The Evolution of Desiring, Perceiving, and Receiving Belts Part 1

The belt progression of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is as follows: White, Blue, Purple, Brown, Black, then the unobtainable Red reserved only for the founders of the art. I always think back when I first started, I had leaps and bounds more grappling experience than my fellow beginner classmates, but in terms of BJJ techniques, I was far behind. However, within a month I was positionally dominating all the blue belts. Higher belts were still destroying me, having their way with me. I looked up to them as some sort of geniuses, admired them then and still admire them now. I didn't understand the concept of belts in the beginning, and maybe the conception of belts is subjective based on the individuals thinking about them. Either way, my perception has changed much and is continuing to change now. I received my blue belt after only training 3.5 months. People who weren't from my school, people who never trained with me said I was "full of shit." Looking back now, in terms of getting promoted, I don't know what I would have done if I were in Carlos Machado's shoes. I was training 6 days/week and often twice/day. So the mat time was there, but this was during a time that people would get their blue belts after 2 years of 4 days/week training. I was competing every chance I got and won every white belt match I had, even beating blue belts in mixed white and blue tournaments. After about 3 months I could submit every blue belt in class and a number of the lower ranking purple belts. I wasn't a prodigy, I wasn't on the BJ Penn path, I just had a lot more experience than a lot of these guys. Technique-wise, I knew about the same number of techniques as a 2-stripe white belts, but when it came to rolling I was right up there with the purple belts. I was given my blue belt right before I went back to JHU for my sophomore year, I could argue today either way whether or not I was deserving of it, but when I was a white belt, that's all I wanted.

Desire for belts is a really funny thing. I remember being a white belt and wanting a blue belt SOOO bad. I didn't have to wait long relative to my classmates. I talked about it constantly, not to Carlos, but to other students. I would be like "man, I tapped today, I wonder when I'll get my blue belt." It's funny, I see that same desire I had when I was a white belt in my students now. It's hard to distinguish desire for the belt for the sake of having the belt and desire to have the adequate technique in order to be deserving of the belt, at least when you're trying to objectively think about your personal progression. Maybe the desire for the belt itself is more important than the technique for the individuals, I don't know their thought process, but it seems very likely. I remember when I was wanting the blue belt, it was more for the challenge, and also the fact that white belts to me were like training with rag dolls. I had competed in 4 tournaments in about 3 months time beating white and blue belts with relative ease. My only close match was at my very first tournament against a very skilled white belt (Danny Alvarez, now a black belt in Arlington, TX with his own school). I beat him 4-0 in overtime. Every other match I won by submission or by a decent margin of points (one of which I won 27-0, not knowing there wasn't a technical fall type rule in BJJ, it was actually my very first bjj match). Going back to what I was saying earlier, did I deserve the belt? Honestly, I couldn't do an armbar from the guard, I knew 2 sweeps, took a private on triangles, but still couldn't do one to save my life... I was a mess off of my back, I usually would turtle up, escape the back then end up on top via takedown or a guard pull, that was my bottom game. My top game I knew about 4 good passes and a number of submissions from side control, I was just very good at doing them.

It wasn't until I was a blue belt when I began to realize how important a complete game was. I completely changed my mindset and began working extensively on building my knowledge base of techniques, especially from the guard. At my university, it was very rare for me to be able to train at a formal school. When I did train, it was with the Yamasaki School in Rockville, MD. I went MAYBE once a month. So during my time at my university I started a club, I taught the classes, which forced me to learn and understand the techniques. Looking back, I definitely taught some of the techniques wrong, but I did what I could and I didn't know the difference so my students didn't either. It was hard for me to see progress from week to week, and while I won't say I regressed, I was not improving as fast as my teammates who were living in Dallas and getting top notch instruction daily.

I can't remember ever wanting my purple belt, ever saying I deserve it. I do remember a friend of mine asking me when I would get it. I remember saying, I don't know, but when I get it, I'll know I was ready for it. My senior year 2nd semester, I got a phone call from Carlos Machado telling me that if I compete anytime soon, to enter the purple belt division. A very backwards, odd way for a promotion, but I accepted it. I came home for the summer and didn't actually receive a physical purple belt until a month later. I thought about the belt and what it meant. I saw the purple belt as a badge saying "I'm well-rounded." I noticed that almost every purple belt I trained with was good everywhere, and I for the most part was. I still lacked in a ton of areas, but I was comfortable from all positions. What I perceive a purple belt to really mean is the development of a game along with knowing not only how and what to do from most positions, but being able to execute the proper techniques as well.