Helio originally only had 3 belt ranks. Whites for students, instructors wore light blue and head instructors wore dark navy belts. Towards the end of his life, Helio went back to wearing a navy belt because he liked the color more. Valente Bros. and Royce have started using Navy belts for black belt ranks I believe.
Pedro should give Rodolfo Veiera an honourary black belt for being able to learn Jiu Jitsu without learning from a Gracie.
Huh. I'm familiar with the history of the limited belts in the early days. I also knew that Helio started wearing a blue later on but I remember, and internet pictures verify, that it was a regular blue belt. This navy belt thing just seems kind of silly. Regardless that's not what the thread is about. Congrats to all the new black belts.
As an adendum to what I said, Royce has been wearing a Navy colored belt for a few years, but started giving out black belts with navy bars in the last year or two. My instructor and one of our affiliate school instructors have them.
