We should all aspire to being blackshirts. Or at the very least brownshirts.
lol it only fuels ego and such depending on how the head instructor is, as the personality of the teacher should always set the tone for the program. Plus also how much of an inner douche you already are.
triforce -There's far too much ego surrounding belts in BJJ. I've seen upper belts get really fucked up not wanting to tap to lower belts, and lower belts gloating about tapping upper belts. If you're a higher belt training at a different school you're going have dirty shit pulled on you.
Think about the concept of belts… You walk around with a symbol around your body that tells everyone else how good you are at the sport. lmfao…
And if you think "well in tournaments you have to go against people of relatively similar skill levels." Fine. But what is wrong with having "beginner, intermediate, expert". In fact, that would actually increase the amount of people in each division.
I think the "belt ego" is also the main reason people quit BJJ. As a white belt you have nothing to lose, it’s all improvement and any time you get tapped out it’s to people who have trained longer and know more and are considered "better" and when you tap them out they find it a huge acomplishment. Once they get to blue belt you really see the ego come through, especially when a white belt taps them and they don’t return to the mats.
But I get it… How would affiliations function if belt promotion was dependent on attending a 2-day, $180 seminar. People want to get to that "next level" and pat themselves on the back by someone else subjectively telling them what level they think they are at.
Where I train there’s no promotion seminar/money grab. You just get promoted.
As for teaching techniques, we will listen to anyone who has been successful with a technique and allow that person to show the technique regardless of belt color.
We we had a guy come from a Sambo background and as a blue belt he was teaching leg locks (informally) to all levels. He had something to offer. If someone has something to offer we will pay attention.
I’m an older guy (47) who has to be relatively uninjured to do my work, so if someone gets me in a bad spot I’ll fucking tap. I don’t care what color belt they wear.
We all treat each other with respect. Belts are just a recognition of work put in, skills, attitude, competition results, contributions to the learning environment, etc. We had a guy just start this week and one of the things we told him was to ask for help, we were all there to help. We even pointed to another white belt in the class and told the new guy that even that dude (the white belt) knows stuff and can be helpful.
I’ve heard about other gyms treating people differently depending on rank but that’s not going on where I train.
If there were no belts (in nogi there aren’t) it wouldn’t change my training at all but at the same time I don’t see belt ranks as some kind of problem.
Stripes are stupid.
MarsMan -Tangent to the OP, but were belts originally (I mean, way back then in Japan) a representation of SKILL, or RANK within a dojo (which could loosely be tied up to skill, because people of higher rank would tend to have more training)?
Of course the aspect of rank still exists (in most schools I hope), but I think the aspect of skill has received a lot more weight in modern times.
According to an interview with one of the Valentes, colored belts were introduced when one of Kano's representatives went to Europe.
Said that it'd make the art more popular to the result-minded westerners.
Gotta admit, I've waited too long with tapping to a lower belt on occasion.
Old Brazilian saying: "necks can be surgically repaired, but the pain of tapping to a lower belt lasts forever"
tf1 -I used to disagree but I think you’re correct. It’s hard to run a gym without belts though. 10th planet does is right. You get a belt but you don’t wear it. The constant reinforcement of your rank isn’t there during class etc. so I think guys are more willing to tap because nobody really can tell.
...Until they figured out they were leaving money on the table and started the whole "ranked rashguards" thing. Which is brilliant, because a rashguard you clean much more often, so I'm guesing they're making a killing on people getting multiple rashies
The Mat Pimp -We should all aspire to being blackshirts. Or at the very least brownshirts.
Can't tell if this was an intentional Nazi reference
Hunter V -lol it only fuels ego and such depending on how the head instructor is, as the personality of the teacher should always set the tone for the program. Plus also how much of an inner douche you already are.
This, the atmosphere at the gym will dictate how much the belt feeds douche egos. Where I train nobody really cares we just roll and if you tap, you tap. No big deal. I sometimes tap my teacher and we joke about it. He’s happy for me if I advance and I’m also happy for lower belts if they manage to kick my ass. The responsability lies with the teachers.
Shinsplint -triforce -There's far too much ego surrounding belts in BJJ. I've seen upper belts get really fucked up not wanting to tap to lower belts, and lower belts gloating about tapping upper belts. If you're a higher belt training at a different school you're going have dirty shit pulled on you.
