Jiu-Jitsu Belts – Everything You Need to Know

Jiu-Jitsu, like almost every martial art, has a belt system (sorry Tai Chi).  Each martial art has a slightly different progression in time and color progression but all signify the same thing.  The mastery of the students understanding and performance within their respective martial art.

This article will be going into the Adult Jiu-Jitsu Belts particularly.  We will cover what to know at each, what the belts and stripes mean, and many other FAQs you have!

If I missed anything, let me know in the comments form below!

 

What Is the Jiu-Jitsu Belt Progression?

The belts, as shown at the beginning of this article, are white, blue, purple, brown, then black.  There are two others after black belt that we will cover later which are the coral belt and red belt.

As you progress with each belt, you can earn “stripes”.

What Do The Stripes Within The Belts Mean?

The stripes on belts are used to signify progression within the respective belt. Before black belt, every one can earn up to 4 stripes before being promoted.

So when you see a 4th stripe or 4th “degree” white, blue, purple, or brown belt, it means they are very close to earning their next belt promotion.  Once you receive the black belt, you can earn up to 10 stripes on it.

 

How Do I Earn Stripes on my Jiu-Jitsu Belt?

The easy answer?  Time and practice.  It’s important to show up to classes consistently and give it your full time and attention while attending.  If you do that, you will be sure to earn your next stripe!

Some gyms will give stripes periodically based on their belt promotion days.  Others will give them based on the efforts and abilities of the student.

Earning each belt is typically not a fast achievement.  Because of that, stripes are a good way to signify growth and gained ability while you strive for the next belt!

 

 

How Long Does It Take To Get Each Belt in Jiu-Jitsu?

The time can vary somewhat drastically between belt promotions. The typical “fast” time to black belt is 5 years and more typically it takes 10+ years.  Within that 5-10+ years the breakdowns are typically as follows.

• White to Blue Belt: 1-2 Years
• Blue to Purple Belt: 2-3 Years (3-5 Years total)
• Purple to Brown Belt: 1-2 Years (4-7 Years total)
• Brown to Black Belt: 1-3 Years (5-10 Years total)

When you consider these are typical promotion times, you may be surprised to learn that the fastest promotion to Black Belt was 18 months to Travis Stevens.  Travis entered Jiu-Jitsu after becoming an Olympic silver medalist in Judo and trained under one of the top coaches in the world, John Danaher.

Other noteworthy sub-5 year black belts include BJ Penn, Demian Maia, and Gunnar Nelson.  All of them ended up competing in the UFC.

If you’re looking to start your own Jiu-Jitsu journey, check out some of my other articles around Picking a Jiu-Jitsu Gym and What to Expect After Starting Jiu-Jitsu!

 

What Should You Be Able to Accomplish At Each Belt?

Depending on what school you attend, the requirements for a belt promotion can differ.  The most structured promotion system that I have seen falls under the Gracie Combatives system.  They lay out a “point system” to determine if you know and can properly apply every move that they have listed.

In my experience though, there isn’t a formal “test” at most schools for adults.  What they do instead is look at your attendance and progress in Jiu-Jitsu to determine if you should earn your next Jiu-Jitsu belt.

That being said, below will touch on some of the higher level points that you will learn at each belt.

 

White Belt: Basics and Survival

Unless you wrestled in high school, you will likely have a very hard time accomplishing anything as a new White Belt in Jiu-Jitsu.  All of your time will be spent learning the basic positions and moves to defend yourself and get to a better position.

It’s through this “survival” that you will learn the basics.  You will learn the positions, the escapes, the passes, and ultimately just try to not get smashed 5 minutes at a time.  Once you can start getting out of bad positions and stop yourself from getting tapped during every roll, you are on your way to get a Blue belt!

 

 Blue Belt: Learning and Applying All of the Basics

Jiu-Jitsu practitioners will likely spend more time at blue belt than any other.  Getting past your blue belt is an accomplishment that only an estimated .5% of practitioners get to.  Just in case you missed that, it was .5%.  1/2 of a percent.  And it’s no wonder.  The knowledge that comes with getting past your blue belt is certainly substantial.

Where the white belt was understanding basics, blue requires you to understand and apply moves from every position.  You should be able to escape mount and side control, complete sweeps from guard and half guard, be able to pass guard effectively, be able to complete takedowns effectively, and have a good arsenal of submissions under your belt (pun intended).

It takes a lot of time to learn and apply all of these techniques. Then to built a mental framework around all of them and start to chain the moves together is the only way to earn your stripes (last pun, I promise).

Once you find that you can survive without tapping against most opponents and even give some of those higher level belts a hard time, you are likely close to earning your Purple belt.

 

 Purple Belt: Refining Your Knowledge

At this point, the groundwork has been laid for Jiu-Jitsu knowledge.  You spent several years at blue learning and applying all of the basics.  Purple is now about refining that knowledge.

