When it comes to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, most people consider the black belt to be the final belt to earn. Whilst this is true for most people, it’s also not exactly the case for the real veterans of the game. In fact, there are two belts after the black belt – going from coral belt to red belt in that order.
In short, the coral belt has certain rules which makes it very difficult for the average joe to obtain. Whilst many hobbyists can get to black belt, the coral belt is a different beast and means a lifetime of devotion to the gentle art. For instance, to get to coral belt, you’ll need to at least be 50 years old and have trained at black belt for at least 30 years. That’s right, to ‘complete’ black belt, you’ll have needed to put in 30 years of training at that belt which is a crazy amount of time.
However, let’s say you’ve been training religiously since a kid. You may have received your black belt in your early 20s. This means with a consistent training schedule, you could be a coral belt by the time you’re in your mid 50s. Therefore, a coral belt is a rare sighting and they’re usually treated with a lot of respect due to their dedication.
Further, the coral belt is split into two sub-belts. The first is the red and black belt which is a combination of the two colors. After a minimum of 7 years at this belt, you can then get your red and white coral belt which is slightly more advanced. For more information on BJJ belt rankings, check here.
Table of Contents
List of BJJ coral belts
- Rilion Gracie
- Joe Moreira
- Sergio “Malibu” Jardim
- Carlos Gracie Junior “Carlinhos”
- Fabio santos
- Jean Jacques Machado
- Carlos Machado
- Cosmo Dias
- Royce Gracie
- Carlos Henrique Elias “Caique”
- Paulo caruso
- Mauricio Gomes
- Fabricio martins
- Roberto Lage
- Sergio Penha
- Crolin Gracie
- Marcio Dos Santos
- Fernando “Pinduka”
- Cassio Cardoso
- Ricardo Liborio
- Jurandir Moura
- Romero “Jacare” Cavalcanti
- Pedro sauer
- Rigan Machado
- Sylvio Behring
- Marcio Stambowsky
- Ricardo Cavalcanti
- Crezio De Souza
- Ricardo De La Riva
- Rolker Gracie
- Carlos Rollyson
- Royler Gracie
- Fabio Gurgel
- Yvone Duarte (first ever female black belt and coral belt)
How many coral belts are there?
As seen above, as of 2021, there’s a total of 34 coral belts. Every few years, this number expands as more people reach this rare milestone. The interesting thing about this number is that over the next 50 years or so, it will be considerably bigger in size. As you may have noticed, literally all of the names on the list are Brazilian.
However, it’s also safe to say that in 50 years time, there will be all sorts of names from across the globe. As a result, you’ll be much more likely to bump into a coral belt whilst training. Nonetheless, due to such harsh requirements, it’s safe to say that coral belts will very rarely be a mainstream thing in BJJ.
BJJ coral belt requirements
To get to coral belt, you’ll need at least 30 years of training at black belt under your belt. This also requires regular training which is much harder to govern. In other words, if you get your black belt aged 40, quit for 30 years then expect a coral belt, then it doesn’t work like that. Instead, you have to be active in the BJJ community during those years.
It should also be noted that most coral belts are given at some kind of ceremony due to the belt holding particular significance. However, there isn’t some kind of ‘test’ that you may see at certain gyms or with certain other belts. Because of the time involved, most people earn their coral belts well into their 60s.
Can you buy a BJJ coral belt?
If you’re on about buying a coral belt via unscrupulous terms then this isn’t a good idea. As the BJJ community is a relatively small place, you’ll get found out fairly quickly and it would result in embarrassment. In short, everyone will know if you’ve put the work in or not as it also requires active participation as a black belt.
However, if you’re looking at buying a coral belt to give to someone as a legitimate promotion, then they’re actually very hard to get hold of. If you look on places like Amazon, then you’ll see most belts for sale range from white to black. This makes sense from a business perspective as they’re easily obtainable in comparison.
You can also guess that by this logic, manufacturers produce far more white and blue belts compared to black and other colors. The issue is that it’s not worth the cost to create a coral belt on a mass scale. As a result, if you’re looking for a coral belt, you’ll probably need to find a tailor who makes a custom belt for you. It may be a little expensive, but after years of devotion to BJJ, it’s surely worth it.
