have you guys ever rolled against someone who is wearing a white belt but clearlyyy is way more skilled and technical? im a decent blue belt who handles our white belts when we spar. so I rolled on monday with this no stripe white belt and he absolutely destroyed me. domination. he was rolling like a strong purple. I asked him after and he was like "oh yeah ive trained a bunch before lol I want to be a white belt 4 lyfe" wtf lol
I know a Judo brown belt who is very good on top but whose guard is terrible. He's been training BJJ for a few months now and is still a 0-stripe white belt. Pretty sure he smashes 95% of BJJ white belts and gives a lot of blues problems.
It's happened to me before. Some guys have either done a lot of no gi before switching or have never been consistent at one gym and do 6 months here and there and before you know it they are 2-4 years as a white belt. And there are always some guys who avoid being promoted on purpose because they "feel" they aren't ready and want to look good at there next tournament. Tighten up your game next time you guys roll and don't worry about what color belt is being worn.
i'm a 'white belt'. i've paid for all of 4 months of BJJ in my life. i've also done 10 years of groundwork-heavy Judo. i'm never gonna ask for rank or anything, but yeah. it is what it is.
I rolled with a one stripe white belt that dominated me like a striped blue or purple. He then rolled with a brown belt and he did give him a hard time.
I usually smash the blues and give higher belts a good fight.... but since I come from Judo I wear a white belt. No doubt many others have other backgrounds too.
I have a buddy who just got his blue, ive seen him catch a decent amount of browns/purples in triangles when he was still a white belt.
I'm a white belt and I've tapped many blues and some purples with ankle locks. I've even landed a few triangles on visiting 4 stripe blues/purples.
Maybe you're not that high a level of a blue? Maybe his instructor had higher standards for being promoted to blue?
I've been that guy. Just because one is a black belt in one style doesn't mean they're black belt in another. I leave it up to the sensei to grade me as they see fit. Also, I see it as a sign of respect.
My friend was a brown belt in Judo and he was giving a lot of high belts problems. Obviously, the biggest problem many people had was getting him to the ground. Most people would just pull guard.
IBJJF > your gym But seriously, the only reason for gyms with that policy for white belts is that it can hinder learning to pass guard. The straight ankle lock is not in any way a "cheap tap".
It's not the norm, but they exist, and there's a bunch of them, I know in my gym 2 for sure, one is very small but moves like a purple, the other is one of the most gifted persons I've seen, lanky but strong as fuck, 2 stripe white belt... He puts on fights vs higher belts, smashes blues... No gi I for the first time went to roll with him, I started slow and he literally ran through me (it was his first no gi class!) got my back locked a body triangle and got me... Next 2 rolls I said white belt my ass... And still he hold his own obviously did some mistakes that got him triangled and footlocked, but with some more experience, he's going to smaashhhh very soon... Unless you are a very competitive purple at least, there will always be white belts who will put on good fights, specially no gi...
UPDATE: Taps black belts. He was a talented grappler when I met him 7 years ago. He trained and trained gi and nogi. The powers that be just didn't feel like promoting him. Living proof that belts are arbitrary. Oh well. Haven't seen him in over a year. Maybe he cut his losses and moved on.
I have trained judo since 2003 and BJJ since 2009, i have also lifted since i started judo, with a lot of breaks in-between those years. Still a white belt. I guess someone who moves a lot and cant stay consistent with one coach would had that problem, my particular problem is that the first guy i trained with charged for stripes and i was already a brown in judo so i really couldnt give 2 shits about what i considered to be a judo offshoot about at the time. My second gym only promotes at promotion seminars, of which i have never had the chance to attend, maybe this year ill be able to attend if work isnt heavy. I definitively lack the technical expertise of the purple belts but i can consistently beat most of them due to my size and strength advantage and my judo background which allows me to play top whenever i want.
