You will probably find your local purple belt showing up late to warm-ups or skipping them entirely but what makes them so special that they can do this? Well, great question! In this article, we go over what it means to be a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, the time it takes, and the meaning that the belt holds within the gym. Check out some of the videos inside this article too to get a full understanding of what this BJJ belt means!
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Purple Belt
A Brazilian Jiu Jitsu purple belt demonstrates an aptitude and commitment to BJJ far beyond the earlier ranks, and understand that they are halfway to the ultimate goal of making it to a black belt. This is the stage where someone is showing the first signs of expertise in the sport of jiu-jitsu.
Getting to this rank is very difficult, you have to showcase that you have diffinefitive skills. Whether those skills are BJJ strategy, wide knowledge base, or extremely refined technique, it is present when you are at this stage in your BJJ career.
Many purple belts will admit that this is the first time that they start to feel pressure on the mats because they are now viewed as an advanced practitioner. It is common for purple belts to start taking people under their wings and start helping lower belts become more sharp in their technique so they too can one day reach this stage. Some days you will still feel like a blue belt and others will feel like you should already get your promotion to black, the key is to stay level and put forth the effort to see the job all the way through.
Time it Takes to Accomplish
Getting to purple belt is no easy accomplishment and does take some serious time to get to. On average we see people get their purple belt at year 5-6 of training consistently. Everything is relative though and everyone’s circumstances are going to be different. Some people may receive the belt faster just due to their god-given ability to pick things up quicker or maybe they have a coach that promoted them fast, who knows.
We always tell people that belts, stripes, and trophies should never be your focus, it should always be getting just 1% better each time. Everything else will play out the way it will play out. At the end of the day those things like medals, belts, and stripes are very pleasing to receive but they only come when someone is so head down focused on getting better at what they do.
What Does it Mean?
For most instructors they will tell you that the purple belt is that first sign of expertise. This is where your “game” is forged. The people that move quickly to black belt from this stage are the ones that harness and perfected a style of play that suits them. When you get to this level you will be a great strategic BJJ thinker and truly be developing the ground floor of getting to the highest levels of jiu jitsu.
Things that you did from earlier stages will start to click and make sense once you hit the purple belt. You will be able to piece together things quickly and people in your gym will be able to lean on you for advice on specific things.
Our view on what each belt means is not the only interpretation that you should take in. Everything around the definitions of belts is subjective, be sure to ask your coach about their philosophy around the belt so you can get a better idea about the expectations that are being put on you. You have reached a stage that many people before you could never imagine reaching, you should be exceptionally proud of the accomplishment. You are halfway to making it to the top! No looking back at this point!
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