BJJ Black Belts

[vantheman]

Hello all,

I have a somewhat random question about Brazilian Jujitsu; it's something I have been curious about but never got around to asking my instructor about it last time I saw him.

On Brazilian Jujitsu black belts, I have seen some with white rank bars, some with red rank bars, and some with red rank bars with white stripes on either end of the bar (NOT Degree bars, but white "border" stripes if you will on the ends of the sleeve). I have done some searching around, but haven't found anything conclusive. I read some places that it has to do with if you are an instructor or not, but the IBJJF just has the black belt with the red bar with white ends listed on the official grading guidelines. Anyone with any knowledge of this care to explain?

[tallgeese]

Historically, the red bar (or the variation with the white border stripes) indicated an instructor. That's not as hard and fast rule as it used to be for sure.

Back inthe day, I believe that the white bar indicated a fighter out of the older Vale Tudo tradition. However, I'm not 100 percent on that, it might not be accurate. In either case, the white bar isn't seen much these days.

It seems that the red bar is becoming more standard than anything else. I think it's partially due to the fact that it's historically rare to see brown and black belts without some sort of instructor capacity here in the states. That's changing with the explosion in popularity. Used to, the higher ranks were rare and almost HAD to teach. Now, there's getting to be schools even outside the big juggernauts that have multipe black and brown belts floating around routinely in the US. It's what 20 years of increasing popularity will breed, even in an art where it takes 8-10 years to black.

I do see a few straight black belts here and there as well. But that's just my perception from what I see around. Different areas might produce different results.

[vantheman]

Thanks!

That what seemed to be the case, but I figured I could find someone who knew for sure on here.

[sensei8]

Historically, the red bar (or the variation with the white border stripes) indicated an instructor. That's not as hard and fast rule as it used to be for sure.

Back inthe day, I believe that the white bar indicated a fighter out of the older Vale Tudo tradition. However, I'm not 100 percent on that, it might not be accurate. In either case, the white bar isn't seen much these days.

It seems that the red bar is becoming more standard than anything else. I think it's partially due to the fact that it's historically rare to see brown and black belts without some sort of instructor capacity here in the states. That's changing with the explosion in popularity. Used to, the higher ranks were rare and almost HAD to teach. Now, there's getting to be schools even outside the big juggernauts that have multipe black and brown belts floating around routinely in the US. It's what 20 years of increasing popularity will breed, even in an art where it takes 8-10 years to black.

I do see a few straight black belts here and there as well. But that's just my perception from what I see around. Different areas might produce different results.

Solid post!!

[ps1]

You won't find anything conclusive. The use of the white bar is fairly rare and I'll explain that a bit farther down. Like all martial arts, there really isn't much standardization as to who uses what and when. That is, the IBJJF says, "use style x bb" while ATT says, "use styles x and y bb" ect...

With that said, I'll give a basic breakdown of what they mean in associations that do use them all.

1. Black w/red bar and white border stripes: This is a black belt worn by the head instructor of an academy. Some academies even require an instructor training course to be completed.

2. Black w/red bar: Academy instructor black belt. This is a black belt that instructs/teaches, but is not the head instructor.

3. Black w/white bar: Black belt, non instructor. This is someone that has earned a black belt but does not choose to teach in any form. They are just students. This is a very rare rank for two reasons.

- First because, in America, there are relatively few black belts in a single academy and most teach in one form or another.

- Second is that not many associations use the white bar, contributing to its rarity.

Another, very rare, rank to see is a navy blue belt. At the moment, the only person I know to wear this consistently is Royce Gracie. It is a throwback from the days when the only ranks were white, blue and navy blue.

Other ranks you may see in BJJ:

-Red/Black (7th and 8th degree master ranks)

-Red/White (7th degree in IBJJF only)

-Red: Grand master 9th degree

[bushido_man96]

You won't find anything conclusive. The use of the white bar is fairly rare and I'll explain that a bit farther down. Like all martial arts, there really isn't much standardization as to who uses what and when. That is, the IBJJF says, "use style x bb" while ATT says, "use styles x and y bb" ect...

With that said, I'll give a basic breakdown of what they mean in associations that do use them all.

1. Black w/red bar and white border stripes: This is a black belt worn by the head instructor of an academy. Some academies even require an instructor training course to be completed.

2. Black w/red bar: Academy instructor black belt. This is a black belt that instructs/teaches, but is not the head instructor.

3. Black w/white bar: Black belt, non instructor. This is someone that has earned a black belt but does not choose to teach in any form. They are just students. This is a very rare rank for two reasons.

- First because, in America, there are relatively few black belts in a single academy and most teach in one form or another.

- Second is that not many associations use the white bar, contributing to its rarity.

Another, very rare, rank to see is a navy blue belt. At the moment, the only person I know to wear this consistently is Royce Gracie. It is a throwback from the days when the only ranks were white, blue and navy blue.

Other ranks you may see in BJJ:

-Red/Black (7th and 8th degree master ranks)

-Red/White (7th degree in IBJJF only)

-Red: Grand master 9th degree

Thanks for the clarification here, ps1!

[ps1]

my pleasure

[moriniuk]

The original belt system implemented by Carlos and Helio Gracie was that all students wore a white belt.

The belt colour did not signify any skill level or fighting ability.

The darker belt colour was to indicate that the person was an instructor.

A student who had embarked on the professor diploma course wore a light blue belt.

When they had recieved the diploma, they wore a dark blue belt.

It wasn't until 1967 that they started to use the black belt.

The different coloured band at the end was used to differentiate it from other martial arts.

A white band was a black belt who wasn't an instructor.

A red band was someone who was taking the instructor diploma course.

A red band with white borders was someone who had passed the instructor diploma course.

[vantheman]

Thanks for all of the replies.

I have an additional question: What color stripes would be put on a black belt with a white bar? Granted, it seems clear that nobody really follows these standards (and it is a fairly trivial matter in the first place), but I am curious nonetheless.

[sensei8]

Thanks for all of the replies.

I have an additional question: What color stripes would be put on a black belt with a white bar? Granted, it seems clear that nobody really follows these standards (and it is a fairly trivial matter in the first place), but I am curious nonetheless.

I'm not a BJJ practitioner, and what I've noticed is that the "standards" are pretty much up to the governing bodies rules/regulations surrounding the said "standards". What's standard with one, isn't for the other.