Leg locks in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

The training of leg lock submissions has always been a controversial issue in the grappling arts.  Sambo and catch wrestling practitioners swear by them while jiu-jitsu and judo players downplay or completely ignore their use.  Moves such as the ankle lock, kneebar, heelhook and toehold were made popular in the Russian military because injuring the legs would render the enemy unable to walk without the aid of another person.  Many instructors frown upon beginners using leg locks because they can be dangerous if done recklessly.  This is true, but the same goes for many other techniques such as the kimura which can lead to shoulder injuries if applied without regard for safety.  Currently the IBJJF only allows kneebars and toe holds in the brown and black belt divisions while heel hooks are completely illegal.  There is also the no-reaping rule which is controversial in itself.  It states that a competitor may not pass his or her leg over the hip bone of the opponent when attacking the legs or else be immediately disqualified.  While this regulation was probably put in place for safety issues, it has also caused confusion and frustration among the athletes.  This is mostly due to the vagueness of the exact point at which the leg could be considered past the hip bone.  In some cases the rule has even been taken advantage of (i.e. when a competitor intentionally moves the opponents leg past the hip bone to have him or her disqualified).  The only real solution is to get rid of the no-reaping rule and encourage more control in the application of leg locks in competition.

While most leg locks are illegal in jiu-jitsu competition with the exception of the brown and black belt divisions, they should still be practiced in training by lower belt players (especially those who aim to compete).  This is not to say that from now on every white belt out there should start slinging heelhooks with reckless abandon; instead they should focus on learning the fundamental technique first just as they would with any other move then slowly integrate it into their game with safety in mind.  For example, at Renzo Gracie Pittsburgh we frequently work on leglocks in our advanced nogi class but stress controlled live sessions where the emphasis is placed more on correct technique rather than going all-out for the submission.  It is important to learn these leg attacks (and escapes) from the start in order to have a more complete game.  This is probably why many high-level jiu-jitsu practitioners who neglect leglocks end up losing in competitions where their opponents are not necessarily more skilled, but simply have more weapons in their arsenal.  Anyone who recently competed at the Slippery Rock University tournament can relate to this.

Leglocks have gained prominence not only in the submission grappling scene lately but in mixed martial arts, as well.  While he is now on a two fight losing streak, Rousimar Palhares went on a tear in the UFC not too long ago where he established a reputation for his ruthless leglock attacks.  This, combined with his physical strength and episodes of mental instability, made him a feared opponent in the middleweight division.  Few wanted to face him because there was such a strong possibility of suffering a serious injury during the fight and being out for months or even years.  While Palhares is an exceptional example, it should be noted how big of an impact leglocks can make in competition, both physically and mentally.

Gokor Chivichyan once said "I believe the reason why we don't see leglocks in grappling and MMA as often as other submission techniques is simply because most people don't know how to do them."

This quote essentially sums up why leglocks should be practiced more in jiu-jitsu.  It's that element of surprise, that extra tool in the box that gives the player a certain advantage over his or her opponent and at the highest levels sometimes that makes all the difference between a win and a loss.

To observe leglocks being used effectively, watch videos of Dean Lister, Vinny Magalhaes, Davi Ramos and Sambo practitioners in action.


-Dino

2012 Recap

This one was harder for me to write than the recaps for our first two years.  This is not because 2012 was a bad year.  It was our best so far.   The reason, I think, is that I’m so focused on looking ahead.  In my mind are all the plans for Renzo Gracie Pittsburgh Academy’s new space in The Strip.  Along with the building we have new instructors and new programs being initiated.  It has been three years since we opened the first class during the 2010 snowstorm.  Although going forward is our focus let’s take a couple of minutes to look at what we have built focusing on last year.  2012 should give us confidence that we have a strong foundation that will keep getting better this year.  

