Probably the most articulate viewpoint on BJJ I've heard on youtube, and your view on belts rings true in my experience. Love the format and I am sure your channel will prosper in due course. Keep it up!

Blue belt was rough because it was the first time I felt like I had a target on my back. Higher belts would stop taking it easy on me and white belts would always go hard when rolling. If tough love had a picture in the dictionary, it would be a picture of a blue belt. Great times.

Time marks White belt 0:00 Blue belt 7:16 Purple belt 16:30 Brown belt 20:15 Black belt 23:49

At white belt I focused on just surviving and understanding my attackers through defence. At blue belt I focused on guard passing and movement, position over submission. I loved rolling just working on being in a better position. At purple belt I’ve been focusing on setting up my attacks, baiting my opponent and thinking 3 steps ahead. Man I love this sport.

'Your energy expenditure goes way down at purple belt'. Isn't that just because they skip the warm up? :p

Here's some video time stamps for those who would like them. WB = 0.00 BB = 7.16 PB = 16.30 BRB = 20.15 BLB = 23.49

Started BJJ two weeks ago and I love it

59 and went to my second class today and rolled for the first time, twice. I am overweight besides being old. I am addicted to watching MMA and starting to enjoy watching grappling matches and watching Roger Gracie and Gordon Ryan. I just hope to drop some weight, get in better shape, learn some self defense, be a good student and a great training partner, and have fun. The guys there are super nice and I hope to form good friendships. I love the chess match, just wish I had started when I was younger, but so far I LOVE IT ! Thanks for the great videos !

I quit at blue belt because of injury. After two years I'm finally back at it.

White belt - 2 years. Blue Belt - 3.5 years. Just got my purple belt. Thanks for the video

Notes I took directly from this video... White Belt - most underappreciated of the belts. Most important belt in some ways, foundational belt. Critically important with everything learned. You will learn more at white belt than any other belt. Think about everything you must lean at white belt- you don’t know anything. You must learn the four major positions: mount, side-mount, guard, back. You must learn defense and offense. Like being a fisherman and casting your net as wide as possible, trying to catch as many different kinds as possible. You can’t go deep into the technique yet, but the broad strokes of each thing. You are learning big, new things. Concepts and new positions. As your belt gets darker, you learn smaller and smaller things- details of positions. Blue Belt - The Paradox Belt. A paradox because it is the easiest belt to obtain in Jiu jitsu, but the hardest to graduate from. Signifies whether you have what it takes to get to black belt or not. If you cannot get to purple belt, you’ll never get to black belt. And not everybody that gets a blue belt can turn that corner and get the purple belt, because there is a fundamental transformation that you must make in your game. There’s a huge difference between an early-stage blue belt and a late-stage blue belt, and not all blue belts can turn that corner. A new blue belt is still an immature player, but they should have reasonably complete game, but a simple game. Still have not delve deeply into the minor positions, focusing on the major positions, and should be complete in a simplified way. A blue belt is someone who can defend themselves against someone who is bigger, stronger, and more athletic but who is not a Jiu jitsu practitioner. So, if you get attacked in a self defense situation (Assuming there are not knives or multiple attackers) you should be able to defend yourself convincingly against that. Early-stage blue belts you still don’t know a lot of things and still in “sponge mode”, trying to take everything in. Always looking for that next technique. At some point in your blue belt journey, you will realize is what you need is not more technique but deeper into the techniques that constitute your game. You need to master details of the techniques you know so you have the set-up, timing, and sensitivity. Half-way into blue belt you will have this epiphany and stop casting their net wide. Not many can make that transition. Late-stage blue belt/Purple begins stringing techniques together, no longer one-dimensional to resolve patterns or positions. Puts game together in a much more effective and connected way. It can be a belt that takes a long time to get out of. You will struggle. Most people quit at blue belt because of “blue belt blues” which is when you are coming to class, night in and night out, and you’re feeling like you are waging the same battles repeatedly. You’re hitting this “Wall” and you don’t know how to get around it, and it can be frustrating. You must keep pushing through until your break-through- which will happen. Sometimes when you are at the worst stage of that wall, you are on the cusp of breaking through. “Nothing feels like its working” because you need a detail or go deeper into the technique instead of strength and muscle. There are always technical answers to physical problems. You are too one-dimensional yet. DO NOT GIVE UP! It’s a badge of honor to get through the blue belt blues! When you make that break-through, it is the most amazing feeling. KEEP TRAINING! Purple Belt - An immature advanced player. If we can agree that Jiu jitsu is a continuum, there is a point in that continuum where it can be said you are an advanced player, and a purple belt is an early-stage advanced player. The purple belt is the gateway into the advanced game. You might get a black belt in three or four years in other martial arts, but not in bjj. You utilize momentum and combinations and timing. Energy expenditure goes way down by being more effective by doing less. Less energy and transitions are fluid. What took you four or five steps as a white or blue, purple does it in fewer. You are starting to learn to apply pressure. You don’t master it but learn how to occupy space or go light and fluid. You can play a slower, pressure based game or light fluid speed-based game. At purple you start to play both and get glimpses of that. Mostly the purple belt is the belt of refinement. You throw away a lot of your game, learning all these things, and taking and picking what you use and create connections at what you’re good at, and mapping out an interconnected game. You don’t need a gigantic game, because you realize being effective is having more skill at a subset number of things than bunches of stuff. Brown Belt - Where you really learn to apply pressure and try to balance out your game. In bjj no one is perfect in balance, or equally effective from every position in defense/offense. At purple you are still unbalanced, where you do incredibly well in one area and not so well in the other. You look at your game as a brown belt and balance yourself out. If your top game is good, at brown belt you play your guard. You want to be as good on the bottom as the top. Brown belt is where you round yourself out and truly learn to apply pressure. It is a defining characteristic as a brown belt, where you think it’s something you do from the top, but at brown belt you realize pressure is something you can apply everywhere. When you roll with a brown belt, you should be uncomfortable regardless of position. Brown belts usually start teaching here and become the senior student. Teaching is a huge part of advancing to the next level. That’s where you really get into details and learn to transmit that knowledge. Black Belt - Desire to simplify your game. Maximally effective with minimum excursion. By the time you get to black belt you’ve been to war a thousand times sparred against every conceivable component, all stages of belts, and spent a lot of time on the mat. When you get to back belt, you reach a level of effectiveness where you won’t need to work as hard. Your goal I to do as little as possible and spend a lot of time in defensive positions or set goals to get out of positions by doing almost nothing or doing very little from the top to use gravity and leverage to lock my opponent down by doing almost nothing. Being more relaxed/minimizing steps/round the corners. Perfect the treachery and funnel people into places you want them to go to get better positions/submissions. And putting your signature on the art and bring other people up in your mold.

