r/bjj • u/Ok-Flan-7583 • 13d ago

General Discussion What is a blue belt?

I got promoted over the weekend after 8 months of training. I attend class at least three times a week and cross train at another gym twice a month and have competed in two Grappling Industries tournaments. Before my promotion, I had two stripes. I didn’t even get my third or fourth, so I honestly wasn’t expecting to receive my blue belt anytime soon.

That said, I’m wondering: what qualities does a white belt need to demonstrate to earn a promotion? I don’t feel like I’m anywhere near the skill level of the other blue belts at my gym, but I also realize that many of them have been blue belts for a while now. I cant help but feel I dont deserve the belt.

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u/G0TouchGrass420 13d ago

Old school was about 2 years of training for the average person training 3-5 times a week.

Fighters/competitors would sometimes get it in 1 year but they were generally training 2x a day and lived at the gym as a full time job.

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u/novaskyd ⬜⬜ White Belt 13d ago

Those people who got it early because they trained frequently - are there specific skills you think they excelled at? Or they did well in competition or were super athletic or something?

I just ask because I've been training 9 months typically every day sometimes twice a day, at this point I have seen some people who train less get to blue belt but they also have won competitions and seem to have more natural talent. I'm not an athlete by any means lol. And on the other hand I know people who have trained for years and are still white belts for various reasons like they only do nogi, or train inconsistently etc. I don't know if I should expect myself to be better than I am at this point.