One of the things that really stand out in my memory and shows in my jiu-jitsu game is that Daniel Gracie visited us and stayed with us several times in 2012.    He shared his years of knowledge and competitive experience for two weeks teaching classes in March.  He visited two more times and did three special seminars for us.  The nogi guard-passing seminar was amazing for the advanced guys.  We learned twelve battle-tested techniques and some strategies for making them work.   Marcio "Macarrao" Stambowsky, the highest belt-ranking instructor teaching in the Northeast, did a great seminar for us as well.  He focused on wristlocks as a strategy to stop guard passing and attack. He also showed us a great “Gymnastica Natural” based warm-up.  He showed us some self defense based techniques as well.  Right at the end of 2012, Garry Tonon (voted one of the worlds best brown belts at any weight) did a seminar for us.  Garry showed us new cutting edge techniques all to benefit the Red Cross’s Charity for Hurricane Sandy relief.  I also did a charity seminar this year in San Jose, Costa Rica benefiting disadvantaged children in the country that gave me so much in the way of great jiu-jitsu training. 

Some of our competitive highlights include, in chronological order:

• Lance Thompson 2^nd place purple belt adult in IBJJF NY Open.  This is a great tournament finish! Purple belt is so tough.  No one from other schools in the area can claim a finish in purple belt at such a top-level event.
• Mike Wilkins got his second pro MMA win this summer.
• Jonas Rubiano and Dino Juklo both got there first amateur MMA wins.
• Mike Flor won his divisions at the Kumite Klassic
• RJ Sache and Bob Demmler got blue belt wins at Steel City's martial arts tournament
• Dean Lewis won IBJJF Pan Nogi!  This is a top tier tournament.  Dean showed that he is the best blue belt around.  Look for him in some tournaments coming soon.  Mike Flor also won his weight at the Pans in the masters division.
• Logan Stout won the absolute at Pitt's grappling tournament.

That’s a nice list!  For those of you who enjoy competing, let’s get out and compete more this year.  No one remembers the ones you lose.  They only teach you how to be better.  The more we compete, the more we learn.  We have a great team to support us including the other teachers in the Renzo Gracie Association in NYC, Brazil and other places.  We have great training partners to keep us getting better. 

We also had many promotions to blue belt this year as well as two youth members earning their orange belts.  Check out our academy facebook page to see photos of all of our belt promotions.

We had some fun social events.  Everyone who stayed until the end of the summer barbecue remember Douggie P’s antics.  Anthony, thank you for hosting us, and the keg, after the barbecue to watch the Strikeforce fights where Roger Gracie dominated Jardine. Bowling night was fun also.  We established that I’m the worst bowler of the academy.  The end of the year party was really fun.  We had over 50 people there this year, up from about 30 in 2011.  The location was more fun also.  We had lots of other informal get-togethers to watch fights and jiu-jitsu tournaments.  It is so important that we enjoy doing things as a group outside of the Academy.  As people get more and more fragmented, isolated and specialized it becomes more important to have something universal to share.  Jiu-jitsu is that thing for many of our members and for me.  Our membership almost doubled from the year before. 

 Let’s get ready for even more growth and good things this year.

-Warren

My First MMA Fight

On June 16, 2012 I made my amateur mixed martial arts debut at Yankee Lake Brawlroom; a small promotion in Ohio.  Originally, I was supposed to fight at WCC IV on June 8 in Greensburg, PA but my opponent backed out for unknown reasons.  I was disappointed because three of my teammates were already lined up to fight on the same card and I didn't want to be left out of the action.  A short while after, during a training session at Fight Club Pittsburgh, I was offered a fight in Ohio at Yankee Lake Brawlroom 34, set for June 16.  I was familiar with the promotion because several of my training partners had fights there in the past and generally agreed that it was a good place to kick off an amateur career.  I accepted the fight and anxiously started counting down the days leading up to my debut.

The opponent I was matched up with had an identical build but apart from body type I didn't know much about him except that he was a white rapper from Ohio.  My confidence was high going into the fight because I had been training for nearly two years while many amateur fighters make their debuts after just months of preparation (sometimes even less).  Not only that, but I knew the caliber of training partners I had were much higher than any of my opponents could hope to have at this level.  Also, I was excited to fight under Ohio rules which are far more lenient and realistic than those established in Pennsylvania for amateur competitors (i.e. the required use of shin pads and over-sized gloves in addition to no ground-n-pound).