I love how BJJ experts are such gentle killers. It’s poetic

As a 55 yr old black belt, I can totally identify with everything you outline in this video. You're doing a great service to our community. Please keep it up! This art is the most rewarding thing I do these days and I find it to be a sanctuary and the most therapeutic way for me to spend my time and energy.

3 month white belt here! 👋🏽 wish I started jiu jitsu a long time ago! Much love from Hawaii 🤙🏽

I’m 23 and I’ve taken 2 classes of jujitsu, I’m excited to learn and keep at it.

Black belt here, 46 years old. Took me 11 years to get my black belt. 3 surgeries later and switching schools a couple times etc. I've probably been choked out over 5,000 times. Every journey is different. That was my journey. Hang in there guys.

white belt: *learn everything* blue belt: *do everything better than any person who doesn't know what you know* purple: *all the above plus flow* brown: *all of the above plus pressure* black: *all of the above but using minimal effort*

Great insight. I remember realizing at white belt when I went from being submitted "out of nowhere" to still getting easily submitted but knowing it was coming. That was the first step towards finally being able to defend. It was like "I know that he is setting up an armbar/triangle. Not sure how to stop him but I can feel it coming." I felt like my progress sped up significantly after that.

Congrats! Purple Belt is a huge deal! I’ve been doing BJJ for 16 1/2 years and it is definitely one of the best journeys of my life. The biggest personal accomplishment of my life was receiving my Black Belt two years ago from Nino Schembri , And I swear that I feel like a white belt all over again, starting the journey fresh. My goal is to stay humble and never stop learning, congrats again!

As a Purple belt I learned to cut steps out of techniques, by knowing other ways to accomplish the same thing and shortening the process. I learned what works for me and what doesn't work for me, what is used for advancement on the mat and what is effective in the real world

I'm in a early purple stage. After around 10 years old of practicing. I go slowly, because university and I had some cardiac issue, but I keep going. I have this passion of this art. I'm not the best, and probably never be, but playing the jiu jitsu game is just so relaxing for me, and I'm proud to be in this big family with you. :)

What Rick talks about with the wall at blue belt can be very similar to achieving success in other realms of life. That one small detail that breaks through all that pain is what makes the journey so beautiful.

If you don't already have a podcast I think you should!

