BJJ: No Stripes to Four Stripes

Bakari of JiuJitsu365 was promoted to a four-striped white belt December 5, 2008. Check him out at Jiujitsu365.wordpress.com .

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• BJJ365 Dec 06 2008
• Jiujitsu365
• Blue Belt
• Jiu-Jitsu
• Brazilian
• Jiujitsu
• White belt
• Belt rankings

[MegaDpenner]

My instructor won't even give stripes unless you have the proper belt with the black end. And Its about a year for each stripe unless you are training lots and competing lots. Most blue belts in my school took 4 years.

[BJJ365]

@MegaDpenner I don't believe it should take that long to be a blue belt if you have the requisite skills. But, nevertheless, I had four years of BJJ before I received these stripes and was a green belt in Judo.

Also, having a Black tip at the end of a belt does not mean it is proper, it just means that your instructor has instituted a standard.

[maxmadx]

hi you a blue belt now?

[BJJ365]

Yes indeed!

I was promoted to blue in February '09.

[maxmadx]

Congrats, anything in particular that you think pushed you over that final hurdle? I am a white and have been training for about a year and a half now. There is something missing from my game, can't quite figure out what. Blue belts still seem to be on a completely different plane. :/

[BJJ365]

I went a different route than most. I began training no gi BJJ in April of 2004. I also have a green belt in Judo.

So when I arrived at my academy the only thing I lacked was time training with a gi. But my previous training is behind why I was given four stripes in one testing.

At the same time there were others training at the academy who had been there longer so (although I can't say this is the reason, but I suspect) I had to wait a little while longer before my promotion to blue.

[BJJ365]

Now that I have said that, I will address your question. Since I had a chance to test previously, I knew that I had to learn and demonstrate 10 more techniques than the ones I had to demonstrate as a white belt. This included escapes, submissions, etc. I bought Roy Dean's DVD, "Blue Belt Requirements," and drilled those just about everyday for a mont h or so before testing. I also intensified my training schedule.

If you have been training for a 1 1/2 yrs, relax, it will come soon enough.

[token223]

ah grats man. i've bin training in bjj for 6-7 months and no stripes yet. i ushally go undefeated i know all the sweeps, submissions, throws and take downs i should know and they dont let any of us test. im thinking about swiching over to gracie, theas guys piss me off.

[mmafighter2727]

Congradulations bro! Are those black stripes or do you have a black sleeve on your belt? lol Cuz I'm counting 3 white stripes. lol