A few days before the fight, my opponent was unsurprisingly changed once again and for whatever reason the weight limit became 210 pounds instead of 205.  I was informed that my new opponent was making his debut as well but only had about two months of training.  I figured the largest obstacle I would have to overcome in the fight was the weight advantage, because I knew for a fact I was going to show up lighter than him.  My opponent probably had to cut from heavyweight or else the bout would have stayed at 205.  The biggest concern I had at this point was making sure I weighed in somewhere between 205 and 210 otherwise the fight would be cancelled.

I woke up the morning of the fight and immediately weighed myself.  I was shocked to see "199.5" on the scale after I went to bed the night before right at 205.  Up until I left for Ohio around noon, I chugged water bottles and ate constantly in an effort to get my weight up.  However, it was still not enough so once I got to the weigh-ins a few people let me borrow their keys and cell phones so I could stuff them in my pockets in order to make the weight minimum.  It worked, and I officially weighed in at 207.5!

It was extremely hot that day in Brookfield, Ohio so the organizers had to set up a cage in the backyard of the original venue which was deemed unsafe due to lack of proper ventilation.  The whole setup was far from glamorous.  The seats were your standard lawn chairs, with sections separated not by fences or railings but big planks of plywood and other haphazard materials.  There was a DJ booth that blasted crappy death metal in an effort to pump up the crowd before the fights started.  As for the cage itself, it was rickety, plain and probably unsafe.  Say hello to your average entry-level MMA promotion!

The hours leading up to fight time were interesting to say the least. A training partner from Fight Club Pittsburgh also had a fight on the card but his opponent mysteriously vanished after weigh-ins. A short while after, we received word that his opponent went to a nearby gas station, slipped on an oil puddle, and banged his head against a gas pump, forcing him to go to the hospital and withdraw from the card. You can't make this stuff up.

After a while, the fine citizens of Brookfield, Ohio and surrounding areas started filling up the seats, eagerly awaiting the sound of the first bell.  As I was getting my hands wrapped, I finally started feeling a little nervous.  The fights before mine were ending quickly and the time to test my skills was fast approaching.  As I was warming up, I thought about all the training I had gone through over the past two years to get to this point.  I felt very confident and surprisingly relaxed because I was certain I had worked harder than my opponent, therefore I could not lose.  I was ready both physically and mentally.  It was time to fight.

After the announcer called my name, I steadily made my approach towards the cage.  Once I got in and the door shut behind me, I felt an incredible energy and couldn't wait to go to battle.  Before I knew it, the referee said "Go!" and what ensued was one of the realest experiences of my life.  Every time one of my punches connected, I could feel my opponents skull through the gloves.  It was the hardest I had ever hit anyone in my life.  I remember thinking to myself that my hands were definitely going to break at some point but the adrenaline rush made it hard to feel any real pain.  I clinched with my opponent several times and delivered some brutal knees to his midsection.  I could tell he felt every one of them.  As the fight went on, I ended up rocking him several times until I finally secured a standing guillotine choke and forced him to submit in the first round.

Immediately after the referee stopped the contest, I felt a wave of happiness, relief and countless other emotions wash over me.  I had just accomplished one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life; I had won my very first MMA fight!  All the blood and sweat (no tears) I put in on the mats for the past two years finally paid off.  I felt like I conquered a massive obstacle and proved to others as well as myself that I could not only compete, but win in the toughest sport in the world.

Dino
-Amature Mixed Martial Arts fighter from Stout Training Pittsburgh / Team Renzo Gracie

Why Train Jiu Jitsu

Why Train Jiu Jitsu?  It is a fair question to ask whether you are thinking about starting or have been involved in BJJ for years.  It is hard.  It takes physical and mental energy.  It costs money and time.  It can be rough on your ego since there is probably no one practicing who hasn't been beaten.  When you do experience defeat in Brazilian jiu jitsu it happens in a more immediate, intimate, and personal dimension than most other experiences.  With this in mind what brings people who have families, successful careers, and limited time onto the mats on a regular basis?  What makes the young guy who isn't going to make his rent payment at the end of the month give up all the cash in in wallet for a new gi?  Why does such a tough sport attract enough new competitor each year to make it  one of the fastest growing sports worldwide?

