Just wondering what some of you guy's opinions are about this. How do you feel about a white belt wearing BJ Penn's signature RVCA black belt shorts, in the dojo on the mat?
Is that disrespectful to wear because the white belt is essentially putting on a black belt, but in no-gi form.
Or, who cares? Just let the guy be a BJ Penn fan.
I'd say he's a fan...no big deal. That's why they sell them. Nobody will mistake him for an actual black belt.
i care and think its disrespectful, especially since a lot of companies now make shorts with belt rank colors.
i dont walk around wearing a stethescope(sp?) and white coat and i work part of my time in a hospital
checkuroil - i care and think its disrespectful, especially since a lot of companies now make shorts with belt rank colors.
i dont walk around wearing a stethescope(sp?) and white coat and i work part of my time in a hospital
One of the attitudes I hate about BJJ.
in public is different from the gym. in public, you are a fan. at a gym you are now representing the actual martial art in action.
what would your coach say if you were a blue belt and came in wearing a brown belt? what would rickson say if you promoted yourself to black belt?
i have worked my ass off in the gym and never have put a black belt around my waist. why?well, eddie has never promoted anyone to black belt. but also, respect for the people who have put in even more work than i have to wear it around their waist. b people wearing those shorts in the gym they are being disrespectful to the art and diminishing the accomplishmnent of receiving a black belt.
why does anyone need to wear those shorts in a gym anyways. they know it will be controversial. they are the one who is looking for trouble.
checkuroil - in public is different from the gym. in public, you are a fan. at a gym you are now representing the actual martial art in action.
spider guard -checkuroil - i care and think its disrespectful, especially since a lot of companies now make shorts with belt rank colors.
i dont walk around wearing a stethescope(sp?) and white coat and i work part of my time in a hospital
One of the attitudes I hate about BJJ.
Spiderguard - That's why your retired - lol
could be one of the first times I agree with Checkuroil! lol
eh, depends on his motivations. If he got the shorts because he is a BJ Penn fan and thought they looked cool, fine whatever. If he is trying to get people to think he is a black belt, then obivously its retarded. In fact, either way he is retarded and im sure he will get enough ribbing from the upper belts he trains with that he will get a different pair.
He is probably just ignorant of what he is doing.
No need to overreact.....it's like if someone wears their favorite NFL player jersey. That person didn't do all the hard work, etc. to be able to put the jersey on. Nobody would look at that at being disrespectful. It's just sign of support of who you like. MMA fighters don't have "jerseys" so BJ's shorts are what he has. If someone wears a "Tapout" shirt, that doesn't make them a MMA fighter. It's just a piece of clothing. Like another post said, if he's going around trying to get people to believe he's a black belt, then he's stupid. I would place money that he's just a fan of BJ and think the shorts are cool.
nfl jersey is different. you are wearing someone else's name on you. there is no risk of some fat white guy being mistaken for terrell owens or ocho cinco. however, with those black belt shorts on, you are at risk for being thought of as a black belt. you are putting yourself into a category in which you dont belong.
you like bj penn? wear a bj penn tshirt. why wear black belt shorts?
i like jacare. should i buy his exact gi and wear the same brand black belt even though i am not a black belt. i mean, i am just a fan. no one would mistake me for jacare, so its fine, right?
the belt means something. i dont care if you dont have respect for it, but know that there are gonna be a lot of us that do.
also, if you are training in those shorts and a visitor comes to train, he may believe that you are a black belt. so when he wipes the mat with you, then he believes that the level of the black belts at your school is crap. so now, you have just misrepresented your team.
I started this thread because there is a kid training bjj at our gym. Still a white belt. Big BJ Penn fan. He got the BJ Penn shorts, and I have mixed feelings about it.
When he originally told me he ordered them on the internet, I tried to explain to him that it's disrespectful to wear belt shorts if your not that belt rank yet, and that he should cancel his order, or not wear them in the dojo. He told me he's not trying to front as a black belt, but he could care less what I think is disrespectful, admitted he's a cocky punkass kid, and BJ Penn is his favorite fighter.
