In Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, most belts follow a typical code. From white to brown belt, you’ll have your colored belt with a black bar. Then when you get to black belt, you typically get a red bar on your belt instead of a black one. This bar is where stripes are given which shows your rank within your belt color.
Generally speaking, the red bar is meant to mean that you’re a teacher – which is why it’s awarded at black belt, as it means you’re knowledgable and capable of teaching. As a side note, sometimes black belts will also wear a belt with a white bar on the end which is meant to show they’re an active competitor. So, what does it mean when a purple or brown belt has a red bar on it?
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The red bar on a brown or purple belt in BJJ
As mentioned, the role of the red bar is to show that the person wearing the belt is a teacher. This means that if a brown or purple belt is a teacher, then they may sometimes wear a belt with a red bar. Although rare, some gyms will do this to show who the teacher is so that everyone knows the hierarchy of the class.
Most of the time though, teachers that aren’t black belts won’t wear the red bar as it’s not seen as necessary. Similarly, sometimes you could even get a blue belt that wears a red bar on their belt for the same reasons. Having said this, the chance of this is very rare and even with higher belts it’s not very common.
Is this down to ego?
Some people argue that this is a bit far and shows the person wearing it has a big ego. Basically, if you stick around a gym for long enough, then you’ll quickly learn who is the best on the mats, and who the teachers are. Arguably, having colored belts wear red bars to show their instructors feels a bit extreme in this case, albeit doesn’t cause any harm.
On the other hand, it could also be a case of a gym owner who is very particular and likes order. Again, there’s nothing wrong with that and everyone has their own preferences and ways of running things. For example, the owner could make the brown or purple belt wear the red tab out of structure, meaning the person wearing it doesn’t have an ego and is simply doing as they’re told. In either case, seeing a sight is still very rare.
How do you get a red bar on your brown or purple belt?
This is a good question and there are basically two ways. The first is to find a retailer that will sell you the belt. Generally, most belts will come with a black tab which is the norm. This is simple supply and demand economics as there isn’t a market big enough for belts with red bars.
Nonetheless, if you dig around deep enough online, you may be able to find colored belts with red bars. Returning back to economics, you can also probably expect to pay a bit more for these belts too as they’re less common and unusual.
The second route is to get it custom made yourself. This could mean taking a regular belt to a tailor with red cloth and paying to get it sewn on. If you’re handy with sewing yourself, then you could choose to do it at home. Either way, it’s going to cost you time or money.
Conclusion
Overall, the red bar in BJJ is mostly a thing for black belts. However, sometimes it’s also used with lower belts too. Generally speaking, this is incredibly rare though and you can probably go years or even a decade of regular training without seeing such a sight. With this in mind, it’s not really a major story within the BJJ world.
To conclude, some belts will use a red bar which usually denotes the user is an instructor. Although it’s mostly black belts who teach, sometimes it’s other colored belts as well as even blue belts in some cases.
