Getting promoted, how does it work in BJJ?
Here is a list of the belts in BJJ for adult students –
*White
*Blue
*Purple
*Brown
*Black
First let me say, and many of you know this already, I don’t give out belts. No I don’t and I never will. To get your belt from me you’ve got to earn it.
With that said let me more into the story a little bit.
I always get asked by students, “How can I get my blue belt in BJJ?” This is very common and it’s a good question. I thought for the newsletter I could shed some light on this subject.
I promote based on a few things and they are:
Attitude in training
Knowledge
Skill
Heart
Dedication
There are more, but the above list hits on the major things I look for when giving out rank in BJJ.
The first thing you have to have is the right attitude. You must want to be here at Ivey league, be a good person, give your all and help other students. Someone with a poor attitude has little to no chance of getting promoted by me or pretty much making it here at my academy. I pride myself on having students that are good people and anyone that doesn’t fit that mold gets kicked out or leave on their own.
I look at ranking people based a lot on what they know. How much knowledge they have of the techniques and the history of BJJ. I want all my students to be well rounded. So that means you have to have good guard passing as well as a good guard. I don’t promote “one trick ponies”.
Skill is sort of like knowledge, but there is a difference between knowing all the techniques in the world and being able to actually do them on a resisting person. The more techniques you can execute on a live person in rolling the better the chance you have at getting a blue belt.
Heart. What is heart? I define heart like this; never giving up during rolling or other times when you’re dog tired. Always giving your best. Coming to class even when you’re tired, had a bad day, a little sore, whatever. You show up ready to train and have a good time. That’s heart.
Dedication. That’s an easy one. Sticking with your training no matter what. Driving a long distance to take classes. We have a family that trains here, Spike, Mom and Step Dad, they drive an hour and a half…one way! To get here for classes. That’s being dedicated. No excuses, yes or no! Did you make it to class last night? It’s YES OR NO!
So, in cliff notes format that’s what I look for when promoting students in BJJ. So, if you’re looking to get your black belt one day from me then I suggest you work on the things listed above. I’ve found them to be worth their weight in gold!
See you on the mats!
–Master Danny Ives
Master Danny Ives With New Blue Belt Griffin Palmer Of Crofton, MD