In order to try to answer this question I have to first come back to my story and look at why I started Jiu Jitsu.  I got into jiu jitsu because I realized, after finishing my collegiate wrestling career, how much I enjoyed wrestling. One thing I enjoyed about wrestling was learning the techniques and testing them out to see if I could really execute them.  It is something like the joy some get from playing video games.  It is a fun challenge to see if I can execute the right techniques.  Jiu jitsu seemed like a whole new technical world to explore and my learning curve was steep when I began.  Everything I saw was something new.  Although wrestling is a very technical sport and anyone could spend a lifetime studying it, I believe jiu jitsu presents even more technical possibilities to explore.  Jiu jitsu has almost all the positions of wrestling with the addition of submission holds. And because gi and "no-gi jiu jitsu"  have distinct technical modifications and it creates a rich field of possibilities to learn. Some have likened it to the game of chess with more dimensions, or, to an infinite series.

Another reason I started was that, like many people in my generation, I travelled from place to place relatively more often than probably most people did in previous years.  Work and a desire to see the world keep me moving often. In jiu jitsu I found a community in each place I moved to. As jiu jitsu continues to grow worldwide I know that anywhere I go I have a group of friends already, before I arrive at a new place.

 Learning to fight was another bonus for me.  Notice that I don't use the term "self-defense".  Self-defense is a perfectly legitimate goal and learning to fight certainly can be an asset in a self defense situation.  I believe they are two different things.  Self defense is about using appropraite force and strategy to save your life or someone else's in an unexpected violent situation.  Fighting is a contest between two or more people (on the street, in a cage, ect).  It may not be politically correct, but, I think there is intrinsic value in knowing I can win a physical fight.  This makes some people uncomfortable and may be a masculine sentiment.  I could write an entire post about this and having this knowledge definitely changes my outlook on the world and other people.  I know Jiu jitsu has taught me how to fight because I have fought MMA and been in a couple of fight situations outside of a sport setting.  I also know that I possess  real skill because of the daily feedback I get when training.  Recent studies quoted by noble prize winning author, Dr. Kahneman, in his book "Thinking, Fast and Slow" , point to the necessity of training our automatic response by repeated immediate feedback.   Live jiu jitsu training gives this type of feedback.   Jiu Jitsu effectively teaches fighting skills.  It teaches them in a relatively safe way unlike striking arts where to get the feeback that develops skill you must subject yourself to being hit, which can  do damage the body and brain.

What has keep me going in jiu jitsu?  An interesting thing about jiu jitsu (and any form of grappling) is that you have immediate and real feedback if your work has paid off.  Many efforts in life produce results that are ambiguous.  For example, working at my job or other jobs in the past, I understand that doing the job a certain way is good and having certain habits like promptness are necessary.  I don't get immediate feedback though as to whether doing "A" works versus doing "B".  In jiu jitsu you get that feedback.  If you execute a sweep it means that you had the correct grips and timing, for example.  You know this immediately even on a subconscious or, to use Kahneman's terminology, "system one" level.  This quick feedback, telling me that my that effort produces results has had a very positive impact on how I live my life and how I feel about the world.  It constantly SHOWS ME that I can affect my outcomes.   I've not found any other education method, mental or physical that reinforce this idea like jiu jitsu.  Unlike often times in school/academia and even non-contact martial arts, my understanding of my progress doesn't rely on external approval from a teacher.  I believe this personal experience makes it more powerful as a self development method.

