Here's my question Michael- The game and system you have created is unique to you and your students and it is not widely known knowledge. So as far as promotions go I'm wondering how you deal with that? Especially with white to blue. I see your white belt students doing a lot of your specialized game and I wonder, if one of them got really good with it and could compete with say blue belts from other schools do you promote them. That would more make them a blue at your game right? Where as the color is reserved for a blue belt level of knowledge of BJJ of the overall game. So do you wait until they have more knowledge of the game or how do you handle it?
Because I am asking for a high level of proficiency in certain positions right from the beginning, my white belts will have certain imbalances in their game. It is simply impossible to have a high level of proficiency in every position as a white belt. In training, we emphasize certain areas and just touch on other areas. The areas that we only touch are "weaknesses" for a while, however, I have devised a temporary "competition strategy" to hide the weakness caused by the imbalance in their game. By the time my students are purple belts, they will have good balance in their game and not have big holes in their game.
Promotion is based on the students ability to perform my system. So, for example, a white belt must be able to perform certain systems on a blue belt to be considered blue belt. I use those exact same systems and I can do it on a black belt, yet my white and blue belts cannot do it on a black belt. So it is all about proficiency of the system.
In the past, I would want my students to have any "overall knowledge of BJJ", but now I could care less about that. Students already have a hard enough time trying to memorize and work on the material I am teach them. Why would I want to cloud their brain further with other things that are not going to use all the time?
My standards for promotion have gotten higher as time has passed, especially the higher the belt color. When certain students get to black belt, they must be as good as I am now, not when I first got black belt years ago. They must also be able to use my system and hang with my instructors. Though I say the standard is higher, it is not more difficult to accomplish because I know exactly how to get the student there.