If you're new to Brazilian jiu jitsu, the belt system can seem like a mystery — how many belts are there, how long does each take, and what does a rank actually mean? Here's an honest breakdown of how it works, and how we think about rank at our Thibodaux academy. Fair warning: we look at belts a little differently than a lot of places.
The Belts, In Order
For adults, the Brazilian jiu jitsu belt order is simple:
Now, what each rank means will be different from place to place. Every gym and every instructor has their own idea of what a belt represents and what they require for it. So here's what these belts mean to us.
What Each Belt Means to Us
If I had to give you a simple, honest picture of what each rank represents on a technical level, it goes like this:
- White belt — you just need to learn how to survive until you get to blue. And survival comes from being able to relax.
- Blue belt — you've gathered a really solid understanding of the fundamentals of every major position.
- Purple belt — you start expanding and testing the waters to see what works for you and what doesn't. There's a lot of stuff online that can lead you down the wrong path — but by purple, you've got enough fundamentals built in that you can sift the good from the bad far better than a white belt ever could.
- Brown belt — you start realizing what you need to shed. You figure out what works at a high percentage and what doesn't, and you start cutting the rest.
- Black belt — when you've trimmed all that fat away, that's when you arrive.
Rank Is You Versus You
Here's the part most people don't expect. It's not a checklist. I can't just tell everybody "learn this move, this move, and this move, and you get a certain belt." That's not how it really works.
Rank is a comparison of yourself versus yourself — who were you on day one, and how far have you come since?
Think about it: someone with no athletic background who has never done anything competitive in their life is going to be held to a different measuring stick than a former Division I athlete who walks in already loaded with ability. Each person is graded based on who they are and what they're capable of. By the time you reach blue belt, you've taken the steps your journey required to get there — and the same is true for purple, brown, and black. Everybody takes the steps. There's no skipping them.
This is exactly why BJJ ranks take so much longer than a lot of other martial arts. You can see how we lay those steps out in our structured curriculum — broken down into Year 1 and Year 2 — and the thinking behind it on our curriculum philosophy page.
Attitude Matters As Much As Skill
Skill relative to where you started is a big part of it — but it's not the whole story. Attendance is a big deal, and attitude is enormous. I believe rank should live on a spectrum, and that it should represent who you are on and off the mat.
Let me give you a real example. If I've got somebody who's a phenomenal grappler, but every time we turn around they're in legal trouble for something they're doing out in town — I'm probably not going to promote that person any higher until they get their personal life squared away. Because rank is a reflection of our facility, our people, and what we put out into the world. A great grappler who's in and out of jail isn't what a black belt should represent, and we should be trying to build everybody into black belts.
So we hold people to that standard from day one. And day one isn't about learning enough technique to tap everybody out — it's about learning to conquer the parts of yourself you'd normally steer clear of. If someone's overly passive — the kind of person who gets treated like a pushover — we work on making them more assertive, so they can stand their ground and feel confident standing up for what they need to. And if someone's ultra-confident, borderline cocky or arrogant, we're going to humble them. Until they've made that change, we probably won't promote them.
One Important Thing
We're not asking anyone to make a complete 180-degree change overnight. We're looking for you to be on the path — walking in the right direction and improving, day in and day out. That daily improvement is what matters. Being on the path of self-development and walking it the correct way is the whole point.
Why We Never Sell Belts or Charge for Testing
I'll be blunt about this one: I am not a fan of selling belts or charging for testing. Never have been, never will be. I can see the benefit in testing itself — but it's so often tied to charging people for it, and I believe that's wrong.
Here's how I see it: I know whether a person is ready or not. If they're ready, you promote them. You give them the rank they earned. You owe that to your students — you don't hold it over their head until they pay for it. A belt should be earned on the mat, not bought at the counter.
If You're Impatient About Rank
Some people get fixated on the next belt. If that's you, I'd gently tell you you're focusing on the wrong thing. Focus on the daily process of improving and getting better, and that carries over — not just on the mats, but everywhere in your life. The belt will come. But it only comes if you're willing to do what it takes to get there.
Chasing the belt is the wrong way to go about it. That said, for some people rank is a genuinely good motivator, and that's fine — the trick is understanding this: you don't need the rank to improve. You get the rank by improving.
Come Start Your Journey
Every black belt you've ever seen started as a white belt who just needed to survive. If you're ready to take your first step, come train with us — your first week in Thibodaux is completely free. New to all of it? Start with our beginner's guide.