I really appreciate you being so articulate about each belt. As a blue belt I took a 4 year hiatus from my academy to finish college and work. When I came back I got 2 more stripes and restructured my game. Just got my purple the other night my promotion from blue to purple took nearly 8 years. The hardest part is going back. One thing I learned late as a blue belt was playing open guard and learning to invert. If nothing else it's fun to spin. Much love

I love that ur making more content

This is a really comprehensive view of the belts, and really reflects what you experience when you roll with the different belt levels. It is so true that the white belt is underrated. Starting from scratch is so difficult! It's like learning a foreign language while everyone is having conversations!

What a beautiful definition of the belts and their content, consistency. I enjoyed these descriotions and you slowly communicated the concepts in a manner thats easy to grasp. Thank you

Great take! I am a white belt for 14 months. Won 2 comps lost 1. 4-1 record. I feel significant change in my game now vs my first month. Keep at it

I love your insightful talk about BJJ. As a newer white belt (almost 4 months in) its been both a thrilling and frustrating experience at the same time. Just had a similar experience to what you described that blue belts go through in their blues, plateau of progress, not knowing what to do to break through, and my coach's advice was simply to "keep showing up and be present". It was frustrating at the time to hear that as I like to "know and plan" where I'm going, but doing just that helped me breakthrough of the rut I was in and earn my 2nd stripe to boot. I'm seeing glimpses of a lot of what you described in the belt progression in my brief experience (slowing down, simplifying, being more technical and proficient in fewer techniques, etc.). Looking forward to seeing and experiencing those in a deeper and more profound way. Thank you for your inspiring talks 🙏🏼👊🏼

I was going to comment to you this: "sounds a lot like improvising in music", but you covered covered this part, too. Great Job. You know what you are talking about, and you are a great teacher.

This is absolute gold (says the 1 1/2 year white belt) I’m saving this and listening to this to keep it fresh. Thanks for that! Everything my best partners and instructors say is in this video. Love the way you lay it together for us in this comprehensible format. Very interesting!

This is beautiful, thank you. I'm 10 years in now and still a 4 stripe blue. I Was 5 years a white under a purple belt and we didn't care about belts. Now I've been a blue for 5 years after hopping around McDojos and avoiding an "attendance purple"... I've found a great club with a great Black Belt and started training again after covid feeling like I'd forgotten everything I'd learned before. Last week it dawned on me that I have been trying to show off all of the many techniques I know in rolling without any great success, after falling into the familiar old butterfly that used to be effective for me and feeling comfortable there. I realised that I need to go back to focusing purely on that butterfly game and 'forget' all the distractions to move to the next level. This speech of yours solidified that conviction, thank you...

Very well organized and articulated explanation. I am one week into my jiu jitsu training, so this video was extremely informative and useful. Thanks very much for posting.

The color of my belt is the last thing I look at. What I care about is coming to class and see what I can do to submit the next person, or at least defend as much as I can. That's my fun!

The greatest video explaining the BJJ belt structure is one that is clear and well-explained. Thanks!

Im a 2 stripe white belt I started in march, the toughest thing so far is retaining the vast amount of situations and solutions shown to you and bringing them up at the right time actually going through the motions of a move is usually not the tough part in my experience

This was an absolutely phenomenal listen. I've been looking for high-level BJJ content that explains the game, helps me develop myself, but it's something I can listen to without having to watch (like say a technique video) while I work or do chores. Love this video;

Rick your last 2 videos have been just awesome! Keep the content coming as it just evokes an absolute understanding from my end. When you build a house you don't start with the fine finishes.... You start with the foundations, make sure they're strong, and build from there.

Thank you for taking the time to explain... I just started practicing BJJ and I'm surely feeling quite overwhelmed but this was very informative as to how I should view the journey. Much appreciated.

This was inspiring, instructing, calming, really awesome, thanks!

This is great for a brand new person to hear. I'm weeks in and have no problem waiting as long as needed to progress. Thanks for a great and thorough video.

VIDEO REQUEST: Thank you for all of your content. Very helpful and provocative. I am very interested in the belt testing that you do and I would like to see a video about the anatomy of a test: 1) what you require for each belt test, 2) how a person choreographs their demonstration, 3) who chooses the partners for the rolling portion, 4) how long a person takes to prepare, and whatever else is involved. I especially liked Jordan Ellis's purple belt demonstration. It moved at a faster pace than I could catalogue. Thank you, again. I really enjoy the content, and it's obvious that you put a lot of time into making quality videos. I hope you are encouraged and that you continue what you're doing.

Great video on the subject! Thanks for making and sharing it. You seem like a great teacher.

