BJJ Belts Ranking System: The Complete Guide To Jiu Jitsu Belts White, Black, Coral, And Everything In-Between

Jiu Jitsu is a very common martial art practiced by people worldwide, how did it start?

In the last days of the nineteenth century, some Jiu-jitsu masters emigrated from the country of Japan to other continents, including Brazil.

Mitsuyo Maedas arrived in Brazil in 1915 and settled in Belem, where he met a Brazilian man named Gastao Gracies. Gastao became an enthusiast of Jiu-jitsu and brought his eldest son, Carlos, to study under the Japanese master.

When Carlos Gracie came back to Brazil, he opened the first academy called “The Academy Gracie de Jiu-jitsu”. He taught people the art of BJJ.

Jiu Jitsu is a martial art form that allows people of different sizes and strengths to fight each other using techniques and simultaneously take advantage of an opponent’s strength and weakness.

A practitioner of jiujitsu uses leverage and movement to throw his/her opponents off balance. There are many different schools of jiu-jitsu today.

Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) has five main belt ranks, white, blue, purple/brown, black, and green. White belt means beginner level. Blue belt means intermediate. Purple/brown belt means advanced. Black belt means master and coral is the final stage.

Starting Training

When you commence training in BJJ how to complete warm up to get your muscles ready for the practise session.

Warm-ups should be easy to understand, but may take some practice before they become automatic. They should feel natural to use and make sense when being performed.

As you progress in your training, you should be able to execute more advanced techniques without having to think about what you’re doing.However, if it’s your first time encountering them then yes, they will seem difficult.

Over time, each technique will become easier as you practice it more often.

A good warm-up will prepare your body to safely perform the movements used throughout the class while also using techniques that are used anywhere.

Doing this will improve your performance and learning capacity. A warm-up should not take up the entire class time, but it should be enough to get your body ready.

Let’s look at each belt in detail and what you need to learn.

White

If you are new to BJJ it’s natural to feel slightly overwhelmed. At first, new students often feel defeated when faced with opponents.

This is because you haven’t yet learned how to deal with the pressure of rolling/sparring, espcailly if you haven’t done any martial arts before.

You must learn to focus on executing techniques instead of trying to submit them. As a white belt, you don’t have to win every match.

You just have to train hard and get better each time you step into the gym. So what do you need to master to become a white belt?

Relaxation

Jiu-Jitsu is a great sport because it teaches you how to use your body to overcome an opponent. Relaxing during practice helps you develop muscle memory and allows you to perform techniques correctly.

The concept of relaxing during a sport such as this may seem confusing but it’s vital in order to master the necassary moves. If your mind and body are tense it will slow you down and and you will be more likely to injure youself.

A lot of tension stems form the ego. The drive to be the best and not fail can sometimes prevent you from learning effectively.

Try not to get bogged down with wanting to be the best, focus on being the best for you which is a much better strategy for becoming proficient.

How can you do it?

You could incorprate some relaxation pracices into your daily routine and you could use them as a way of calming the mind and body before you start training.

Focus on the breath and meditae for 15 minutes before training and see if that helps you remain calm and focus.

Being relaxed while sparring or fighting gives you more access to skills.Your ability to learn and perform is linked to your state mind, which is in linked to your breath.

Smooth and even breathing helps you to stay focused and relaxed while training. Panting and gasping for breath makes you lose focus and get nervous.

Shrimping And Bridging

Shrimping is an important part of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. It helps you get out of bad positions and apply submissions.

There are several ways to do this but here are some examples:

One of the most common shrimpping moves in BJJ is the two legged method. Start from the position where you’re flat on the mat together, with your feet straight and hands up.

Move slightly to one side. Bring both legs up to your butt.This is a great exercise for getting into a high position without using your arms. You should be able to do this by yourself.

When you get into a high position, you can use your arm to push off the wall. When you go down, you can use your other foot to kick away from the wall.

The sideways shrimping technique looks similar to those that are escaping from side control.

To do this exercise correctly, start on your side with your hands up near your face, swing your feet and your shoulders backwards, and push forward with your hips.

Then move your hips backward. You should stay on the same side as you perform the exercise. Repeat.

Another technique is the forward Shrimp. Start from the position where your back is flat on the mat, legs straight, and hands up.

Roll to one side and simultaneously crunch the shoulders down towards your waist while keeping your weight on your heels and one hip. Your foot should be pushed forward and bent at the knee.

You need to move your leg until you feel a slight pain. Then push your heel down and extend your leg. Repeat this movement 10 times.

A bridge is when you jump up using your legs to get some height. You then use your hips to go over the top of your opponent. This is used in many submissions and passes.

Technical Stand Up

A technical stand-up is a basic BJJ technique used by ground fighters who want to get back up to their feet.

You need to post up on both arms and legs, and use them to take the weight off the free leg to get it back under your body.

Your free hand can also extend to protect yourself from attacks and create distance.

Rolls

Forward and backward Rolls are a key element to BJJ. They help decrease impact forces when thrown or swept. Roll over your shoulder instead of straight over your neck.

This may allow you to escape bad situations, retrieve guard, or roll into attacks. even though it is basic, it’s an essential move for beginners to learn.

Blue

A blue belt is someone who is able to subdue an untrained opponent. People who reach the blue belt stage usually train hard every day for a couple of hours.

They learn how to use leverage and timing to gain advantage over their opponents. They also pick up some new techniques and see what works well and what doesn’t.

At the blue belt level, people are still learning how to fight, but they’re getting better at using the tools available to them.