The lessons that jiu jitsu teaches are very unequivocal.  There are no teammate to blame mistakes on.  If someone beats you it is on you alone.  If I drank too much beer and am feeling exhausted as a consequence, a jiu jitsu training session will bring that to my attention like nothing else.  Joe Rogan, UFC commentator, says:  "I think in life we can distort our perception of things in order to make ourselves more comfortable, in order to make ourselves accept where we are, and there are alot of people that are running around full of shit.    When you do jiu jitsu it is impossible to be full of shit because reality comes at you in the purest form possible."  Mr. Rogan makes an important point; that is, it is very easy to trick yourself.  Scientific research by behavior psychologists, decision theorists, and economists have proven this.   In order to grow I have to see my limitations and then push my comfort zones.  Jiu jitsu is a tool to do this.  Another lesson I believe jiu jitsu teaches is how to tolerate discomfort and endure uncertainty. It is not a coincidence that Renzo Gracie's motto is 'through endurance we will conquer.'  When you begin a live jiu jitsu training session or competition you don't know how it will develop.  If you are caught in side control and you can't breath because your training partners weight is pressing your lungs, the patience to wait for him to move out out of position so you can escape.  It is one thing to understand that you need endurance and perseverance but quite another to PRACTICE it.  The great Samurai and philosopher Musahsi ended every section of his "Book of Five Rings" with the statement: "you must practice every day."  Knowledge doesn't become vital and useful until it is practiced. This training has served me in all aspects of my life ranging form business to family life.

Another reason I practice brazilian jiu jitsu is for the health benefits.  I love the way my body feels because of the training.  After a hard training session what some call runners high sets in.  Because jiu jitsu develops flexibility and balance through movement it makes me feel more fluid just moving around when I'm not in class.  Jiu jitsu gives me an extra incentive to diet correctly (I know I feel better in training when I eat correctly).  It gives me functional strength.  It cleanses my body through sweat (think soaking wet gi).  It develops awareness.  Once I was mountain biking and crashed.  I broke just about everything in my pack and my camera I was carrying but rolled through the crash and was fine.  Jiu jitsu is the most efficient way to get all my fitness bases covered including strength, flexibility, balance, cardiovascular and lung health, cleansing, and coordination.  In order to get these benefits form other activities I would have to do yoga, lift weights, surf, kettlebells, rock climb, run, and sauna for example.  I like and do many of these activities because of their own merits, and, they can supplement jiu jitsu.  They are not though as efficient a way to get in shape if you are pressed for time.  Brazilian jiu jitsu is less hard on the body than other grappling arts such as judo, wrestling, and sambo.  This is because there are less high amplitude throws and, in general movements are smaller and less athletically inclined.

Those are the main reason's I do jiu jitsu.  I'm sure there are others, some good and some not as positive. Recently one of my main jiu jitsu teachers Rolles Gracie said to a group of Renzo Gracie Association school owner (my paraphrase);  "What if someone offered you $10,000 for your black belt, but not just the belt, all the experiences, friends, fun, and other benefits that you had along the way, would you do it?"  Everyone emphatically said no, some aloud and some to themselves.  Rolles then said: "I wouldn't sell mine for one million dollars, or, ten million, not any amount."  I believe most things/people have a price (an uncomfortable thought) but I found myself thinking I agree with Rolles and feel the same way.   If you train jiu jitsu, stop and think about why you do it.  If you have not tried it you at least owe it to yourself to look into starting and giving it a try.

Highlights and Technical Observations on the BJJ World Championship (gi) 2012

Worlds 2012 (day 3)
Some highlights of the IBJJF World Tournament 2012 as seen on Budovideos.com livestream

Quarters-Semifinal Rounds
 For blackbelt quarterfinals-semifinals I've tried to keep track of the number and types of submissions used.  I've counted 13 submission wins.  They are listed below with the winner (when I know who it is).

1. armlock (Caio Terra)
2. rear naked choke
3. lapel choke from back
4. straight ankle lock (Thiago Abreau)
5. bow and arrow choke (Malficine)
6. standing choke?? (G. Mendez)
7. arm in eziekiel (Lepri)
8. armlock (R. Viera)
9. ??? (Leo Nogiera)
10. triangle (Pe De Pano)
11. choke with own lapel (B. Fario)
12. flying armlock (X. Ribiero)
13. lapel choke from back (R. Viera)

