Why aren't there more BJJ black belts?

Question

A practitioner of any martial art that has a black belt deserves great respect. However, I see all these dojos and gyms of non-BJJ martial arts, and they have multiple instructors. These instructors are all black belts, some of them having multiple/several degrees. At my BJJ gym, there are also several instructors, but only one of them is a black belt. I know that it takes longer to get a BJJ black belt, but not that much longer. Is there something that makes people quit BJJ sooner than other martial arts? If there wasn't, then why aren't there more black belts?

Answer 1

The answer is that it does take a lot longer for BJJ to reach black belt. Typically you can get a black belt in under 4 years for karate, taekwondo, and kung-fu styles. To get a black belt in BJJ, it takes about 10 years. It depends on how often you go, too, and how good of a teacher your instructor is.

Time on the mat is one criteria for BJJ rank advancement. Other criteria are: minimum age, ability to know and use required techniques for that rank, and the ability to win consistently in rolling against those in your rank and some wins against those in higher ranks. You have to have all of those, not just most.

Whereas something like Taekwondo may not have a minimum time in class requirement. Some do, most don't. So long as you've learned your forms, your single-step drills, terminology, techniques, sparring, and board breaking, then you're fine to test for the next rank.

Children are able to become black belts in TKD, not in BJJ. And in TKD, you don't generally have to be able to win in sparring consistently, so long as you're "okay" at it and have okay forms, one-steps, etc. In other words, you don't have to be good at everything, just 50% or more. The bar is definitely lower in most TKD schools than it is in BJJ schools.

And from a sales and marketing perspective, there's a reason why it takes just 4 years to become a black belt in those styles. It's because it's a goal that's within their reach. It's something they think they can achieve, and they like the status that "black belt" gives them. The longer it takes to achieve, the less people are going to sign up to begin with.

In Taekwondo, karate, and kung-fu styles, most people drop out after white belt, right after their short term (2-6 month) contract ends. They realize it's just not something they like doing. Then following that, you'll see a drop out around the 2-3 year mark, because that's when things shift from having fun to getting serious. Then the next drop out phase happens right after they get their black belt, because it was a goal that they achieved, and now they feel they've done enough and want to move on. They don't even stick around for their first stripe on their black belt.

Being able to stick to something for 10 years consistently is hard for most people. If you start as an adult at age 23, for example, that's age 23 to 33. During that period of time, you're starting your career, so it's expected you'll put in huge hours to learn that. Which means you might have to skip BJJ class a lot. Then you're dating, because you want to eventually get married. Dating sometimes means giving up nights and weekends at BJJ class. And then later on by age 30 or so, you're getting married. Soon after that, you're having your first kid, which takes 100% of your time for at least 3 months if not the entire year. And two years later, you'll have your second kid and will repeat your hiatus from BJJ just when you're getting back into it again after the first kid. You're getting older, too, and your body is not as quick and nimble as it was before.

Each of these things will cause interruptions in your BJJ training. Sometimes the interruptions mean skipping a class here and there. Other times it will mean taking a break from BJJ for several months or even years. That 10 year black belt time easily turns into 15 or 20 years. For most, it's unreachable.

But a 4 year black belt? Much easier to do.

What does take 4 years in BJJ is a blue belt. Just consider blue belt in BJJ to be "equivalent" to a black belt in most other arts. Then do your comparison. That's more apples-to-apples. I think most people suggest doing that, also.

Hope that helps.

Answer 2

Simple questions: everyone talks about time and training and I get that however: what specific things must one do to get promoted? For example, in law enforcement, your number of years, cases, leadership skills get you promoted. In BJJ, what is the equivalent? Literally speaking, if I learn how to do a kimura and I win my fight 5 times in a row, will I be promoted? Do I have to know specific moves to be promoted? What about the people who just "aren't good enough but they never quit"? Are there purple belts that have been practicing for 15 years because they literally can't do a certain move to PROMOTE? Then yheres teachers. What if om promoted by teacher A and then I move into a new city and meet teacher B who thinks my brown belt should be yellow because I'm not that good to him? In high school, across the country, EVERY STUDENT learns geometry or algebra. For BJJ, will a purple belt in Ohio learn the same as a purple in California? What if teacher B thinks my belt is a joke snd that my teacher in Ohio is wrong? Who controls the systems so to speak? Because BJJ has been advertised like cocacola, i believe that BJJ Studios are more or less like religious factions. Baptists, catholics etc.,. All believe in god, but have different methods to get there. I dont see BJJ school A being synonomous with BJJ school B. Yea they both know Kimuras but becsuse of various issues, they stray from each other. I wouldnt doubt if money plays a big role. If im studying under Dan A, snd im religious to BJJ, lets say that Dan A doesnt promote me. If i go over to Dan B at another school and pay the same money or a little more with NO progress, im betting DAN B will promote me since im paying him more. Also theres the Dan issue. WHAT SPECIFICALLY SEPARATES A DAN 1 FROM A DAN 3? ANY NEW MOVES? OR IS IT LITERALLY JUST THE NIMBER OF YEAR? CAN Dan1 move up to Dan2 after 2 years if his progress is the same?? If the promotion is timed based then progress is null and void. Also, what progress? BJJ is like a drug cartel, theres no official "moves" book of technical studies that are universal for all students, snd each Dan makes promotion decisions based on THERE personal thoughts because therr are no official standards that all can follow. (Drug cartels have a leader, but is he really controlling employee 365 or employee 366? If employee 555 kills someone, does the leader even know about it? Prolly not.) Also, again, wjen your a 5th Dan or 3th Dan, outside of physical time, what "new stuff" do you know that's considered advanced ftom a 1 Dan? Can dans be demoted? What if a 1 Dan gets beat by a purple belt, are they dropped becsuse of their loss? Since every school has a different personality, in reality anyone can achieve brown or purple if the master likes them. Why? Theres no rules. Theres no criteria to establish levels. If a med student passes the MCAT, THEN THEY ARE A DOCTOR. A DOCTOR IN FLORIDA IS THE SAME RANK AS DOCTOR IN CALIFIRNIA. BJJ has too many loose ends that are freaking confusing. It started with gracie, snd now on every street corner like a burger king, i see ralph gracie BJJ, JOHN GRACIEBJJ, ADAM GRACIEBJJ, RENZO GRACIEBJJ, ADOLPH GRACIES BJJ E6C.,. AGAIN with each place being basic on white belts but as for everything else, TOTALLY DIFFERENT...