Brazilian Jui-Jitsu: Ranking

The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ranking system is a means of signifying a practitioner’s increasing levels of technical knowledge and practical skill within the art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Colored belts that are worn as part of the uniform are awarded to the practitioner. There is division between youths and adults and the issuance of stripes and degrees. Some distinct differences have become synonymous with the art, such as a marked informality in promotional criteria, a focus on a competitive demonstration of skill, and a conservative approach to promotion.

White belt is the beginning rank for all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu students.

White belt is the first belt within Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. The rank is held by any practitioner new to the art and has no prerequisite. Some instructors and other high-level practitioners think that a white belt’s training should emphasize escapes and defensive positioning since a white belt will often fight from inferior positions, especially when training with more experienced practitioners.

Most academies will additionally require that a white belt level practitioner works to obtain a well-rounded skills set, with a knowledge of basic offensive moves, such as common submissions and guard passes.

The IBJJF requires a practitioner remain a blue belt for a minimum of 2 years.

The IBJJF requires a practitioner remain a blue belt for a minimum of 2 years. Blue belt is the second adult rank in Brazilian JiuJitsu. At the blue belt level, students gain a wide breadth of technical knowledge and undertake hundreds of hours of mat-time to learn how to implement these moves efficiently. Blue belt is often the rank at which the student learns a large number of techniques.

The IBJJF requires that a practitioner be at least 16 years old to receive a blue belt, thereby officially entering into the adult belt system.

The IBJJF requires a practitioner remain a purple belt for a minimum of 1.5 years.

Purple belt is the intermediate adult ranking in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. The purple belt level practitioner has gained a large amount of knowledge, and purple belts are generally considered qualified to instruct lower-ranked students. In other martial arts, students with a similar amount of experience are often ranked as a black (instructor) level belt.

The IBJJF requires student to be at least 16 years old and recommends they have spent a minimum of two years ranked as a blue belt to be eligible for a purple belt, with slightly different requirements for those graduating directly from the youth belts.

The IBJJF requires a practitioner remain a brown belt for a minimum of 1 year.

Aside from the exceptional belts awarded at the highest levels, brown belt is the highest ranking color belt in Brazilian JiuJitsu. Brown belt typically requires at least five years of dedicated training to achieve.  It is often thought of as a time for refining techniques.

The IBJJF requires that students be at least 18 years old and recommends they have spent a minimum of 18 months as a purple belt to be eligible for a brown belt.

The IBJJF requires a practitioner remain a black belt for a minimum of 31 years.

As with many other martial arts, the black belt is the highest common belt within Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, denoting an expert level of technical and practical skill. Estimates of the time required to achieve the rank vary, but all holders of this rank have thousands of hours of experience. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belts are often addressed within the art as Professor, although some schools and organizations reserve this honorific for more senior black belts.

The IBJJF requires that a student be at least 19 years old and recommends they have spent a minimum of 1 year ranked as a brown belt to be eligible for a black belt.

The IBJJF requires a practitioner remain a black & red belt for a minimum of 7 years.

When a Brazilian JiuJitsu black belt reaches the seventh degree, he or she is awarded an alternating red-and-black belt similar to the one earned at the sixth degree in Judo.  This belt is commonly known as the coral belt. Coral belts are very experienced practitioners, most of whom have made a large impact on Brazilian JiuJitsu, and are often addressed within the art by the title Master.

The IBJJF requires a practitioner remain a white & red belt for a minimum of 10 years.

The IBJJF recently amended the graduation guide-lines with respect to the transition between seventh degree and eighth degree black belt. A practitioner who has achieved the rank of 8th degree black belt will wear a red and white belt.

The 9th degree red belt is the highest rank awarded to any currently living practitioner of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

According to Renzo & Royler Gracie, in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu the red belt is reserved “for those whose influence and fame takes them to the pinnacle of the art”. It is awarded in lieu of a ninth and tenth degree black belt. If a practitioner receives his or her black belt at 19 years old, the earliest they could expect to receive a ninth degree red belt would be at the age of 67.  Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu red belt holders are often addressed within the art by the title Grandmaster.