This video is so true. I'm a newbie white belt and this description of the belt system in BJJ resonates with me immensely. Thank you for this, it is very helpful.

What helped me a lot to upgrade my advance white belt skills was constantly rolling against purple and brown belts. It can be tough the first couple of months, but you learn a LOT and pumps up your game like crazy.

I’m from Brazil. I am a white belt 4 stripes. (Stripes ? I don’t know how to call in English. Graus we say in Portuguese. ) Found your video to be very accurate and also very respectful. Was a good experience to watch your video. I am now 47 yeas old. Began jiu Jitsu trading at 46 and I am loving it. It’s a mind changer. In Brazil is normal for every kid to learn jiu jitsu a little. And then afterwards you choose to go on or to stop training. In Rio is almost same as football. Jiu Jitsu is a source that can change your life and way of thinning. I love it.

Very insightful and encouraging. Taking my first bjj class today and I’m looking forward to starting this journey.

15:22 "the cusp' I just went thru this at the end of last year. To get through it, I got on my back and made myself escape from under everyone in the room. I slowed my game down and learned to feel rather than just do. Now all of a sudden rolling is fun, rather than life and death.Controlling pace is key. Great channel and advice

My blue belt blues was that just as I got my belt and felt like I was making great progress, Covid and lock down happened, along with some caring responsibilities that ment I couldn't train at all. A couple of months back in now and God it feels good to be learning again! Even with the belly and no core muscles I developed over the last 18 months to two years!

This is such a great video! I’m a brand new white belt and this was so helpful.

Thanks for this video. Got my first stripe on my white belt couple of weeks ago. Still have a long way to go but I’m loving the journey and learning from folks like you. Thanks and God bless.

Excellent breakdowns about this amazing journey!!!

Professor. You are dropping those jewels 💎 of knowledge. Your breakdown definitely has me understanding where my level is currently. Very humbled by the info. Thank you

I’m currently a white belt. Thank you so much for making this video. It was a reminder for myself and what I need to know for my own foundational skills.

Best breakdown of each belt and every detail is perfectly correct 👍🏻

I find myself revisiting this video as I progress through my school's belt system. Always informative and guiding for the journey ahead. Thank you! (Blue Belt in GU academy)

Such a great a clarification on the belt system and where practitioners should expect to be at each progression. Great job Rick, keep it up!

An old school cat from Brazil turned me on to your content a few months back. Nothing that you have said in your content has been wasteful. I have been able to apply all of it in some way or another. You continue to give away FREE knowledge that you could totally charge a price for it. Oss

So glad to have found your channel. You are an inspiration! Thank you!!!

I love this video, I keep coming back to it to just chill

This was profound. Thank you for your deep teaching. Worth watch periodically.

6months in. Iv seen amazing improvement. I realized staying alive, I get the best rolls. And watching tournaments I see what works best. I was able to tap out a higher belt this week using a armbar from triangle. Never even tried it before and it worked. But I’m still working on being harder to tap and it’s a great goal. FYI, I’m 30y/o and workout daily. In good shape but conditioning is tough. My ribs have been bruised for 6months straight it feels lol

I must admit this is a very clean video. The audio and the picture quality is just crystal, this is very rare on youtube these days, even with the super expensive cameras and mics.

Great video. Thank you for the insight and perspective. I personally found it very helpful.

White Belt - 1 year, Blue Belt 6 years. Purple Belt coming up on 4 years now

I am on the cusp of blue belt (4 stripe white) and the way you articulate the experience levels and mentality of each belt has really helped put it into perspective! Great video. Also, as a guitarist of 14 years, the music analogy really brought it home. Thank you sir!

Great video and very accurate in my opinion. The journey continues 🙌🏼

Thanks! This was extremely helpful in setting my expectations.

ive found the further up my rolling partner was, the more laid back almost the roll was, and the more precise they became with everything. Blue are the most athletic almost, like they rely on strength and speed and aggression most, and fly at every opening they see and try and finish. Purple is similar but with traps now, a lot of them, they fly at something, to get you to defend, and set up the move they really wanted. Brown is really where it slows down a lot, with just perfect positioning and their weight always felt 50 pounds heavier and the always posted on the worst spot. And then black was like they knew exactly what was going to happen at every moment, and they could lay there, doing next to nothing, and still get the dominant position and get the submission. Even if a black belt lets you start on his back with seat belt grips, its incredibly unlikely you'll be there long (from a blue belts perspective)

I’ve been doing Bjj for about a month or two now and just scored my first stripe the other day. I’m trying not to be to hard on myself, keeping in mind that simple going to Bjj is good for fitness and health etc. but it is nice formally gaining progress as you go. Here’s to the future 🤙🤙

Wonderful video. Thank you. It is very useful knowledge and delivered in such a heartfelt easy to understand way.

