Earlier this year, an article on BJJEE revealed that BJJ instructor Roy Harris now offers to grade and promote students that he has never seen in person all the way to BJJ brown belt 2nd stripe by email and video. Payment are made by Paypal for each stripe and belt colour change.
The BJJ community reacted on the internet was mostly criticism.
Roy Harris Promotes Online BJJ Students By Email Up To Brown Belt
In an recent exclusive interview with TATAME, the respected Rickson Gracie gave his opinion on the controversial issue of online BJJ instruction and online belt promotion, noting some positive points, but criticizing the gesture in general.
“I think people should not earn online belt promotion. This is unacceptable. But on the other hand, it is still better than nothing at all. But this work has to be seen as a supplement to the work on the mat. The entire promotion, the effective part of the evolution, can not use this online part as a reference. this is unacceptable. However, there are great teachers out there that offer online courses. The online courses today gives people access to knowledge, but this knowledge has to be more than tested and validated. Reading a book about law, for example, does not make you a lawyer, does not give you the experience required for that… “
2 years ago, with all the controversy following Rener Gracie’s statement that ‘learning Jiu-Jitsu online is even more effective than in the academy’ (see article here).
Rickson Gracie explained in interview with Tatame, that it was him who convinced his nephew Rener Gracie to stop promoting students online.
Rickson on online promotion and Gracie University:
“It’s absurd. There can be no online belt promotion. After I read an article on Rener Gracie talking about Gracie University, saying that he promoted online students to blue belt, I had a confrontation with him. I said that if he continued to do this, I would denigrate his image, saying that he was a charlatan. And after that, he reconsidered, and thought that the idea did not make sense anymore. The blue belt is the most important Jiu-Jitsu. White to blue, it is the stage of enlightenment. The blue belt needs to be a confident guy that is a tough guy that can handle an aggression. And for that, he can not get a belt over the Internet.”
As a result, a meeting was set up between Rickson, Ryron and Rener Gracie and Pedro Sauer and they made changes to Gracie University.
Here are the most significant changes:
Creation of a “Gracie Combatives” Belt
All students who complete the Gracie Combatives course, which takes approximately 12 months, will earn a “Gracie Combatives” belt as a symbol of their foundational self-defense proficiency. The belt is white with a navy blue stripe running through its center.
Sparring Required Before Blue Belt
Upon earning the Gracie Combatives belt, a student will start the Master Cycle, the Gracie Academy’s advanced jiu-jitsu program. In the Master Cycle, the student will learn techniques for defending against a jiu-jitsu trained opponent while continuing to enhance their arsenal of street self-defense techniques. Most important, the student will develop resiliency and adaptiveness through live sparring against resistant opponents (with and without strikes). Only after 6-12 months in the Master Cycle, will a student be considered for promotion to blue belt.
No More “Online Blue Belts”
The Gracie Combatives belt is the only belt that can be earned through the Gracie University video evaluation process. The fact that the course is comprised of set number of techniques (approximately 75), which are exclusively designed for an non jiu-jitsu street aggressor, means that an experienced instructor can effectively verify a student’s proficiency visually, in person or via video upload. All other belts, including blue belt, can only be earned via hands-on live sparring evaluation at an authorized Certified Training Center.
