lol, that would be awesome and very defiant!!!
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what division should i enter, i have a camo belt now.
it was actually awarded to me at a bjj school in west virginia, there it is a status symbol
 
I only been training for over a year but from what I have seen here in Honolulu about promotions. Relson either observes people training or senior browns make recommendations on promotions. If Relson thinks you are deficient in one area, throws, self defense, sweeps, submissions, etc. He will teach a class on it and watch you from a lot of angles to see if you are doing it correctly. Of course if you compete and win two or more tournaments within a year for blue, you can get it faster but ordinarily, he just watches and watches and then one day in a ceremony or class, he will bring out the belt, talk about your progress and accomplishments in front of everyone and put it on you and take pictures with you.

No test, no paying for the belt.

I'm only a blue so thats all I know about but I seen a few higher belt promotions and it seems the same just more time training or wins inbetween promotions. He does not allow the blues to be whipped but if you're purple and above its whip city and everyone can join in.

I don't know about anybody else but this system is just fine with me.

I hope to get a black belt way, way into the future the same way, maybe 10 years or more from now. I'm in no rush, I'm learning everyday and its fun as hell.
 
Relson does it right, and he makes sure you are worthy before you get it.
it would be a good thing to get a promotion from him. good luck over there.
his son is in Austin this week coming up, i may try to go train there one day
 
guardpasser said:
Relson does it right, and he makes sure you are worthy before you get it.
it would be a good thing to get a promotion from him. good luck over there.
his son is in Austin this week coming up, i may try to go train there one day
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Thanks. I think he and Rhalan are training up there and then going to California for a tournament.

When Renzo was here for his fight against BJ, a lot of people came. Renzo, Ralph, Ryan, Luis Heredia, Fabio Santos and some other guys I never knew. They came right in the end of a class and I was helping Relson with the white belts.

Then Fabio and Luis start to talk about Relson's side control and ask him why he holds position like that. Relson then ask each one of them to hold him differently, when they were ready he sweeps them, escapes or subs them. Hahaha. Fabio was having a great time I could tell. Luis just smiled.

Relson was having a ball too. Renzo asked Relson about half guard and Relson shows him some move that makes Renzo mouth open and then he laughs his crazy Renzo laugh with his great big smile and tells everybody watching, "Thats the way it always is with Relson." I truly had fun watching him with these outstanding teachers and to see how much they valued his opinion and explanation just made me happy to be there in that moment.

If you do get to Austin ask him to bring me back an Austin Relson Gracie JJ shirt, size 4XL. I'm a big Hawaiian. Hahaha.
 
4xl

you are a big man.
if i talk to "gracieaustin" i will make sure they get you one
 
guardpasser said:
4xl

you are a big man.
if i talk to "gracieaustin" i will make sure they get you one
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Thanks. Send me a pm with your email and I will send you some pictures of that training day.
 
guardpasser said:
what division should i enter, i have a camo belt now.
it was actually awarded to me at a bjj school in west virginia, there it is a status symbol
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I would enter Purple division and own the bastages...when they ask why your not wearing a purple belt...state the truth, you're a blue belter but you refuse to pay to be promoted to purple...so unless someone promotes you without charging...you'll wear the camo belt in protest till that day and continue to enter tourneys as a purple and win.
 
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