Whether it’s possible to skip belts in BJJ

In Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, the belt system is pretty well respected and holds great value amongst its practitioners. Because of this, BJJ belts are taken quite seriously and are usually held for years at a time by those wearing them.

However, some people have asked whether it’s possible to skip belts whilst training. For instance, could you possibly go from a white belt to a brown belt whilst bypassing the blue and purple belts in between? In this article, we shall assess whether it’s possible to skip belt ranks in BJJ.

Belt skipping in BJJ does happen but is rare

For the most part, skipping belts in BJJ is relatively unheard of. This is because most people follow the basic rules and promote people one belt at a time. Even if they happen to promote quicker than others, the likelihood is that it’s very rare to skip belts.

However, this isn’t always the case. Some BJJ teachers believe that belts should be a symbol of technique, rather than time served on the mat. So, these teachers may skip belts. Remember, although the BJJ belt system is fairly universal – some people still interpret it in their own ways.

For instance, imagine you’ve got a wonder kid who is technically a white belt but can beat brown belts in rolls and is clearly far above their belt color. In some very rare cases, they could be promoted straight to purple if their teacher thinks it’s necessary.

On a similar note, if you get someone who starts training BJJ with a Judo black belt or a strong background in MMA or wrestling, then it’s also understandable that the teacher may give them a blue belt to reflect their knowledge.

Ultimately, it depends on personal preference. On the one hand, this goes against convention and people may get upset by this. At the same time, is there much point in holding someone back if they’re far above their rank? This is why it’s down to the individual and there are understandably lots of different opinions on the topic.

You should NEVER skip belts yourself

It goes without saying that skipping belts on your own is a very taboo subject and is something that is harshly looked down upon within BJJ culture. Another way of putting this is self-promotion, which defeats the purpose of training.

Sadly, you will sometimes hear stories of how people vanish, only to return months later with a suspicious new belt. This doesn’t happen much but has certainly been documented. Regardless of your stance on BJJ belts and promotions, the point is that it’s very deviant and unacceptable to promote yourself, as this completely removes any skill or merit that is associated with the promotion.

You don’t always need four stripes to get a new belt

Another common assumption in BJJ is that you need four stripes on your belt before your next promotion. For instance, most people get four stripes on their belt, followed by the next color. Each stripe is typically given out every few months or years – depending on how and where you train.

However, this doesn’t always happen. Some gyms just don’t do stripes to begin with – which is actually the original way how BJJ belts operated. Some may give you a stripe or two and then promote you straight to a new belt anyway. The point is that like mentioned above, every situation is different. This also shows not to put too much emphasis on stripes, as often they don’t mean much. To sum up, most places go through four stripes and then a promotion – but this isn’t always the case.

Conclusion

In summary, BJJ belt skipping is rare but not completely unheard of. It’s also more common and socially acceptable to promote someone without giving them all of the required stripes for each belt as well. Both of these examples show that within the BJJ community, there’s still room for people to interpret belts and their meanings as they please.

To some, belts are incredibly important and symbolize years of hard work and sacrifice. To others, it’s not that deep and is more of a formality, rather than some kind of personality-defining symbol.