One of the longest-standing jokes in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is that purple belts like to skip warm-ups. Like all stereotypes in life, this is often based on humor, as well as a hint of reality. So, even though the whole purple belt missing a warm-up thing has become somewhat of a meme, there’s also an element of truth to this as well.
In this article, we shall be looking at why purple belts are more likely to miss warm-ups than any other belt in BJJ. When you think about the reasons, it actually makes sense.
Table of Contents
At purple belt, people care less about image
By the time you reach the rank of purple belt, you probably care less about pleasing your teachers and saving face. At this point, you’ve probably trained for at least 5 years or so and although you’re not the best in the gym – you’re certainly not the worst either.
Here, the likelihood is that you’re just not that bothered about warming up properly. And perhaps the reality is, you never really were in the first place. Some gyms tend to have pointless warm-ups anyway which barely work. For example, if a white belt doesn’t want to warm up and is late, this may be seen as rude and disrespectful. However, if a purple belt does it then they’re less likely to get told off due to their superior status. Furthermore, even if they are told off, they probably won’t care much anyway.
By now, most people have more of a cynical outlook on BJJ and are less eager to please. Arguably, this highlights BJJ’s status issue – that some people get treated differently due to their rank or skill level. With this in mind, it’s not really the problem of the purple belt and is an issue that BJJ as a community has to look at.
By purple belt, you’re probably busier than at the lower belts
Another reason why purple belts are more likely to skip warm-ups is that they typically have busier lives by the time they reach the purple belt rank. For instance, when most people start BJJ, they’re in their 20s. By the time they reach purple belt, they’re in their late 20s or 30s. Usually, people naturally have more stuff going on in life by then.
Whether this means more hours at work, or a busier family life with kids – the result is that by purple belt, people tend to have fewer hours in the day. Therefore, you’re less likely to prioritize a warm-up when that time could be spent doing more important things such as taking your kids to school or spending that time during a meeting at work.
Whilst this isn’t always the case, it does explain why people miss warm-ups at the higher belts. Sometimes, life just gets in the way and explains why you shouldn’t be angry at any belt in BJJ if they happen to be late due to more pressing issues.
Why higher belts show up to warm-ups more than purple belts
Based on the previous section, you’d assume that higher belts such as brown and black belts would also avoid warming up. However, this isn’t always the case either. Whilst there’s certainly the odd brown or black belt who only turns up for sparring – there are probably fewer higher belts doing this compared to purples. So, why is this?
Arguably, this comes down to age and the condition of your body. Typically, most purple belts are in their mid to early 30s, whereas brown and black belts are closer to their 40s. In terms of your body’s condition, this is a big difference. This means that a purple belt is still in reasonably good condition, whereas a brown or black belt is probably going to need to warm up more due to having an older, more injury-riddled body.
For example, at purple belt – you may have a slightly achy knee which doesn’t really need much of a warm-up. However, by the time you’ve reached a higher belt, this may need a good 15 minutes at least to get going. If these brown or black belts aren’t injured by this point, then they’re probably as late as the average purple belt though, so it’s not like purple belts are special either.
Conclusion
So there you have it. Even though most purple belts do make it to class on time, the stereotype is actually based on parts of reality and isn’t completely made up either. Overall, the main reasons why purple belts are more likely to miss warm-ups is due to caring less, having busier lives, and also still having good enough body’s to be able to skip them as well.
At the same time, this article should highlight why people miss warming up. Obviously, if they don’t care then this is a bad attitude and should be highlighted. However, if it’s for real reasons then you shouldn’t get mad at people if you’re their teacher or gym owner.
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