The black belt is the fifth adult belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and the start of a second ladder of six degrees, marked as stripes on its red bar. In judo the black belt marks the dan grades.
- Rank: fifth adult belt; degrees are added as stripes over the following decades.
- Minimum age: 18 under the IBJJF General System of Graduation; bjjheroes.com says the federation rule was eighteen when Royce Gracie was promoted a few months early by his father.
- In judo: judoinfo.com gives dan as black belt rank and yudansha as a person who has earned the black belt.
What does a black belt mean?
A BJJ black belt can teach the whole art, roll with anyone and explain why a technique works. It is awarded by the student's own instructor, usually in a ceremony in front of the academy. The bjjheroes.com page on Royce Gracie describes one: a few months before Royce reached the minimum age of eighteen required for the black belt, his father awarded it in a ceremony co-hosted by his brother Rickson. Roger Gracie's page records that his uncle Carlos Gracie Junior awarded him his black belt in 2004.
The belt is also where lineage becomes formal. Carlos Gracie's page notes that he awarded the black belt to eleven of his twenty-one children.
How are black belt degrees earned?
The IBJJF General System of Graduation counts years of proven activity at black belt under the federation:
- 1st degree: after 3 years.
- 2nd degree: 3 years after the 1st, or 6 years at black.
- 3rd degree: 3 years after the 2nd, or 9 years at black.
- 4th degree: 5 years after the 3rd, or 14 years at black.
- 5th degree: 5 years after the 4th, or 19 years at black.
- 6th degree: 5 years after the 5th, or 24 years at black.
After 31 years at black belt the next step is the red and black coral belt. To apply for the IBJJF black belt certificate an athlete must also hold a first aid or CPR certificate and an IBJJF rules course certificate from the last 12 months.
How is a BJJ black belt different from a judo dan grade?
- In judo, the judoinfo.com terms list gives dan as black belt rank; a 1st dan is the first black belt grade and the numbers rise from there.
- Judo black belt holders are yudansha; kodansha are 5th dan and above.
- In BJJ the black belt has degrees, marked as stripes on the belt's bar.
- At high degrees the BJJ belt changes colour: coral at the 7th and 8th degree, red at the 9th and 10th, according to bjjheroes.com's profiles of Royce and Helio Gracie.
What changes at black belt?
Everything and nothing. You still turn up, warm up and get tapped by people on a good day. What changes is the expectation: the room looks to you for the standard of technique, of safety and of behaviour, and lower belts copy what you do without being asked.
A black belt promotion is one of the few events in the sport worth marking with a gift. Our black belt gifts collection is for that day.
Sources
- Bjjheroes.com page on Royce Gracie, BJJ Heroes
- Roger Gracie's page, BJJ Heroes
- Carlos Gracie's page, BJJ Heroes
- Judoinfo.com terms list, JudoInfo
- IBJJF General System of Graduation, IBJJF
Related terms
Brown belt (BJJ), Coral belt, Red belt, Kyu and dan grades, Professor (BJJ), Lineage.