BJJ White Belt Stripes - Earning Your Stripes Requirements & Meaning Written on . Posted in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
The Brazilian jiu-jitsu belt system is a ranking guide designed to help students see their own progress. BJJ schools may interpret the more detailed skills needed to complete each belt, and progressing to a new belt is based on the student's skill, dimeanor and various other aspects of the student's training. Stripes can be seen on the white belt, blue belt, all the way up to the brown belt and signify skill progression, whereas stripes on a black belt, coral belt or red belt generally indicate years served as an instructor and the requirements are more rigid and well defined than the requirements of the earlier belts and stripes.
This article should give you some insight so you know what to expect as you get started moving up the BJJ ranks so you know what each belt color signifies!
Generally speaking the belt system helps pair training partners and helps instructors know what things to work on with each student.
While there can be subtle difference between the International Brazailian Jiu Jitsu Federation and the Royler Gracie system, most schools will go in the following order:
- Beginner (white belt level practitioner with up to 4 stripes)
- More advanced students will move to a blue belt and again there is a stripe system for this level as well.
- Brown
- Purple
- Black
- Coral
- Red
BJJ White Belt Stripe System
White belts are the most difficult to rank up because they lack basic knowledge. It's rare for someone at this skill level not only to be unfamiliar with something but also unable to help out their teammates in any way.
Still, they need immediate gratification to keep their sense of accomplishment from being earned by simply taking classes or doing homework assignments. It's human nature to see some progress and have the instructor validate that progress.
Most schools will have slightly different systems for their BJJ practitioners. In Brazilian jiu-jitsu, professors or instructors award their Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Students stripes before moving to another belt rank.
The white belt BJJ stripes work the same way as stripes on any belt – you can have a maximum of four. Instructors can always give away anywhere from one to four stripes, but at this level, you usually get your stripes one by one. A lot more goes into getting a BJJ stripe, especially as you go towards the blue belt, than you might think.
First stripe - 1st Stripe White
If you are a new white belt, the first white belt rank advancement will be 1 single stripe added to the end of your belt. The first stripe on your white belt is not just about how much you understand Jiu-Jitsu or have learned technical BJJ knowledge. As a reward for coming to class regularly, training regularly, and giving yourself the drive to keep going.
Still, it won't tell us anything meaningful with respect in those early months because no matter what level someone starts at, they will pick things up eventually if given enough time.
A lot can happen during one year of training, from making new friends who become lifelong connections to being introduced into another culture through techniques like Aikido.
Second stripe -2nd Stripe White
Congratulations on reaching your first two white belt BJJ stripes! You can now compete in tournaments, and it's time that you start feeling proud about what accomplishment this is. Remember, every hard-earned stripe will make a difference when competing against other grapplers.
You know the importance of taking care of yourself and others, so they don't hurt themselves while trying out new moves or concepts at a competitive pace. Achieving just one more colored stripe can feel empowering because we're establishing ourselves as someone who puts effort into achieving goals outside their comfort zone.
Third stripe - 3rd Stripe White
The third stripe is the turning point where your knowledge of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu takes off. You should be able to figure things out against peers and those with less experience during rolling, which means this might not just feel like a game anymore! Here you should start to grow your knowledge of basic offensive moves.
With all that's going on in BJJ class now - names for positions or techniques; what they mean when applied correctly...it has meaning after all. And finally: knowing these basics will help you become stronger overall because there are more ways than one way to beat someone.
Fourth stripe - 4th Stripe White
They're probably at blue belt level when a white belt gets their fourth stripe. The student is advancing when you can see the student thinking during rolling and applying tactics in training sessions with a dedicated technical practice required for advancement--not slacking off during drills!
There isn't any doubt about reaching further heights after achieving three stripes, though, because all subsequent promotions happen quickly enough.
Before the Next Belt, the Blue Belt, There are Stripes to be Earned on the White Belt.
If you're a newbie to the world of Jiu-Jitsu and want your first belt as soon as possible, an important thing to consider is that a blue belt is achieved by students usually two years apart from when they debuted on their journey towards enlightenment in our art form. However, those numbers may change depending upon where one trains (and how much).
There isn't anything wrong with spending more time at the white belt for most people who have attained these higher levels before moving up again. Still, everyone has different priorities so do what's right for you! You can expect to spend at least 4 months (minimum time) to 24 months of training before reaching the blue belt.
A famous quote by Bruce Lee in students starting in any form of martial arts should keep in mind. "I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times."
This type of student with this mentality is on its way to learning mastery, not just to be able to say that they know jiu-jitsu or whichever martial arts they are learning.
Getting a Stripe Promotion
Stripes are a common way to measure progress in jiu-jitsu. But don't let them distract you from your training! With every promotion comes new challenges and opportunities, so strive for blue belts without worrying about completing the set - it's possible that somewhere down the line, a student can get four at once again (although rare).
White belt BJJ stripes are an essential tradition in our sport. They remind students and coaches that each level of training has been achieved. The stripes earned go beyond just representing your rank or the next level. They also symbolize what a student has to overcome to become a stronger fighter than he was yesterday.
Keep training, and before you know it, you've progressed from white belt, and now you're ready to receive your blue belt.
What does White BJJ Belt Level Mean?
The color white represents birth or an initial will to acquire skills and is the typical color for a new student. New students wear white belts as they set out on this journey into self-improvement.
Master Jigoro Kano, a school teacher and judo practitioner in Japan, saw other forms of Japanese competitions using ranking systems.
Kano discovered that by ranking students, you could prevent injuries. It allowed instructors to select the right training partner for the student's level. More importantly, it created competition within them, leading to better training methods. Newly promoted students stepped into a new level of responsibility and accomplisment which drove them to further success. Like most martial arts, the belt ranking system shows the person's level of expertise. Brazilian jiu-jitsu belts also work in a similar style.
What does White Mean in Martial Arts?
Before we talk about Brazilian jiu-jitsu belts, let's talk about how the belt system was created for martial arts.
As mentioned above, the credit belongs to Master Jigoro Kano, creating the modern-day martial Arts belt system. He noticed other forms of Japanese competition using rankings and thought it would be a good idea for his new art form - judo. So he introduced the belt ranking system.
Those who are just beginning their study of, for example, karate, wear the white belt.
The Adult Belt System in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
New students start out wearing a white belt in Jiu-jitsu. They may have minimal to no technical knowledge. They may know what grappling is since it is a popular technique to see on TV with MMA fights, but it does not necessarily mean they can execute it properly. The white belt signifies the initial phase of the student's progress.
Almost everyone knows that the black belt is the most advanced belt to attain and with varying degrees. That comes with consistent training over many years and decades.
In Brazilian jiu-jitsu, the color of their belt can receive up to four stripes. Most likely, the new students will receive four stripes on their white belt before moving on to the blue belt level.
More on the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu belt rank
BJJ measures your progress based on how long you've been training. So make sure that every time counts. Two months could feel like an eternity while waiting around without doing anything productive or learning some new techniques during the downtime.
Throughout the years, as a white belt level, people are genuinely happy whenever there's another stripe awarded because all those lines signify progress. And any progress makes new practitioners feel good about themselves, even if no progress does not involve other opponents.
Before they can progress to another level, they have to earn the stripes first.