The Belt Demotion That Broke The Internet
"A black belt only covers two inches of your ass, you have to cover the rest"- Royce Gracie
This quote is well known and often repeated by practitioners of all levels and yet belts have so much meaning to many practitioners. We often hear people say "it's just a belt" but it is so much more than that. It's not about status or bragging rights. It represents hard work, progress, overcoming adversity and the efforts of our team mates and professors. Recently, a well known purple belt and blogger who goes by Megjitsu announced that after 10 years of training she was demoting herself to white belt and joining a Gracie Jiu Jitsu gym (she, however, does not see this as a demotion, but rather an additional branch of her training). You can find the original post here. Needless to say, this didn't sit well with many in the Jiu Jitsu community and the internet exploded! I asked practitioners in the two Countries where I've trained, for their thoughts on the topic.
Jes, South Korea, Purple Belt: I feel she is demeaning her past instructor and trainer by doing this also, I think she is setting a bad precedent for schools to be more divisive and doubt the validity of others belts. Women are already putting up with enough but to maybe hear well "you're not a blue belt promoted by me so your training isn't good enough" is an issue.
Chapa, South Korea, Purple Belt: I definitely wouldn't do that....I work so hard...balancing a HIGH demanding profession...a young family at the time...financial issues with my former marriage to earn my purple belt and to demote myself just to get into what I call no Sparring section of the art. It makes no sense to me.Now I also practice Army Combatives which is the Armys version of MMA it doesn't have a belt system but I know that my skills from BJJ are respected. I watched and respect the Gracies and Gracie university but I see their videos where they travel to schools or Gracie garages and some heading those programs have BJJ belts and their rank gets recognized so no need to demote yourself. Self defense vs. sport is a myth. It's silly to think think that Cyborg & Buchecha can't defend themselves because they're world champs of BJJ.
Jiu Jiu, USA, Blue Belt: I wrote abut this on my blog. In general, it's very difficult to be an upper belt, join a new gym with an entirely new curriculum, and be behind everyone else. Putting on a white belt in some ways is much easier because you have zero expectations, whereas upper belts have a lot of expectations and eyeballs on them. In my case, I kept my belt, but chose to catch up in my training. I think it would feel disingenuous to find out that a white belt was actually a purple belt, out of perceived humility. However - a black belt in Japanese Jiu Jitsu wears a white belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu - is Gracie Jiu Jitsu actually a different animal, or simply a different brand?
Steven, USA, White Belt: I don't see anything too wrong with it as long as she's not sandbagging for tournaments. Belts don't mean a whole lot outside of competition and gauging your progress in the eyes of your peers, right?
Matt, South Korea, Brown Belt: It doesn't matter what color your belt is, your skills on the mats will speak for themselves. Embrace your weakness, suck that shit up and get better in your weak areas....BOOM done deal!!! Be proud of your lineage, because this, in my book, is what separates us from other martial arts...the pride and respect we have to those that came before us in this sport. Meg could have rolled right in there as a purple belt and just started over learning the self defense aspect of the sport without giving up her hard earned belts along the way.
Randy, South Korea, Blue Belt: I'm ok with it as long as she isn't trying to compete or anything. She is a purple belt, but she is a white belt in THAT specific system that she is training. Until she achieves their specific criteria to progress. I think she is only showing respect.
Gillian, USA, Purple Belt: I don't care unless she intends to compete at the rank of white belt and then I think it becomes a severe ethics issue. Regardless of the differences in the curriculum, her mat time alone makes her better than your standard white belt. If she doesn't plan to compete, then it's a personal decision. But, even though I don't put significant stock into belt color, I would personally not go train under a blue belt of any discipline if I already had some level of experience (unless they had other established credentials that applied to that same art -- example blue belt in BJJ, but black belt in Judo, then there is a lot of knowledge about the ground in that individual regardless of the blue belt rank). I think we can call it humble for sure, but I have to sit back and question what would motivate someone to abandon their rank AND train under someone who in the same discipline holds a lower rank than the one they abandoned? At the end of the day, the choice was hers and provided she doesn't compete at white belt it doesn't really affect anyone else.
Laka, USA, Blue Belt:
Miyagi sensei says " Belt good for hold up pants." Bwahahaha! I say different system equals different belt same as any karate, judo, bobby lee Kwon do, or ameri-do-te. Same roots with different styles. She did right by old school of thought. It's respectful for a new student to be humble in the new dojo to wear a white belt then change if told it's ok. It just means that she may progress quicker in the Gracie style than a new jujitsu player would.
Anna, South Korea, Blue Belt: I like how she says that her new belt is in addition to, rather than a replacement of, her purple belt. I think that's a good point. At the same time, it seems silly to go all the way back to white when she basically already knows Gracie JJ, according to her former instructor. But then again, since she already has a strong background in it, she should be able to advance through the new belt system relatively quickly and be right back at purple, legitimately through their system. I don't like how they don't let white belts spar, though...she's going to lose some of her skill, I'm sure. I don't know...I'm really on the fence about this right now.
I came from a traditional Chinese MA background where it was considered the height of scandalous, inappropriate rude ego to wear a belt from one school into another school. Once (years ago) when I went into another BJJ school, I put on a white belt. That teacher knew I was a blue belt elsewhere at the time, and was like "Did you forget your belt?" I said, "I thought it would be disrespectful to YOUR school to come in here wearing a belt from a different school," Teacher rolled eyes and said, "Just wear your belt." I am aware now that the teacher who gave me my purple would consider it a grave professional and personal insult if I went anywhere with a white belt on. I'd love to stay a white belt forever- less pressure- but you have to wear what your teacher tells you to wear, whether you agree with it or not. I think to do otherwise is telling your teacher that you think you know better than them... and *I* for one am not going to stand in front of my teacher and tell them that!!!!
Terry, USA, White Belt: I feel that a belt does not define someone's skills or abilities, however it is used as a ranking system. Now if it was done out of respect why did she return back to a white belt instead of a blue? Respect should work both ways- down and up.
J, USA, Black Belt: I think it's ok to do that. A training partner of mine a million years ago was a solid purple belt who moved to LA and joined Rickson's school when he was still open. They made him start over because he was not proficient with the self defense portion of the curriculum. Rickson let him compete as a purple but was a white belt in the academy. He didn't stay a white belt that long. Frankly it shouldn't matter that she started over. It definitely shows a sign of respect to her new instructor, but may cause a her old one to have a bruised ego.
Mark, USA, Black Belt: It's disrespectful to the belt, it's disrespectful to the professor and overall it is very disrespectful to the art. Maybe I am from the old school way of thinking but my students know the sacrifice that goes into those belts. They are rank, yes, but they are also the culmination of every bit of hard work they have ever done. By purple belt she should know better. My suspicion is that this is source material to generate views for her blog.
Whatever the reason or your feelings on the topic, this has generated some excellent conversation on the worth of our belts, performance and the expectations we must uphold as practitioners. It has also raised many questions on systems that involve little or no sparring. Stay tuned for a post on that in the near future. Thank you for all those who contributed! What about you, reader ? What are your thoughts?
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