Some great matches that did not end in submission where Leandro Lo vs Satoshi (sunday pt 3 11.33).  Lo used the spider guard to one-leg x guard position to the far side of the foot on bicept for some great sweeps.  He also used some great bullfighter passing.  Lucas Leite vs Sousa was a great back and fourth match with Lucas loosing on advantage but getting some points with his halfguard sweeps.  Victor Estima and Claudio Calasans was also won by an advantage.  Pe De Pano v M. Amieda was also a very exciting match.  M. Almieda got up at the beginning of the match but had to hang on at the end to keep the win after Pe De Pano got a sweep from closed guard and was working for the pass or back control. The leg pummeling position was very prevalent in the competition, as was the double guard pull.  All four of the matches above had leg pummeling and double guard pulls. 
Finals
There were 3 referees decisions.  Lo won by one advantage over Lepri.  Sousa beat Calisans by one negative point.  To me this indicates the need for some rules changes or some type of overtime proceedure such as freestyle and folkstyle wrestling has in place.  Also I do think that there needs to be some objective criteria for when a position is not going anywhere(stalemate in scholastic wrestling).  The official can then step in and break up the position. Of course this leave room for the official to have more influence on the outcome of matches, but, it may eliminate an outright referees decision in some cases.  It may also make the action better for fans. It also seems that there needs to be some clarification or rules change on how takedowns and pulling guard are called.
I found the heavier weights more entertaining this year for the first time in the 10 years I've been watching IBJJF tournaments.  Of course there have always been some great bigger guys such as Roger Gracie. Generally it seemed like they where more cautious and less dynamic.  This year the bigger guys where going after submissions and did not seem to employ as much inverted guard.  The inverted and 50/50 guards are legitimate position of course.  I do think that they become much more prevalent because of the current rules in ibjjf.


Techniques/positions that stood out for me

•  Caio Terra and Mendez brothers going underneath and getting a cross body type back control
• Lepri going from cross knee through the middle pass to back control or arm in eziekiel
• Lo's bullfight passing transitions
• Lo's spider gaurd sweep
• Seated De La Riva sweep/single leg.  Variations used by both Sousa and Barral.

Other great action that I think is worth rewatching when Budovideos does the replay and dvd's is Xande's flying armbar and M. Almieda's wristlock from mount to set up the regular armbar.  Also techniques that we've seen before but are worth noting are Victor Estima's inverted triangle and Lucas Leite's half guard sweeps in the earlier rounds.  We will try to post the times that these techniques come up on the Budovideos replay when it comes out.  Check back in.

Thank you to www.Budovideos.com for streaming the event.  I enjoyed watching from home in Pittsburgh this year.  Jiu jitsu is gaining a huge fan base partly thanks to your efforts.  The absolute match of R.Viera vs M. Almieda already has almost 500,000 views on youtube!

-Warren

www.renzograciepittsburgh.com

What are the most prestigious Brazilian Jiu Jitsu tournaments?

Have you ever met someone who said they were an "All-American" wrestling champion or some other sports hero in days gone by? Sometimes it's hard to know if these claims are true. It doesn't matter if it's just idle boasting, but if you are looking for a coach or teacher, it may be important to know if these claims are based on fact. Now it seems like BJJ is the newest competitive sport that generates dubious claims in bars and even on websites of martial arts schools, fight clubs, and instructors' biographies. For people not yet familiar to Brazilian jiu-jitsu and grappling, anybody that puts something like "extreme ngxx grappling intergalactic submission champ" can be convincing. Hopefully the following will help those just getting into the sport to more quickly cut through the BS.

There are two organizations that run the premiere/top level tournaments in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and submission grappling. They are ADCC and IBJJF. There are two types of competitions that Brazilian jiu-jitsu competitors train for. One is "no-gi" or submission grappling and the other is traditional Brazilian jiu-jitsu with the gi. Abu Dhabi Combat Club's no-gi submission grappling tournament is generally considered the top event for no-gi grappling. It is sponsored by the prince of Abu Dhabi and is a professional (money prize) competition held every other year. It has been around since 1998. Regulations stipulate that you must qualify through the many qualifying tournaments held around the world. Recently, ADCC has started an annual gi tournament with qualifiers. It has attracted top level guys but does not yet carry quite the same prestige as the nogi event.

