Wait, you're actually looking FORWARD to it? I've got a big enough target on my back at purple already, I can wait 2-3 more years until brown
I know this is an old thread but since many that originally posted have either arrived at
Brown or reached Black, what are your thoughts?
I've been a Purple for about 2.5 yrs and looking to the next chapter.
about 2.5 years or earlier if you are good at competition.
I am purple.
See I read this everywhere all the time but for me blue to purple was harder.Purple to brown is the hardest gap by far.
Brown is basically just a black on probation.
At purple belt you are already pretty good, and so the amount of raw effort and discipline required to get to the next level is disgustingly high compared to white blue (just show up) and blue to purple (develop basic execution skills).
I agree with all of this but on the flip side of the part I bolded I would also say that brown belt is cool because you have a lot of the perks of being a black belt but without all the expectations and responsibilities that go along with it.I think J sho nailed it pretty well. I've long since concluded that the only thing a belt signifies is your relationship with your instructor and their goals for YOU given your life circumstance and potential. He doesn't even take into consideration your personal goals, which a few people have brought up but which I think is irrelevant towards the promotion itself.
Generally, mine seems to see how I do with other people, particularly visitors, as I don't compete. Along these lines, blue belts feel like white belts. The mysticism of black belt is over - they bleed too.
Really the main difference I felt is that I could tell people were getting better just from rolling with me, even my instructor. The tone that my instructors had towards me also shifted from one of student to slightly more as an equal.
In a lot of ways, I feel like it's what you've already been doing, just better.
The real perk is now your skill is high enough that you can treat rolls like active drilling whereas before you were just trying to survive. I had to wait til brown to do what I wanted bc i had to build all this foundation to get there. Also it's easier to line up bc there's usually not many brown belts.
The bad (good?) thing is everyone wants to kill you all the time, even though I'm 160lbs and not strong. At BB you have a mental advantage on people who still think BB's are gods - people give up on things they would normally power thru (referring to normal BB's, not the actual bjj gods like Galvao, Rafa, etc.). At brown you don't get to taste that yet.
Counterpoint - I always heard that by brown belt you're mostly sharpening what you already know. While I find this to be true i am also developing stuff that I only started doing at late purple belt (e.g. crucifix and arm in chokes). I really only see now that I would need a few lifetimes to learn everything. Even then...
Summary
If you're a good training partner for browns and blacks (defend some of their stuff and catch them with your own), I think your a brown belt. There is however a ton of variation as we all know.
Ultimately all it means is that you fit your instructors criteria for a brown belt. Your criteria for yourself is always a moving goal post.
Aside
I always found it funny how every school think's they are the stingiest with belts like it was something to brag about. They got a word for that - sandbagging.
The only belt that matters is black bc it's the only one you can't sandbag at. Even then it's only useful if you want to open a school and/or compete against the best.
Wait, you're actually looking FORWARD to it? I've got a big enough target on my back at purple already, I can wait 2-3 more years until brown
If I was to encapsulate my current thoughts about transitioning between purple and brown, it would be that you can get to purple mostly just by knowing stuff, to get to brown you actually have to get good at BJJ. I roll with new purple belts from time to time who are doing mostly the right things and have some technical depth but there's often not a lot of interstitial tissue to their games, and if they're forced to improvise they don't always have the necessary understanding to do so. If I roll with a brown belt who feels like that, I'm going to question their rank. A brown belt should have enough skill to never feel like they're moving aimlessly or don't know what to do during a roll.
These are my thoughts exactly. The bolded is the truest thing about getting to brown belt in my opinion.
When I got brown at first I had a big moment of "Shit, I can't be a black belt and not have a respectable closed guard, mount, and stand up game." Did you have any similar feelings, or does that 'being actually good at BJJ' aspect trump the necessity of being good at particular positions (namely the ones that were considered the most basic or fundamental)?
I have developed a strong belief that if you never train with strikes and never train for MMA you're missing a huge piece of what BJJ really is, and I've always felt that you needed to have decent standup to be a respectable BB even if you didn't like it. Guys who rocket through the ranks winning IBJJF tournaments and concentrate on that style of BJJ are definitely legitimate BBs, they're just not what I want to be as a BB.
1. Is it necessary or at least most effective to do MMA in order to train for striking in a grappling context?
2. If not, what is an effective way to train for ground-based striking in a BJJ class?
I am particularly concerned about the bottom player in situations where I do not have upper body control (butterfly or closed guard w/ overhook).
Brown is basically just a black on probation.
1. Is it necessary or at least most effective to do MMA in order to train for striking in a grappling context?
2. If not, what is an effective way to train for ground-based striking in a BJJ class?
I am particularly concerned about the bottom player in situations where I do not have upper body control (butterfly or closed guard w/ overhook).
Great post. Thanks for the well thought out answer.I really established my game at purple, and then spent late purple and most of brown closing holes. I have a very basic but also well rounded game (I've never been super good at or just relied on getting to one specific guard or position), so there weren't any huge gaps, other than having not done a lot of no-gi and having little familiarity with no-gi specific stuff; I did spend the majority of brown belt working submission grappling rather than gi BJJ. That was less because I felt like I *had* to be good at it than I wanted to learn it. I have developed a strong belief that if you never train with strikes and never train for MMA you're missing a huge piece of what BJJ really is, and I've always felt that you needed to have decent standup to be a respectable BB even if you didn't like it. Guys who rocket through the ranks winning IBJJF tournaments and concentrate on that style of BJJ are definitely legitimate BBs, they're just not what I want to be as a BB.
I will say, there were a few things that I wasn't ever very good at that I did feel I should work on before getting my BB, namely some really basic stuff like arm bar from closed guard and cross choke from mount. If I'm teaching something as a basic to white or blue belts, I want them to feel me using it during rolling and not think that I'm teaching stuff that doesn't work because I can't personally do it well. I'm not sure you can separate being good at specific positions and being good at BJJ. If you're good at BJJ, you'll have some answer in any position even if it's something you're not ostensibly 'good at'. I'm not a big spider guard player, but if you told me I could only use spider guard against blue and purple belts I'm pretty confident I'd still roll them up because I understand how guard play works. I find myself in weird positions a lot working with very wrestling-oriented MMA fighters, but I never have to worry about what to do because as long as I can get to an arm, a leg, or a neck, or get a tight underhook/upper body control, etc. then I'm in familiar territory. There aren't really any mysteries, just endless variations on themes.