The journey to black belt in any school of martial arts is long and arduous, and BJJ is no exception. Reaching the peak of training, the first degree anyway, can take anywhere between seven and fifteen years. This is a huge period of time to train, so you can imagine the level of skill that is require to even test for your black belt, let alone obtain one. So why does it take so long, especially compared to other types of martial art? It isn’t unheard of to reach black belt in disciplines such as taekwondo in around five years, so where are the differences? What makes the road to BJJ Black Belt so hard to travel along?
Level of Technique…
Reason number one of why getting your black belt in BJJ takes so long is the sheer volume of what there is to learn. With over 600 techniques, there is a massive variety of what you can learn over the course of your training. For a martial art that is competed mainly on the floor, having 600+ techniques to learn is huge. If you consider other arts, such as taekwondo or hapkido, who spend all the time upright, manipulating their opponents from a greater variety of positions having no where near the same amount of techniques as BJJ.
You must also remember what having a black belt signifies. The black belt is the universally recognized sign of mastery of a martial art discipline. With over 600 techniques to master, it becomes understandable that it takes such a length of time to achieve a BJJ Black Belt.
Competition is Key…
Another difference between progressing in the grading system in BJJ compared to other martial arts is that ability must be proved in a competitive roll, not just on a training partner that is acting the part like a cheap WWE Wrestler. By needing students to prove themselves in a roll before progressing, you know that your knowledge will be cemented between each grade, and also you have the belief that you will actually be able to defend yourself in a real situation, something that isn’t guaranteed in other disciplines.
Rules & Regulations…
The third reason that BJJ is a long haul are the governing rules from the IBJJF, the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation. There are a few terms and conditions to progression, and a couple of recommendations that would be wise to follow. Firstly, to obtain an official IBJJF approved black belt, you have to be at least nineteen years of age. That means for all the young trainees out there, you have a while to wait before you can expect to reach the top. You also have to be 16 or over to gain any adult belt due to the competition categories.
On average, from right belt reaching the next stage of blue belt can take any between 6 and 12 months, which is to be expected, there’s a lot to take in as an absolute beginner. From there, the IBJJF recommend a minim of 1-2 years to be spent at each stage, but realistically, 2-4 years are spent at each level, explaining the large amount of time it takes to reach the top.
The climb to black belt is tough, no BJJ competitor will deny that fact. But the level of mastery at your disposal when you finally reach black belt will be unrivalled. That level of skill and ability is enough to keep anyone motivated on their way to the BJJ Elite.
Come down to Arashi Do Edmonton and try out one of our great Brazilian programs like Fundamental BJJ, Women’s Only BJJ or Children’s BJJ for ages 4-7 and 8-14.
All those and you get a 30 DAY FREE TRIAL!
Arashi Do North has been open since Jan 2004 (since 1985 in Alberta). We offer Karate, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai classes to Children 4-7, 8-12, 14-16 and adults (16+). Come try out a class with use and check out our other social media for neat videos and photos.
BJJ in North Edmonton 
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