History
Judo
Judo is many things to different people. It is a fun sport, an art, a discipline, a recreational or social activity, a fitness program, a means of self-defense or combat, and a way of life. It is all of these and more.
Founded in 1882 by Dr. Jigoro Kano, Judo is a refinement of the ancient martial arts of the samurai. Taking the most effective techniques of the various schools of Juijutsu throughout Japan, Kano created his own style of Juijutsu: Judo.
Unlike most martial arts that place a heavy emphasis on single, powerful strikes, Judo focuses on techniques that can be applied with full force against a resisting opponent. Kano believed that the techniques that would be most effective in a real fight are those that you can practice daily with full force against a resisting opponent.
Judo's most prominent feature is its competitive element. The goal of a Judo match is to either throw or takedown your opponent and then either immobilize or submit your opponent through the use of joint locks, strangle holds or chokes.
Judo was introduced into the Olympic Games in 1964 and is practiced by millions of people throughout the world today. People practice Judo for numerous reasons including a love of competition, to stay in shape, to develop self-confidence, and for self-defense.
Founded in 1882 by Dr. Jigoro Kano, Judo is a refinement of the ancient martial arts of the samurai. Taking the most effective techniques of the various schools of Juijutsu throughout Japan, Kano created his own style of Juijutsu: Judo.
Unlike most martial arts that place a heavy emphasis on single, powerful strikes, Judo focuses on techniques that can be applied with full force against a resisting opponent. Kano believed that the techniques that would be most effective in a real fight are those that you can practice daily with full force against a resisting opponent.
Judo's most prominent feature is its competitive element. The goal of a Judo match is to either throw or takedown your opponent and then either immobilize or submit your opponent through the use of joint locks, strangle holds or chokes.
Judo was introduced into the Olympic Games in 1964 and is practiced by millions of people throughout the world today. People practice Judo for numerous reasons including a love of competition, to stay in shape, to develop self-confidence, and for self-defense.
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
Much like Judo was a refinement of the ancient Japanese Juijutsu, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a refinement of Judo. Having learned Judo from one of Kano's original students, Carlos Gracie and his younger brother Helio, opened their own school in Brazil in 1925. Helio, much smaller and frailer than Carlos, was forced to alter the techniques that he learned by placing a greater emphasis on leverage and using an opponent's strength against him.
While the genius of Dr. Kano and his Judo was the revolutionary concept of daily competitive sparing against a resisting opponent, the Gracie's believed that Kano unnecessarily placed too many limitations on training. For example, competitive Judo only allows submissions to the elbow joint along with strangleholds. Pressure to the face is illegal. Judo students only train in the gi. Additionally, to make Judo a better spectator sport for the Olympics, the rules of Judo place a greater emphasis on aesthetically pleasing throws than on effective ground grappling. The Gracies, believing these limitations weakened Judo as a martial art, rejected them, and formed their own art, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
Through the alteration of Judo techniques in order to allow a smaller, less athletic man to defeat a much larger opponent, and through their changes to the rule-set of competition to allow a fight to proceed naturally, the Gracies developed their own, independent martial art, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
While the genius of Dr. Kano and his Judo was the revolutionary concept of daily competitive sparing against a resisting opponent, the Gracie's believed that Kano unnecessarily placed too many limitations on training. For example, competitive Judo only allows submissions to the elbow joint along with strangleholds. Pressure to the face is illegal. Judo students only train in the gi. Additionally, to make Judo a better spectator sport for the Olympics, the rules of Judo place a greater emphasis on aesthetically pleasing throws than on effective ground grappling. The Gracies, believing these limitations weakened Judo as a martial art, rejected them, and formed their own art, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
Through the alteration of Judo techniques in order to allow a smaller, less athletic man to defeat a much larger opponent, and through their changes to the rule-set of competition to allow a fight to proceed naturally, the Gracies developed their own, independent martial art, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
Ranking
Judo Ranking
As a chartered club of the United States Judo Association (USJA), we follow the USJA standardized ranking guidelines for Judo. Under the USJA, all students must meet four areas of requirements for promotion:
For adults, there are 6 class (kyu) ranks and 10 black belt (dan) ranks. For juniors (aged 4-15), there are 12 class (kyu) ranks.
- They must maintain a minimum time as a USJA member and be a current member of a USJA chartered club.
- They must have minimum time-in-grade as a registered member of the previous rank.
- They must acquire and document the required number of promotion points which can be achieved through participation in class, competition, service to Judo, etc.
- They must pass an examination which calls for both knowledge and demonstration of Judo techniques.
- They must obtain a recommendation for promotion from their instructor.
For adults, there are 6 class (kyu) ranks and 10 black belt (dan) ranks. For juniors (aged 4-15), there are 12 class (kyu) ranks.