Think about the concept of belts… You walk around with a symbol around your body that tells everyone else how good you are at the sport. lmfao…
And if you think "well in tournaments you have to go against people of relatively similar skill levels." Fine. But what is wrong with having "beginner, intermediate, expert". In fact, that would actually increase the amount of people in each division.
I think the "belt ego" is also the main reason people quit BJJ. As a white belt you have nothing to lose, it’s all improvement and any time you get tapped out it’s to people who have trained longer and know more and are considered "better" and when you tap them out they find it a huge acomplishment. Once they get to blue belt you really see the ego come through, especially when a white belt taps them and they don’t return to the mats.
But I get it… How would affiliations function if belt promotion was dependent on attending a 2-day, $180 seminar. People want to get to that "next level" and pat themselves on the back by someone else subjectively telling them what level they think they are at.
How long have you been training op?
5 years
belts gotta go, i’m tired of seeing people tying their belts 50x in match, oh and fistbump handslaps too, tired of seeing 50 fistbumps in a match.
I think they should make you tape your belt so it can't come undone during a match.
Gettig rid of belts is silly though. Getting rid of egos is a better idea.
Shinsplint -I think they should make you tape your belt so it can't come undone during a match.
Gettig rid of belts is silly though. Getting rid of egos is a better idea.
Why is it silly
ChopFooey -Shinsplint -I think they should make you tape your belt so it can't come undone during a match.
Gettig rid of belts is silly though. Getting rid of egos is a better idea.
Why is it silly
Because it is a part of its tradition and what seperates it from wrestling etc. Some people like to have a goal to keep them coming back.
People that let belts go to their head should get smacked by their instructors.
3 belts
white, purple, black
3 balls
White, blue, black
things to see people to do -3 balls
White, blue, black
This!
Belts help the instructors bang the female students
RocknRolla - belts gotta go, i'm tired of seeing people tying their belts 50x in match, oh and fistbump handslaps too, tired of seeing 50 fistbumps in a match.
It isn't as bad as ball sports like basketball or football, where they slap each others butts after every play.
I had a brown belt literally shit talk me in my ear because he was embarrassed at having been schooled by me (a white belt) in our only other roll. He was whispering stuff like "this is why I hate wrestlers, this is what you do, do you like how it feels," yadayadayada. Belts really throw people for a loop. The reality is that I've been training for years without a gi, and though I started in a gi recently, skill for skill that's not where I am. This guy was a particularly bad (and old and fat) brownbelt, and he's just not as good at grappling as I am. If we were having a no gi roll, and he knew I was new to gi jiu jitsu, there wouldn't be a problem.
sekundarburnes -I had a brown belt literally shit talk me in my ear because he was embarrassed at having been schooled by me (a white belt) in our only other roll. He was whispering stuff like "this is why I hate wrestlers, this is what you do, do you like how it feels," yadayadayada. Belts really throw people for a loop. The reality is that I've been training for years without a gi, and though I started in a gi recently, skill for skill that's not where I am. This guy was a particularly bad (and old and fat) brownbelt, and he's just not as good at grappling as I am. If we were having a no gi roll, and he knew I was new to gi jiu jitsu, there wouldn't be a problem.
What he whispered to you sounds pretty sexy and hot. I bet he was pretty turned on to ask you "do you like how it feels." any chance he was on your back when he softly spoke sweet nothings in your ear? I bet he hadn't washed his gi in a bit and his....... Belt was stiff
things to see people to do -sekundarburnes -I had a brown belt literally shit talk me in my ear because he was embarrassed at having been schooled by me (a white belt) in our only other roll. He was whispering stuff like "this is why I hate wrestlers, this is what you do, do you like how it feels," yadayadayada. Belts really throw people for a loop. The reality is that I've been training for years without a gi, and though I started in a gi recently, skill for skill that's not where I am. This guy was a particularly bad (and old and fat) brownbelt, and he's just not as good at grappling as I am. If we were having a no gi roll, and he knew I was new to gi jiu jitsu, there wouldn't be a problem.
What he whispered to you sounds pretty sexy and hot. I bet he was pretty turned on to ask you "do you like how it feels." any chance he was on your back when he softly spoke sweet nothings in your ear? I bet he hadn't washed his gi in a bit and his....... Belt was stiff
Haha what a strange post. Sounds like maybe he was camping out in his guard. Sounds like something a wrestler would do.