Belt Ranks BJJ: Why You Should Not Focus on This

What is the difference between people who are successful at getting their black belt and people that are unsuccessful at getting their black belt? Well, the answer to that varies based on several situations but we are here to tell you to not even focus on this. Belt ranking in BJJ symbolizes dedication to the sport and when you start you are just trying to survive.

Belt Ranks BJJ

Brazilian jiu-jitsu and martial arts like Karate and Judo are unique in the sense that they reward belts to showcase someone’s competence. In BJJ there are 5 belt ranks that one can obtain in their time training. Below is a list of the belt and the typical time someone could expect to spend at that respective level!

White Belt (Year 0 – Year 2)

Blue Belt (Year 2 – Year 4)

Purple Belt (Year 4 – Year 6)

Brown Belt (Year 7 – Year 9)

Black Belt (Year 10 – Year 15)

While in each belt you will receive stripes to show progression even further. Four stripes on the colored belt effectively mean you have maxed out that belt and are on your way to ranking up entirely! 

What You Should Focus On

When starting on your journey with BJJ do not focus on belts or stripes. It should be the least of your worries. We need to focus on the training aspect of the sport and falling in love with the process. At the white belt, you are just surviving and getting introduced to everything and as you progress through the belts, you are getting more time honing in on strong technique.

Rome was not built overnight. If you focus entirely on the belts, what it is materializing is an ego problem. To get good at something you have to focus on that thing, not the rewards that you will receive at the finish line! For example, if you want to be a great business person you have to spend years gaining and learning new skills, networking, and finding the right opportunities to capitalize on. If all that you were focused on was the money and not the love for the business you will be deterred when money is not in the equation.

How to Progress Faster

The quickest way to progress in BJJ is to train more or to be born with unique, god-given talent but even if you have all the talent in the world someone with exceptional technical skills will pummel you so it can only take you so far. If you have a background in wrestling you may have a faster time getting through white-belt.

Jiu-jitsu is a journey sport. You will see your life change in many ways after picking it up, you should be excited that you chose this as something you want to pursue!