At that point, I had it in my head that if I ever saw him walk on the mat with those shorts on, I'd make sure they wouldn't be on anymore by the time he walked off the mat.
Well the other day we were free training some no-gi stuff an hour before bjj class, and the kid shows up wearing his new RVCA BJ Penn signature black belt shorts. That day I kept quiet and just decided to let him be a fan instead of beating some respect into him in front of all his peers.
always err of the side of beating up punk kids
Let me take this in another direction for a moment. I rolled up at training yesterday (admittedly after having left my Gi and belt in the gym!). I located my gi but could not find the belt. I look out on the mat and there is a 'new' brown belt rolling. I try to get a better look and realise that it is one of our white belts doing a personal with our instructor. I asked if it was my belt and he says yeas he forgot his.
I didnt say anything but was a little put out because it does bother me if someone else puts my belt on to train. If you are white belt, borrow or buy another white belt if you forget/lose yours.
What say ye?
F
After reading this thread I feel like I must be taking crazy pills. The martial art part of jiu-jitsu is completely fading away these days...
You guys sound like you all started training last week. It is COMPLETELY unacceptable for someone to wear a rank that they have not earned, whether it's a belt or a pair of shorts with a belt design on it. Period.
Walking into any gym I've ever trained at wearing black belt shorts would result in a polite request for change of attire. A failure to comply would be followed by a life-altering asswhipping the next time that person stepped on the mat.
Why do you think all the companies that make those shorts offer them with white, blue, purple, etc. belt colors around the waist?
GamebredJJ - After reading this thread I feel like I must be taking crazy pills. The martial art part of jiu-jitsu is completely fading away these days...
You guys sound like you all started training last week. It is COMPLETELY unacceptable for someone to wear a rank that they have not earned, whether it's a belt or a pair of shorts with a belt design on it. Period.
Walking into any gym I've ever trained at wearing black belt shorts would result in a polite request for change of attire. A failure to comply would be followed by a life-altering asswhipping the next time that person stepped on the mat.
Why do you think all the companies that make those shorts offer them with white, blue, purple, etc. belt colors around the waist?
I haven't been training long but I would never wear shorts with a belt colour on it let alone one that I haven't earned and would probably tap someone who did wear something they didn't earn over and over... unless they where better than me at which point I would grumble quietly to myself :O
I can see the point some people are making. It's just tough for me to get worked up about someone's shorts
4Fingers - I try to get a better look and realise that it is one of our white belts doing a personal with our instructor. I asked if it was my belt and he says yeas he forgot his.
Why did your instructor allow him to wear your belt?
When guys at my school are missing a belt and require one, they typically find one in the lost and found; I've never seen it be anything other than a plain white belt, regardless of their current rank. (It's quite odd seeing your instructor in a white belt.)
White belts are empty. White belts are free. No one has yet earned that belt, or poured their heart, soul, sweat, and blood into it.
Nevermind... What I really meant was: WTF?!?!?!
I must say i'm quite suprised at the average response that it's not acceptable.
I bought a pair of the rvca black belt penn shorts a few months ago, and i wear them all the time to our no gi classes (i'm a purple belt)
I asked my instructor if it was ok, and he just laughed and said 'why wouldn't it be'?
It's pretty obvious that i'm not pretending to be a black belt.
Everyone know's they're BJ's signature shorts, and i bought them cause i'm a fan and i think they look cool.
If it was an academy where the give out belt rankings on the shorts, then it's a little different, but if it's the typical bjj academy, everyone knows what your rank is and like i said before, it's pretty obvious that they're bj's shorts and not a legit black belt.
4fingers, in regards to your situation, i don't think thats cool at all.
It's bad enough to wear someone else's belt (admittedly i have left my belt at home a few times when i was a blue and wore a spare blue belt), but certainly not acceptable to wear someone else's belt of a different colour.
I'm suprised your instructor allowed that as well.
no.... not ok.
you got to earn the right to were those shorts. Just earn a blue belt and get the blue belt shorts.