The IBJJF is run by Carlos Gracie , a son of one of the Gracie jiu-jitsu founders and head of the ubiquitous Gracie Barra franchises. The world championships are held every summer. This is the event that attracts almost all the best competitors of every belt level. To win this event at the black belt level is considered by most to be the top goal of Brazilian jiu-jitsu competitors. There have been only three USA-born champions (who do not have Brazilian family). One is the famous UFC champion BJ Penn in 1999. Rafael Lavoto Jr. has won the worlds more recently.  Alberto Crane shared a championship with a Brazilian teammate in 1997. Both of these competitors were pioneers who competed when the sport had far fewer participants overall. In IBJJF there are many weight classes, belt divisions and age divisions. One thing that be very misleading to many newcomers to the sport are claims of being a world champion when the person making the claim may have won at blue belt (second lowest skill level) in the senior 2 division (over 40 years old) to give an example. These divisons sometimes only have 2-3 competitors and the skill levels are NOWHERE NEAR THE SAME LEVEL as adult/open divison black belts. IBJJF also organizes a "No-gi World Championships." This is another top-tier event that attracts many of the best. Other IBJJF tournaments are noteworthy at the black belt level, especially the Pan-American and Pan-American nogi tournaments. Even lower belt divisions such as purple and brown belts can be very competitive at IBJJF tournaments.

NAGA, Grappler's Quest, USA Grappling, and other tournaments sometimes attract great competitors but titles here do not mean much in and of themselves because often events do not have many participants or at least high level ones. They are very "hit or miss" and are not as prestigious. Various Pro-Ams and other professional prize money tournaments have many great competitors but have not been around long enough for the titles themselves to be sought independently of the prize money the way IBJJF and ADCC titles are. Many events are not held regularly but are one-time events, or conversely in the case of NAGA and Grappler's Quest, they hold so many events that they are hard to keep track of even for die-hard fans.

A Brief History of the Belt Ranking System

The modern martial arts belt ranking system first started emerging in 1907 when the creator of Judo, Jigoro Kano, introduced the iconic Judo uniform and belt. Before that, his students practiced in traditional Japanese kimonos. However, back then there existed only two belt colors: white and black. White belts were those in the process of learning the fundamentals while black belts were students who mastered the basics, knew how to use them functionally and were ready to pursue Judo on a more serious and advanced level. The white coloring represented purity, avoidance of ego, and simplicity while the black symbolized a fuller repertoire of knowledge.

A popular belief within the martial arts community is that every student started off with a white belt then gradually it darkened in color from all the blood, sweat and tears of training. However, there exists no real historical evidence of this practice and it is generally regarded to be little more than a myth. Here is a list of the traditional Judo ranks:

6th grade (rokyu)
5th grade (gokyu)
4th grade (yonkyu)
3rd grade (sankyu)
2nd grade (nikyu)
1st grade (ikkyu)

1st degree (shodan)
2nd degree (nidan)
3rd degree (sandan)
4th degree (yodan)
5th degree (godan)
6th degree (rokudan)
7th degree (shichidan)
8th degree (hachidan)
9th degree (kudan)
10th degree (judan)

It was not until 1935 that other colored belts such as yellow, orange, green, blue and purple entered the ranking system. Mikonosuke Kawaishi is generally regarded as the originator of this practice when he started teaching Judo in Paris in 1935. He believed western students would show greater progress if they had a visible system of many colored belts recognizing achievement and providing regular incentives. This is very interesting because in many ways it reflects the contrasting views of the east and west. For example, people from Japan and other Asian countries are known for having a high degree of patience and a "long term" perspective of life. On the other hand, Americans have a reputation of thriving on quick results and focusing heavily on the "short term" future, made evident by the modern practice of black belt commercialization. This explains why Jigoro Kano never felt the need to have any more belt colors other than white and black while Judo was still only practiced in Japan. It seems as though the in-between plays a much more important role than the beginning and end in the eastern cultures, as shown by the way they practice their martial arts.

