I was talking to one of my friends who had a yellow belt test today, I know he started training a few months ago so I asked him what does the test consist of? He said just basic combos, kicks and takedowns I believe along with some basic ground work.
Whats your opinion on this? In BJJ I understand the need for it but how else besides belt systems would you rank your new students just wanting to learn MMA as a whole?
by how many wins or fights they have?
seriously, this is a Western combat sport. There are no belts in wrestling. There are no belts in boxing or MT either except championship belts.
Gusto, RofR I'm with you guys on all points. the average joe that wants to train though if they are not competing in smokers or MMA in general that is where I think MMA gyms will come into problems...
belts not only show your ability to "fight" but it also represents the days months years of your dedication, discipline, and maturity. martial arts, all of them, isnt just about your fighting skills, its about your personal growth.
^ especially true for younger maturing kids
I don't think its a terrible idea.
I can see the designs behind it from a business perspective keeping average Joes's coming to your gym
^ Correct. I'd bet than more than half of the people that train MMA have no intention of ever fighting in the ring/cage.
Exactly. And giving them tangiable goals like belts is a sure way to ensure longer term participation.
Assigning rank, whether it be a different colored shirt or belt is not a bad thing. Just don't charge for the promotions.
like it was stated before belts aren't used in boxing, wrestling, mauy thia. i have trained for 3 years and have never wanted a belt. its more how long you train that will tell you how good or bad someone is. poeple come to our gym to learn to fight or get in shape. as far as i can see golds gym isn't handing out any blue belts for staying in shape for a certain amount of time.
Go back to lurking, fren
ttt interesting iscussion
Belts are givein to Martial Arts I dont think MMA is a Martial Arts it is just a combo of many different and some other stuff
not a good idea IMO how would you get a BB in MMA
I think if you train for fighting you should learn Jiu Jitsu Wrestling or Judo M Thai or Kick boxing or similar arts and receive various belts from the different Arts Just my opinion
Belts = GREAT if you want to make money and keep your gym open so the hardcore guys (who usually never pay) have a place to train for the ring.
95% of everybody that trains never wants to hop in the ring, but you'd darn sure better give them goals to reach (i.e. a black belt) if you want to keep them coming, and paying, and the doors of the gym open...
I want to be the world's first MMA Black Belt.
Talking to Eric Pualson @ his academy one day he said it best "the average joe pays the bills not the fighters". Boosty C, I agree with you. With kids now training at MMA gyms learning JJ, wrestling and kickboxing some kind of ranking program is needed....
my gym's in the process of implementing a grading a ranking system for its MMA program. Let's say we have about 15 MMA fighters, what about the other 100 guys down here training? Why not have some kind of grading system so they can have something to work towards and tangible evidence of their training.
BJJ has ranks, Muay Thai has ranks, why shouldn't mma have ranks?
Belts are crap.
In MMA you're either professional or amateur. Your record is your "rank" and you should be competing against opponents with a similar "rank".
Lets not forget there is another reason for colored belts that no one has mentioned yet. Color coded ranking gives an easy way for more senior practicioners to know how well another person can do, and more importantly how much punishment they can take. Someone who is an orange belt is usually not conditioned to take the abuse a purple or brown belt can dish out.