After 21 months of training and 310 workouts total (including classes, seminars, and open mats), I've finally received a blue belt.
Some data:
I switched gyms to a competition school. I didn't want a competition school, but this gym was close to my house and the professor was a wonderful guy with a background in MMA which was also interesting. Anyways, it's a wonderful gym.
So the policy at this gym is that you cannot get a promotion (including stripes) until you enter a competition. So it takes 5 competitions to get your next belt. Some young guys get it in a year, but most of us working folk take 2+ years or some even longer. You don't have to get gold in the competition, though if you do then you automatically get a stripe, but you either have to place or the professor has to feel like you had a good showing. It's not enough just to enter, but he has to see visible evidence in a competition setting that you have the skills. This was the opposite of my other gym, where the professor just decided you were ready and promoted you anytime. (Though most people did get at least one promotion per year.) At my current gym attendance is not important. At my two previous gyms attendance was important, including whether you took 2 classes in one day or not. Those gyms were much bigger and part of a bigger association.
When I first started since I was a former high school wrestler, I felt like I had some advantage. However, I was a boxer for a while and that's a totally different skill set. I also started at age 41, which is probably the biggest reason why it took so long even though I was in decent shape. I heard some gyms take 2-3 years for a blue belt. A female friend I know took 11 months to get her blue, but she also was at a competition school and she placed 1st in the absolute division for female white belts in a big tournament so that may have been the reason. Generally, it seems females get promoted faster and I see why. It's not b/c it's easier, but b/c it's much harder to be a female in a BJJ gym - not just socially, but having to spar people who are much bigger and stronger than you, one has to rely on technique.
Either way, it's a relief but also new pressure. The professor said, I hope you get to brown by 50. That's a little over 6 years from now. I hope so too.
- 22 months
- 400+ hours
- 4 gyms (I moved around b/c of work)
I switched gyms to a competition school. I didn't want a competition school, but this gym was close to my house and the professor was a wonderful guy with a background in MMA which was also interesting. Anyways, it's a wonderful gym.
So the policy at this gym is that you cannot get a promotion (including stripes) until you enter a competition. So it takes 5 competitions to get your next belt. Some young guys get it in a year, but most of us working folk take 2+ years or some even longer. You don't have to get gold in the competition, though if you do then you automatically get a stripe, but you either have to place or the professor has to feel like you had a good showing. It's not enough just to enter, but he has to see visible evidence in a competition setting that you have the skills. This was the opposite of my other gym, where the professor just decided you were ready and promoted you anytime. (Though most people did get at least one promotion per year.) At my current gym attendance is not important. At my two previous gyms attendance was important, including whether you took 2 classes in one day or not. Those gyms were much bigger and part of a bigger association.
When I first started since I was a former high school wrestler, I felt like I had some advantage. However, I was a boxer for a while and that's a totally different skill set. I also started at age 41, which is probably the biggest reason why it took so long even though I was in decent shape. I heard some gyms take 2-3 years for a blue belt. A female friend I know took 11 months to get her blue, but she also was at a competition school and she placed 1st in the absolute division for female white belts in a big tournament so that may have been the reason. Generally, it seems females get promoted faster and I see why. It's not b/c it's easier, but b/c it's much harder to be a female in a BJJ gym - not just socially, but having to spar people who are much bigger and stronger than you, one has to rely on technique.
Either way, it's a relief but also new pressure. The professor said, I hope you get to brown by 50. That's a little over 6 years from now. I hope so too.
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