In Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, for most people the black belt is the final belt that you can achieve. This signifies mastery in the art and roughly 10 years of consistent training. As a result, it’s no surprise to see that people view black belts with respect and authority. One question often asked is how many black belts there are in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. This answer is found in two parts. One can be seen in numbers via the IBJJF website, whilst the other involves more guesswork.
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How many IBJJF black belts are there?
As of 2021, there are just over 6100 listed black belts on the IBJJF database. This costs money and will result in a certificate. You also need to do this if you plan on competing as a black belt at IBJJF competitions. In short, many see this as a way of cementing their black belt status, and among competitors in the gi it is quite commonplace.
Having said this, it’s not the only way of counting black belts. Overall, the number of 6100 also sounds quite small. This implies that there are actually quite a lot more black belts out there. Here is why…
How many BJJ black belts are there in total?
This is very tough to answer and isn’t easy to track. In short, whilst the IBJJF covers many certified black belts, it doesn’t cover those who aren’t registered with the IBJJF. In other words, if you don’t plan of getting an IBJJF certificate or competing at an IBJJF competition, then there’s really no purpose in registering as a black belt.
So, the likes of Gordon Ryan (who famously does use the gi) is not registered on the IBJJF list. Having said this, he’s also the greatest ever and is obviously a legitimate black belt. This means that the IBJJF doesn’t cover all black belts. In fact, you could go as far to say that most black belts aren’t registered, meaning there’s every chance that there are well over 12000 black belts around the world in BJJ.
Remember, in certain parts of the world such as Africa and Asia, there will be many black belts who aren’t registered and are somewhat off the radar.
Are there many fake BJJ black belts?
Thankfully, there aren’t too many fake black belts in BJJ. As the saying goes, ‘the mats don’t lie’ and this is true in the BJJ community. Basically, if your skills don’t match your rank then you’ll get found out pretty quickly and this will lead to exposure. Sadly, there are a few videos online showing encounters with frauds so it certainly happens.
However, usually you can track someone’s lineage back to the starting roots of BJJ. For most people, they will be proud of this and won’t hide their origins. With this said, a good estimate is that under 1% of BJJ black belts are fake. Having said this, there’s no real way of knowing all of the fake black belts throughout the world as it’s quite difficult to keep track of.
Conclusion
Overall, there are at least 6100 black belts in the world that are listed under the IBJJF. However, as mentioned the true number is probably far higher. As BJJ continues to blossom in popularity, it’s only right that this number will grow substantially over the years.
This growth is set to mimic a snowball pattern where the number grows larger each year as the reach of BJJ goes throughout the globe. This means that in 10 years or say, the number of BJJ black belts could be four or five times higher than it is now as its growth should become viral. When this happens, keeping track of black belts and their credentials will certainly become harder to do than ever before.
Want to learn more about the super rare red belt? Check out our article here.