Remember the armbar you learned when you started?  Well, it turns out there are several small details that will make it far more effective.  What about the cross-collar choke?  Same thing there.  Then the transitions from those positions into something else?  It turns out every move you thought you knew how to do has several details that will make it infinitely more effective.

The purple belt is also about testing out some new techniques that you haven’t spent much time with previously.  You should be able to easily handle most of your opponents at Purple so applying proper technique and testing out new moves will be where you spend another portion of your time.

Interestingly, the number of purple belts who end up getting their brown belt is a pretty sizeable 33%.  Those who have gotten this far are well on their way to getting to brown belt.

 

 Brown Belt: Refining Your Own Game

I’ve heard someone say the only difference between a purple belt and a black belt is mat time.  I believe that to be true for Brown belt as well.  You should have seen every basic attack, escape, pass, and otherwise at this point.  You also have “refined” your game and built skills where you are most effective.

So as a brown belt, you should spend time training with a number of other black belt professors and exposing yourself to a large number of different opponents.  It’s through this exposure that you can make sure that your game is built out to the best of your ability.   You’ve learned the basics and refined them, but working them with other coaches who have different games will serve you well at this point in your journey.

In continuing the process and applying yourself to other schools and other situations, you will find yourself well on your way to black belt.

 

 Black Belt: Perfecting the Craft

It’s easy to think of a black belt as the ultimate goal in Jiu-Jitsu.  It shows your expertise, knowledge, and dedication to a craft that only a very small percentage of the population has made it to.  While it is an impressive accomplishment though, it is seen by many as the beginning of a new Jiu-Jitsu journey.

Don’t black belts know everything?  Haven’t they accomplished everything that they need to?  While the answer can be yes in one aspect, it is a huge no in others.

All of the skills, transitions, techniques, and otherwise you have learned to this point will only further be perfected at black belt.  You have no limit to the amount of training and experience you can earn, and your journey from there is fully your own once you get to black belt.

 

Black Belt: Additional Thoughts

Anyone you train or compete with at the black belt level could be a 6 month black belt or they could be a 30 year, multi gold medal winning black belt.  So the additional time and dedication that can be given as a black belt is nearly unlimited.

So while it may be hard to grasp, the difference in abilities between black belts can be greater than the difference between a white belt and a new black belt.  And that is why getting your black belt can be seen as a new start in your Jiu-Jitsu journey.

 

Why Is the “Final” Belt a Black Belt?

Belt ranking systems can be traced back to the 1880’s.  Before that point, everyone wore a white belt.  Both brand new trainees as well as masters.

With that being the case, the only way to tell how long someone had been training was by how dirty and colored their belt was.  The longer the person had been training, the dirtier and more covered their belt got.

As you can imagine, the dirtiest and most worn belts turned out to be black.  Hence, black belts were born.

 

What Are Red and Coral Belts?

Red and white striped or “coral” belts and red belts are the highest recognition given in martial arts. They were initially introduced in Karate in the 1930’s and were given only to the highest ranking and most accomplished practitioners of the sport.  They made their way into Jiu-Jitsu in the 1960’s by the Gracie family.

 

Coral Belt

The “coral” belt particularly signifies a 7th or 8th degree Black Belt. As mentioned earlier and as shown in the chart above, you have to have been practicing for a certain amount of time to earn each stripe at black belt.

Some quick math will tell us that a coral belt will have to have been a black belt for 31 years. *Cue jaw drop*.  As of the end of 2022, there were 71 coral belts in the world.

When receiving your 7th degree, your black belt is exchanged with a striped black and red belt with the corresponding number of stripes.  Another 7 years after that, you will earn the white and red striped coral belt along with the 8th stripe on your belt.

As you digest the insanity of those stats, let’s get to the even crazier numbers involved in a red belt.

 

Red Belt

A red belt signifies the highest achievement in Jiu-Jitsu and is literally titled as a “Grand Master”.  To earn your red belt, you have to train as a coral belt for an additional 17 years.  That means you will have to train as a black belt for a total of 48 years to potentially earn a red belt.

And earning those additional stripes is more than just having it.  You have to be active in the Jiu-Jitsu world for that time.  As Renzo and Royler Gracie said, “the red belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is reserved for those whose influence and fame takes them to the pinnacle of the art”.

So as you can imagine, there aren’t very many.  At the time this article was written, there were 22 ninth degree red belts and only 5 tenth degree red belts.  Those 5 tenth-degree black belts (red belts) are Carlos Gracie Sr., Gastão Gracie, Jorge (George) Gracie, Hélio Gracie, and Oswaldo Gracie.

 

And there you have it.  Everything you should know about Jiu-Jitsu belts.

If there’s anything I missed, let me know in the contact form below!