Adult Time-In-Grade Requirements
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It is important to note that the minimum time-in-grade requirements listed above are reserved for the exceptional few who have demonstrated clearly superior competition results or service to Judo. The average dedicated Judo student and instructor spends more time-in-grade than the minimum requirement listed above.
Junior Time-In-Grade and Age Requirements
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BJJ Ranking (Adult)
There are 5 adult ranks (aged 16 and older) in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu: the white belt, the blue belt, the purple belt, the brown belt and the black belt. Because of the limited number of ranks in BJJ, there are 4 degrees of each rank symbolized by stripes on the belt. Unlike the formal ranking requirements of most martial arts, BJJ is distinguished by the extreme informality in its ranking system. There no precise, agreed-upon rules to determine who is eligible for promotion. Instead, there are general considerations and time-in-grade guidelines that aid an instructor in determining when it is appropriate to promote a student.
In general when deciding upon promotion, an instructor will consider the size and strength of the student, depth of the technical knowledge of the student, the student's ability to apply that knowledge in sparring sessions and competition, the student's ability to teach and how the student compares with students of other ranks both inside and outside of the school. In general, BJJ takes a very conservative stance towards promotion because it is primarily a fighting style. It would reflect poorly on a school if a high-ranked student could not defend himself in a self-defense situation.
White Belt:
The white belt student's main goal is survival. He enters the BJJ world as a guppy thrown into an ocean of sharks. The primary focus of the white belt is to learn proper defensive postures, understand basic self-defense techniques, and to learn the fundamental positions and strategy of BJJ. There will be a large skill gap between an experienced 4-stripe white belt and the brand new student who just walked into the gym.
The average time-in-grade for a student to be promoted from white belt to blue belt is between 1 and 2 years. As such, the average student who attends approximately 10 days of classes per month, competes, and studies BJJ outside of class will typically be eligible for promotion in approximately 1.5 years.
Blue Belt:
The blue belt student's main goal is to build upon the fundamentals of BJJ by vastly expanding his knowledge of technique and integrating that technique into an overall fight strategy. Due to the extensive growth expected to occur at the blue belt level, a student typically holds his blue belt longer than any other belt.
The average time-in-grade for a student to be promoted from blue belt to purple belt is between 2-3 years. As such, the average student who attends approximately 10 days of classes per month, competes and studies BJJ outside of class will typically be eligible for promotion in approximately 2.5 years.
Purple Belt:
The purple belt student's main goal is the discovery of his own personal game. Having learned the majority of techniques in BJJ as a blue belt, the purple belt begins to identify which techniques fit best into his game and begins to apply those techniques in strategic combinations.
An advanced belt in BJJ, the purple belt is a capable fighter. It takes about the same time to earn a purple belt in BJJ as it does to earn a black belt in most other martial arts. The purple belt student often begins assisting with the instructional duties at the academy.
The average time-in-grade for a student to be promoted from purple belt to brown belt is 2-3 years. As such, the average student who attends approximately 10 days of classes per month, competes and studies BJJ outside of class will typically be eligible for promotion in approximately 2.5 years.
Brown Belt:
The brown belt is the beginning of the elite belts. The brown belt has mastered the technical aspects of BJJ, has developed his own game, and is mastering the art of teaching others how to discover their games. The brown belt is preparing for the responsibility that he will have as a black belt -- namely, that of guiding and promoting students of his own.
There is no average time-in-grade to be promoted to black belt. That promotional decision is at the sole discretion of the instructor.
Black Belt:
By the time the student attains a black belt, his knowledge and skill are of the highest class. In addition, his depth of knowledge and skill makes him a fully qualified instructor. Rather than merely knowing how to perform the moves, the black belt is expected to know why a given move works and how it will best work for someone else.
BJJ Ranking (Children)
There are 13 different rankings broken down into 5 groupings for children aged 4-15:
- The White Belt
- The Gray Belt Group: the gray/white belt, the gray belt, the gray/black belt
- The Yellow Belt Group: the yellow/white belt, the yellow belt, the yellow black belt
- The Orange Belt Group: the orange/white belt, the orange belt, the orange/black belt
- The Green Belt Group: the green/white belt, the green belt and the green/black belt.
Like the adult ranking system, advancement within a rank is shown through the use of a stripe system. For children, a student must earn 4 stripes on a belt before he can be promoted to the next rank. In addition, a student must be at least:
- 4 years old for the Gray Belt Group
- 7 years old for the Yellow Belt Group
- 10 years old for the Orange Belt Group
- 13 years old for the Green Belt Group.
For tournament purposes, students will be grouped together based on their belt groups.
The average time-in-grade for a student who attends at least 2 classes per week is 6 months for both the gray/white belt and the gray belt, and 1 year for the rest of the children's belts. Stripes are awarded during normal intervals between rank promotions.