As Judo grew in popularity both within and outside of Japan, other martial arts began adopting Jigoro Kano's gi, belt, and ranking system for their own uses. Interestingly, if one were to randomly ask a person today the first thing that comes to mind after hearing "Japanese fighting style" he or she would most likely say "Karate" and envision a black belt practitioner donning a gi, when in actuality Karate originated outside of Japan and had nothing to do with the gi or belt system until the later days of its development.

Eventually, groundwork specialist Mitsuyo Maeda made his way to Brazil in 1914 and passed his knowledge of Judo to the Gracie family (and others), where over time it was modified and changed until it became a completely different art--Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Naturally, the gi and belt stuck around, serving as an eternal reminder of BJJ's roots.

These days, Jigoro Kano's contributions to the martial arts continue to live on. Enter any martial arts academy, be it for Tae Kwon Do, Jiu-Jitsu, or some other style, and you'll most likely see students wearing the traditional Judo uniform (or some variant of it) with various colored belts around their waists; striving to one day attain the coveted "black belt" status--an often misunderstood ranking within the martial arts community. This is largely due to the influx of martial arts films in the 1970s which often depicted fictional heroes boasting black belts in Karate and Kung-Fu; thus being unstoppable hand-to-hand combatants--a Hollywood vision that couldn't be farther from reality. In fact, these films became so popular that commercialized martial arts schools("McDojos") began appearing all over the country with intentions of profiting from them, and continue to fool the uninformed to this day. These illegitimate academies are notorious for offering lackluster instruction and promising "street-ready black belt status" in just a few short years, all while charging preposterously high membership fees. As one can tell just by looking at the average "8 year old black belt," this deceptive practice has heavily degraded the reputation of Karate, Tae Kwon Do, and other traditional arts.

Belt promotions themselves are a subject of particularly high interest in the martial arts. As a student, one is always wondering what needs to be done to reach the next level and attain a higher ranking. Going back to Eastern philosophy, many people(mostly westerners) think more about the end than the in-between. They place too much focus on the "status symbol" of being at an advanced level, and not enough on actual training progress. It's a bit cliche, but the saying "the journey is more important than the destination" applies here. Requisites for belt promotion vary from instructor to instructor. One thing that sets Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu apart from other martial arts is the emphasis on live training as a basis for promotion. A student must be able to execute techniques properly against a fully resisting opponent rather than simply demonstrating a predetermined set of techniques to the instructor("kata") or taking a "belt test." If there's anything we can learn from the McDojos, it's that upholding standards, even at the expense of short-term monetary gain, is important in belt promotions. In this interview by FightsWeWant.com with John Danaher, one of the top Jiu-Jitsu teachers in the world, he shares his views on belt promotions and ranking:


FWW: Starting at white belt and every belt thereafter to black; what attributes do you look for in a student in order to consider them for elevation to the next rank both as it relates to their physical and mental approach to the art?

JD: The first and most important criteria for promotion is performance. Can you successfully apply your moves in live training in the gym against people in the belt category above yours? Or, for those who like to compete, have you consistently excelled in local competitions within your current rank? To this fundamental demand I add some other considerations. There may be some handicaps that a student has that soften my demand for performance. The age of the student, for example. I don't expect a 55 year old blue belt student to tap out 22 year old purple belts. I also look at the breadth and precision of the student's technique. If he consistently wins in class with only a few sloppy moves from a limited number of positions due mostly to advantages in strength and size, I will be reluctant to promote him until he improves his technical repertoire. In general I am fairly easy in giving out belts as I do not attach great importance to them. If you make Jiu-Jitsu a lifetime study (as I hope all my students do), the vast majority of your training years will be at black belt level and beyond, so the amount of time taken to acquire the various early belts is not a significant issue. In all truth, you do most of your learning over a life time post-black belt. Accordingly I see people growing into their belts over time, so I don't like to hold people back in rank forever.


On a final note, I encourage readers to explore the rich history of the martial arts. It's fascinating to look to the past and discover the roots of age-old traditions that not only still exist today, but continue to play a practical role. The next time you step into a Jiu-Jitsu class at Renzo Gracie Pittsburgh, remember: a black belt is just a white belt who never quit.

-Dino