Recently a black belt in the 10th Planet system Elia Yuriditsky lost his 10th planet system privileges after what Denny Prokopos described as disloyalty.
This move is in many ways shocking for the community because nobody is questioning Yuriditsky’s skill. But belts in jiu jitsu don’t have a standard i.e. universal value so in practice a student’s personality and grappling both reflect on their teacher. This is why Marcelo Garcia opted to distance himself from Dillon Danis – he felt Danis was no longer promoting his team values.
The belt system in bjj is in no way unified. Brazilian jiu jitsu allows for abbreviations such as The SBG belt system and the above mentioned 10th planet which gives belts even though it’s strictly a nogi gym.
Helio Gracie had his own unique criteria for a black belt because he felt that image is very important when you are a bjj black belt.
They do not allow, tattoos on the face, Dreadlocks or for the instructor to overweight or obese.
Not that any of these criteria stopped any of them from promoting convicted rapists. Meaning all these guidelines are often left by the wayside.
Black Belt Promotion Of Sex Offender Paul Saucido – Who Is Responsible?
Going even further – belts and stripes on them often serve the purpose to motivate students to keep showing up and, in some systems, reflect on attendance more than anything. And agreeing with the home team rules – be it no visiting other gyms or unsportsmanlike conduct in competition.
Here’s where things get tricky, without a unified system or some sort of standardization each belt has different connotations in terms of skill and in terms of moral value it holds. This means that ranking in many ways isn’t consistent across different gyms. Abiding by the rules of your team gives you the standing you have, but this standing might mean an entirely different thing in a different place.
The LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.
The different meaning of different belts in different systems and even within different academies in the same association renders the belt demotion relatively meaningless. No single figure can take away what you know – this is why it ultimately doesn’t matter. If it’s a custom image you’re promoting as a black belt under a certain lineage once you stop upholding those standards you should be considered less within that particular system.
It also comes down to motivation. In a sport where there’s extremely high dropout rate all these stripes and belts are just a pat on the back – a pat on the back you need if there’s no intrinsic motivation i.e. if doing the activity already isn’t a reward in itself.
So if doing jiu-jitsu is fun for you and you’re enjoying comparing yourself to the you of yesterday why does it matter where you fall within a mental system of one individual? In turn why does it matter if that individual no longer considers you upto his personality standards for a certain rank?
And there lies a conundrum: if all it is is a pat on the back signifying approval, why can’t it be taken away? The complete lack of standardization is ultimately ruining the experience because it means one’s achievement is relative.