Blue belts must learn how to take down bigger opponents, escape submissions, and protect themselves from attacks. This includes being able to grapple with larger opponents and defend themselves from takedown attempts.

Interestingly, In Brazilian jiu-jitsu, it takes only two or three rolls for an instructor to decide whether or not someone meets all the basics of Brazilian jiu-jutsu. What does a blue belt need to know?

Defense

A blue belt needs to have a solid defense, know not only how defend an armlock, triangle, rear naked choke, defend their backs, defend the mount, but also how to maintain balance to defend the sweep.

For this belt, they will need to defend themselves much more than they can attack.

Movements In sequence

To successfully move onto blue belt not only will you have mastered the basic moves you will now be working on having them ready in a smooth sequence.

As a blue belt you should always work out what you need to do to win. You should also consider how you can improve by changing things around.

For example, if you want to learn a move, you need to understand why you are doing it. This means thinking about how the move works, and experimenting with variations of the move.

Submissions

Submissions are bjj moves that people tend to focus on too much, but there are certain ones you should know before getting a blue belt.

• Armbar – mastering this technique takes some time, but knowing basics from the closed guard is essential.
• Triangle choke – although this move can be used in various positions, you should concentrate on basic version from the guard. In early stages of learning success rate of this submission depends a lot on your constitution – shape, form, and physical strength of your legs.
• Kimura – is an arm lock that can be applied from different positions. Guard passing is one of the most used submission techniques. It can be performed from side control and mount position.

Positions

You need to know and understand certain positions and techniques to get a blue belt such as: full guard, half guard, side control, mount, and back control.

Side control is the most common position in BJJ. You should be familiar with this position because it is used often throughout the sport.

Back control is also very useful, but it is less common than side control.

Bottom Half Guard is another position that is rarely seen in competition, but is important to know because it is an effective submission hold.

Purple

A purple belt is the first step towards becoming a black belt. Purple belts are usually good sources of information about how to improve your game.

Registering with the IBJJF is a great idea because many of the top ranked athletes compete there. If you’re aiming for purple you should be training consistently.

A purple belt needs to train 3x per week to make it to purple belt. Frequency of training is key to reaching the next level. Purple belts are required to have a cohesive game.

The purple belt must have an understanding of BJJ, while also being able to understand how to apply BJJ techniques to different situations.

To get there, you must demonstrate mastery over many techniques from various positions. You must also be able to move fluidly between these positions, and transition from one to another with ease.

As a purple belt you should also be familiar with more advanced techniques such as invesions, backsteps, sit outs, granby rolls and imanari rolls.

Smoothness

A purple belt knows how to move, how to fight, and how to win. He knows how to make his opponents’ moves work against them. He uses his opponent’s speed and weight to his advantage.

He recognizes the right conditions in which to use his techniques.

A purple belt is a time when you learn more about yourself and your strengths and weaknesses as well as the basics of BJJ. You know how to correct your mistakes and improve your game.

At this stage the purple belt is learning how to iron out any crases that remain in his fluidity of movement in his preparation for transitioning to black belt.

Mentality

As a purple belt means you will have developed your own game and style. Your teacher can’t help you anymore at this stage so you must be independent in your practice.

You have to solve your problems and exchange ideas with other people.

Purple belt means more than just a new rank. It means that you know how to apply your knowledge and experience to improve your skills with dignity and skill.

Time

There are no specific age requirements for becoming a purple belt. However, there are recommended guidelines for how long you must spend learning before being considered an expert.

It should take around 4-5 years to become a purple belt.

Brown

The IBJJF requires competitors to spend 18 months at purple belt before advancing to brown belt.

At brown belt, competitors need to refine their game and improve their technique. Brown belts should have a strong understanding of the fundamentals of jiu-jitsu, and be ready to compete.

A brown belt should always be ready to fight. He should use automatic movements. He should never lose focus or concentration during sparring and he should always be aware of his surroundings.

As a brown belts you will naturally start dominating on the mat. You should also be known as an expert on the mat. You should have some incredible moves of your own.

Your club friends should know what areas you specialize in, and they should also know that you’re a great fighter. you are only one belt away from black belt. Fixing your glaring weaknesses now will make you better than ever before.

Black

The ultimate goal in the world of martial arts is to become a black belt and it is considered a an impressive achievement.

A person who earns a black belt is a true expert in BJJ. He or she is often respected by other experts.

Black belts are usually earned after many years of training. There are five levels of black belt. Each level requires more time spent learning than the previous.

The highest ranking black belt is called “professor”. In order to compete in the IBJJF, you need to be 19 years old or older, have been a registered brown belt for 1 year, and pass a CPR and referee course before competing.

This rule has caused controversy among some people who feel that there should be more flexibility in how much experience someone needs to have to compete.

Coral Belts

Acheiving a coral belt isn’t an easy feat, in fact there are less than 50 people with coral belts worldwide. You must be 50 years old and train for 30 years to gain a coral belt.

Coral belts are split into 2 sub-belts.

Coral Belt ranks are 7th and 8th degree BJJ. This is a transitional rank between black and red belt.

Someone with a coral belt is considered a true jutsu master with at least 37 years of BJJ training. He/she must be a black belt before he/she can move up to red belt.

Otherwise, the IJBF requires that a jiu-jitsu expert must spend 10 years at red and white belt level.

In Summary

Practising Jiu-Jitsu is a noble sport. It trains the mind and body. With determination and positivity it is possible to go through the belt ranking and be the best that you can be .

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