Well said. So inspirational. Thank you 🙏🏼

Thank you for this breakdown. I'm a current blue belt and really appreciate your insights. Currently I'm still learning new techniques, dominating white belts in sparring and on par with my peers at blue belt. Recently I rolled with some purple belts at an open mat session and it was clear to me there's still some way to go!

Of all things you just gotta keep showing up. Keep stacking days and don’t worry about the next belt. It will come. There’s a lifetime of technique and knowledge ripe for the taking

This has been so insightful, thanks so much.

Just got my first stripe as a white belt ! Felt great can’t wait to learn more

White-words Blue-phrases Purple- sentences Brown- paragraphs Black- your thesis.... I'm working on my phrases

One of the best videos I've seen on the subject.

Lovely explanation... You explain it in a way others can't emphasize in my opinion...

This is fascinating stuff. Thank you very much for the detailed and clear explanations

Great video. I’m a judo black belt that recently started BJJ. I’ve really been thinking recently about “emptying my cup” so that I can get the most out of training... and not just rely on what I already know. For some reason this video hit a chord with me... thanks!

I've been training judo for almost 4 years and recently started back training bjj. I trained 5 months twice daily getting 4 stripes before moving and training at another gym for 8 months, and then moving and starting judo. I used my basic bjj for the past years in the hour of newaza for the past years and thankfully advanced technically on the ground. I give bigger more experienced guys in judo trouble when standing, and newaza (groundwork) in judo I'm one of the top guys at our club. Standing in judo, I'm alright. Groundwork in bjj, I'm alright. The combination has given me an edge though.

I'm a two stripe white belt and this is just such a great video. I'm both scared, in awe and excited for this journey.

What a profound insight! Thank you!

Just got my blue belt and still feel like I know nothing. I feel BJJ isn’t about the end goal. BJJ IS about the journey. In class and in life!

I’m an early blue belt, the youngest in my country (we have only 13 blue belts here in Belize) and I legit feel like my offense is trash. Thanks for the advice mate.

Absolutely fantastic presentation! Just started (yesterday) at 51. Nevertheless, this is so inspiring! Thank you!

I was like aww man this is 30 minutes… but the information was so well articulated I watched all the way through and loved it! Great job!! 💪💯💯💯

Current 3 stripe white belt under Rob Lewis, who is also a disciple of Moreira as well. Thanks for the video.

This is definitely an interesting view on belts. I've been training Jiu Jitsu regularly and competively for over 8 years now. I believe this is my 3rd yr as a purple belt, could be 4 lol. So far blue belt was the hardest. There was definitely times I didn't want to train, never thought about quitting but just tired of the grind. Then in that process it felt like no big progress was made, yet I kept training. Now being a purple belt for a couple possibly few years, the art has become really fun again for me mentally. I see things differently, almost as if it were in slow motion but I am moving at full speed. Concept's are making sense and alot or opportunities are inviting themselves. Injuries can happen and make people quit or lose interest. The same goes with funds. I've had a couple major injuries already but that hasn't stopped me from training. I am 37 now and feel like a new fire has been lit. Dealing with adversities inside and outside the gym can be tough, but if you push through it and persever it will be rewarding. Showing up to class is if not the most important part it's "the" part to making Jiu Jitsu desirable. Keep pushing and go train

As a inspiring filmmaker and bjj athlete, I enjoy the cinematic flow and technique of your videos.

Excellent overview of the various rank stages.

I am 42 and on the verge of turning to purple belt. I started bjj about 6 years ago and definitely had moments when I thought about giving up. But I am still rolling because I truly love the art. I think the key things are passion and consistency. If you enjoy training and you keep showing up, you'll get there.

this was great. ive been a blue belt for over 10 years. still wont quit.

Absolutely amazing explanation thank you sir!

Beautiful analytical explanation Sir. Thanx

I am 1 removed from Helio training with the Valente Brothers and you're right. Your view about the belts come from the view of your teachers.

As a guy who took Taekwondo lessons, my teacher told me that the colors on the Belt are chosen in order to show your experience, just like it would have been if when you start learning, your belt would be white but as time goes by and your belt is drenched in sweat and blood it would go to, yellow from sweat, green with mold, blue when mold completely progresses, red when drenched in blood, brown when old blood oxidizes, and black is right at the end of the journey. So, I guess the colors on the belts of BJJ are just a variation of these.

Thanks for the video brother

This was very informative. Thank you so much