I’ve been asked about the belt progression in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu aka BJJ. We follow the IBJJF GUIDELINES. (International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation) at HendoBJJ.
Everyone starts at white belt. In each belt you earn 4 stripes on their current BJJ belt, in order to earn their next BJJ belt.
The Kids BJJ belts start at white belt and go up to green-black belt with 4 stripes….they need to be 16 years old to earn a blue belt in BJJ. The green black belt is the highest belt for kids. You will not see 10 year old kids in black belts in BJJ, as the black belt is the beginning of mastery of BJJ.
The adults first belt past 4 stripe white is the blue belt, then purple, then brown and then black belt. In short…. the lifelong belts (see timeline) are Coral and Red White, Like the Gracie brothers and the Machado brothers. Grandmasters are Red Belts, ie: Helio Gracie, Carlos Gracie, etc
Hope this helps. We will be talking about the belt system this week in class.
IN BJJ you earn your belts over time and hundreds of hours on the mat. Proficiency, knowledge, application, and character all play in to the equation.
Frankly, if you’re overly concerned about getting a new belt, this may not be the sport for you. If you wear a certain belt you must be able to defend it….The Mat Doesn’t Lie!
As the famous UFC Fighter Royce Gracie, whose family brought Gracie Jiu-Jitsu aka BJJ to the United States said something to the effect of: “The Belt only covers 2” of your A$$, you must be able to cover the rest on your own”
“Train hard, train smart….train for LIFE!”