Every fall and spring, the kids BJJ students who are age 8 or older can get an evaluation. For youth who opt in, they’re eligible to receive stripes and/or a belt promotion. We’ve just wrapped up evaluations for this fall. Congratulations to all of our youth students who received stripes and belt promotions! Quite a few experienced either their first stripes or their first promotion to a colored belt. I’m proud of everyone for putting in the hard work. It takes care and attention necessary to level up. I’m also very grateful for and moved by the support shown to these young athletes by their families, teammates and assistant instructors. It’s a beautiful thing.
How the Kids BJJ Striping & Promotions Program Works
White (Brand New Student)
Gray & White / Gray / Gray & Black (New Gray Belt, Gray Belt, Experienced Gray Belt)
Yellow & White / Yellow / Yellow & Black (New Yellow Belt, Yellow Belt, Experienced Yellow Belt)
Orange & White / Orange / Orange & Black (New Orange Belt, Orange Belt, Experienced Orange Belt)
Green & White / Green / Green & Black (New Green Belt, Green Belt, Experienced Green Belt)
Up to four stripes can be placed on the black bar that’s on each belt. In our system, each stripe corresponds to continuing development of Four Skill Sets:
1) Guard Retention (Staying safe on the ground/bottom position)
2) Guard Sweeps/Attacks (Attacks from the ground/bottom position)
3) Passing (Passing the guard player and avoiding their attacks)
4) Back/Top Control & Attacks (Attacks and control from the top or back)
About every six months—late spring and late fall—students can opt to undergo a formal assessment. Each student picks a partner to work with them during the one-on-one evaluation with the instructor. It’s more of a discussion and check-in rather than a test. They play a few games to check the above Four Skills and the instructor helps them understand what skills they’ve made progress in and which ones need more work. This can result in additional stripes or belt promotion if sufficient progress has been made. Although more casual assessments are made throughout their training, this more official one is meant to give each student a solid understanding of what next steps they’ll want to take with their training.
We do NOT give stripes based only on attendance. We check skills comparing the student to him or herself when they started training. The results of their previous assessment also factor into the evaluation. Parents are welcome to watch the evaluation and ask questions (but only if the child feels comfortable with that.)
IMPORTANT NOTE: There are no stripes or belt promotions for children age 7 or younger. For both Adults & Youth, participation in assessments as well as the striping and belt promotions is optional.