Belt Giggles

I don't like the people who try and cut down the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu distance program, but I also get a kick out of them.

This does not refer to the boneheads, who think you can buy a Black Belt online from the Gracies, but those that complain about the system as it actually exists.

If you want a Purple Belt, or Brown, or Black, you have to have gone through all the previous steps, and have an in-person evaluation by Ryron Gracie, or Rener, or an authorized Black Belt evaluator.

That's vary arduous. You would have to start out with a Blue Belt, then do 4 kick-ass video-recorded stripe exams, get a live evaluation for Purple, do 4 more video exams, get checked out for Brown, yet another 4 exams, and finally be judged in-person for Black Belt. So far only about 1/6 of the structure for all this is place.

The current highest that an “online” student can reach is Blue Belt with two stripes.

The program detractors still seem to get all bent out of shape, even if they are aware of all this. Their complaint is that you can earn a Blue Belt without an in-person evaluation. A student need only submit the required videos for judging. If they are good enough, BAM, they receive a Gracie Blue Belt. The Gracies call it a, “technical,” Blue Belt, but that is just fine print.

Yes, you can get a Blue Belt online. Yes, it would be possible to cheat. It isn't really possible to cheat the videos, but you could arrange from somebody already conversant in the Gracie curriculum to do the test for you, I suppose. Interestingly, people who suggest this could could be done don't seem to realize that the same could be done with an in-person exam. Get your buddy to go to a seminar for you, and do the test claiming to be you. I've never seen any martial arts student asked for picture ID.

Some don't suggest cheating is happening, but rather that it must be easy to score a passing grade with a video evaluation. I'd say the opposite is the case. I am not an online student, but am fortunate enough to have a Certified Training Center, which has an authorized teacher, with a Purple Belt, who has gone through the Gracie's instructor program. I did have to go through the same exact same video test procedure as an online student.

I trained for 9 months, and never missed a class, and took a number of private lessons in addition. My Blue Belt exam received a score of 11 errors. That's over half way to a failing grade.

So maybe my view is skewed. Maybe the online rank is too easily earned? Maybe they are right and I am wrong?

So what? Blue Belt means nothing. It's like a Yellow Belt in Karate. It's just the first non-White Belt that you get to wear. Nobody says, “Wow, there's a Blue Belt.”

All it means is, “Welcome to the club. You've jumped the first hoop.” No awesomeness is implied. It means you started, and didn't quit right away.

But how can they get any rank if they've never rolled yet? Simple. A Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Blue Belt promotion has nothing to do with rolling. This is true whither earned online, or at a Certified School, or at the main Gracie Academy in Los Angeles, or as a private student of the Gracies themselves.

Their Blue Belt rank means you are proficient in the basic, Gracie's self-defense curriculum that they call Combatives. It is their program for White Belts. You practice technique drills with partners, or against a partner presenting certain behaviors, but you do not free roll. You start doing that after you get your Blue Belt.

One of my many partners for free-rolling at the Gracie Academy told me he was a brand-new Blue Belt. I many have been his very first partner, certainly one of the first. I controlled him easily, and submitted him a couple of times, then eased off and let him do better. He was young, and huge. Within a couple of months, I am sure he would be cleaning my clock. Funny that nobody has an issue with the main Gracie Academy producing Blue Belts who can't roll effectively on the day the receive their Belt.

So shame on the Gracies for having an online program and awarding the least significant belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to their students who have passed a comprehensive test of the specific self-defense skills that they want their students to have.

Here's my challenge.

Drop by Coast Martial Arts in Gibsons, BC, Canada. Ask for Gordon. I'll go over the Blue Belt exam requirements with you for a while. We'll then have you perform the 5 recordings. If you really think a Gracie Blue Belt is easy to get, you can then register online, pay the evaluation fee, and we'll upload your grading. Best of luck to you.

If you don't want to shell out the cash, I'll go over the videos with you, and run a deduction tally. I am pretty good at this, but always miss more than the real evaluators do.

T'ain't easy gittin' a Ba-lew Belt from them fellers...