Brazilian jiu-jitsu is a relatively disorganised and highly variable sport. This is most evident when you start looking at belt promotion requirements. The belts in BJJ go white, blue, purple, brown and black, with the first four belts typically having 4 stripes each and the black belt having 10 degrees. However the number of degrees in a black belt is getting way ahead of ourselves, … [Read more...]
Black Belt Blindness, And Other Dangers….
A black belt is just a 2 inch wide piece of cloth, not a license to pontificate upon matters about which you are utterly ignorant. It's also doesn't give you the right to have people's unquestioning obedience. To get a legitimate black belt in BJJ requires more time, effort, and investment than a black belt in almost any other martial art. If someone has spent the blood, sweat and tears … [Read more...]
The Best Way to Tie Your Belt
It's funny: in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu both people start a match looking so neat and tidy in their designer gi's. But less than a minute later it's usually a complete yard-sale: the lapels have come undone, the gi is pulled over someone's head, and the loose belt is wrapped around someone's ankles. Well, here's a 4 minute breakdown on how to tie your BJJ or Judo belt so it stays in place and hardly … [Read more...]