When you first hear the term ‘sandbagging’ in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, you may think it’s some form of sandbag workout training regime like kettlebells. However, sandbagging is actually a term that describes a practitioner who wears a belt which is considerably below their level of skill. Sandbagging is often associated with competition, as competitors may hold back on their belt promotions to win more medals and gain glory.
In some cases, it can also be for financial gain as a career move. However, it can also be done by visiting gym members in a more casual setting which is probably done due to ego and to impress others. It’s also important to remember, there is no set definition for sandbagging and a lot of it is down to personal interpretation.
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Examples of sandbagging in competition
Imagine you have trained consistently for two years and sign up to a blue belt competition. Whilst you may not be the best blue belt in the world, you’re still ok and against other blue belts you can get results.
Then your opponent turns up who has been a blue belt for five years and roughly trains as much BJJ per week as yourself. Not only this, but the opponent has won a variety of competitions, some with high status whilst at blue belt. You then fight the opponent who is dominant and wins with ease. With this said, they feel closer to a black belt in skill rather than a blue belt.
Whilst it’s up to the discrecsion of the teacher to promote, this is a common example of sandbagging. Some gyms take real pride in racking up medals and so they don’t really promote that often. If the general rule of getting to black belt takes the average person 10 years, then you can assume the opponent has been training for roughly 7 years if you include their time at white belt.
With this in mind, the example pits someone with two years of experience against someone with seven years of experience. From this point of view, sandbagging is fairly pointless other than for ego and earning medals. You may think sandbagging is mostly at the top competitions and with higher belts involved, but sadly it goes on at local competitions with lower belts.
Is sandbagging ever justified?
In some cases, it’s not unheard of for someone to win Worlds at blue or purple belt and then win it the next year and still have to wait a few months or a year until their next promotion. Some argue that you should only be able to win a major competition once and then get promoted, as otherwise it’s unfair for other competitors involved.
So, let’s say it’s nothing to do with ego – why would you hold back a promotion after winning a major competition at a lower belt? The answer to the question is often financial. This differs from the previous example where the practitioner is very good, but not at the elite level. For some, the idea is that they rack up major titles throughout their career as lower belts to build a legacy.
This can potentially bring in sponsorship deals and superfights. Put another way, it’s a good way to build up a profile and reputation. Whilst this may be seen as underhand, at least with a financial incentive you can understand why it’s done.
For instance, if these competitors never win Worlds at black belt, they can at least say they did it at blue or purple. Generally speaking, most major titles are held with respect at black belt – although some will still appreciate it at brown. With this said, sandbagging still seems a bit pointless at the lower belts and even though it can be done with monetization in mind – it still doesn’t really seem worth it.
Sandbagging in a gym setting
As discussed, sandbagging in BJJ is mostly associated with competition. Whether financially or ego driven – you will see it most frequently in a competition setting. However, some people also claim it’s done in gyms. For instance, one day a white belt may turn up and claim to be inexperienced. Then they are seen wrecking purple belts doing moves that are clearly beyond their belt. Often the idea behind this is that the sandbagger has a fragile ego and feels the need to lie about their experience.
Generally, this is seen as a negative in the BJJ community and is dishonest. There have even been some cases of people moving gyms every few months to avoid promotions. Whilst this is extreme, it does happen and is quite strange when you think about it. Nonetheless, this does go on and is quite a bizarre phenomenon.
From the sandbaggers point of view
Often, the justification of sandbagging is that it’s done to gain experience. Usually, this is said by the teacher who wants to hold back their student so they can compete as much as possible. In fairness, there is something of a point here. For example, if a student is a brown belt in terms of skill but is held back as a blue belt, then there may be a reason why. In some quiet parts of the world, smaller competitions don’t have many competition matches for belts above blue.
In brief, you may have a handful of purple belt matches but not much after that – so the brackets are quite thin. At the same time, you can almost always find competitions being filled with white and blue belt matches.
If the objective is for the sandbagger to gain as much competition experience as possible, then they may stay at white and blue belt for much longer than anticipated. This is so they can get at least three matches per competition to improve their experience. If promoted quicker, they may run out of opponents and have brackets with one person which leads to less experience.
Whilst you can always find larger pools of opponents at bigger competitions, this isn’t ideal if they’re your only competitions and with cost and travel factored in this idea becomes less inviting. Because of this, although sandbagging may be viewed negatively, it does have a practical point in terms of racking up experience which is vital for those with big ambitions.
How to stop sandbagging
This is something which has been discussed at times but there aren’t many practical solutions. For instance, the IBJJF prohibits Judo black belts from competing at white belt level. This is good as most Judo black belts are better than BJJ white belts, but it still doesn’t do much for BJJ sandbaggers. Similarly, NAGA competitions work in terms of time instead of rank. They often have categories of 1-3 years, 3-6 years and 6 years plus.
This idea is good in theory but is still abused. Arguably time is the best way to judge skill instead of belt colour and is a method endorsed by Garry Tonon. However, this is still openly abused. For instance, you may see someone with 8 years of experience competing in the middle division (3-6 years of training). Even though the rules specifically state that you should compete in your own division, some people simply do not do this.
With this said, sadly there aren’t any realistic strategies in tackling sandbagging. Following the NAGA strategy, the only concrete way to enforce this rule would be done by doing thorough background checks on competitors. Realistically this just isn’t possible and can also be seen as invasive. It also has complications of its own. For example; someone could have trained for 7 years at twice per week.
You could then have someone who trains 6 times a week and has trained for 6 years. Although they’re technically in the middle category, it’s a simple maths equation to see they’re far more experienced when compared to the first practitioner.
Summary
Sandbagging has gone on since the beginning of BJJ and isn’t going to stop anytime soon. Whilst some methods have been introduced down the years – they can generally be ignored and there will always be loopholes. Perhaps one addition to rules would be to enforce promotion after a major win. Having said this, it still doesn’t solve problems for those who do it at local competitions or in a gym setting.
In conclusion, sandbagging is something that will always annoy BJJ practitioners.
However, it’s best to ignore it as there’s little you can do about it. Similarly, there are bigger injustices in the world even though the concept is frustrating and ultimately it shouldn’t affect your mood too much when thinking about training BJJ.
