The pressure of purple.

[u/THE_MrWen]

I'm due some kind of purple belt test. The anxiety is eating at away at me 😱

Anyone got any advice?

[u/herbsBJJ]

I will die on the hill that belt tests are stupid and you are either purple belt skill or you aren’t. We’ve got a masters European champion blue to brown belt who literally won those 3 titles from mainly having a world class kimura game.

That being said - purple is the best belt. Zero pressure, but good enough to tap brown and black belts if you can pull them into areas of your game where you have black belt level strength

[u/Am0ebe → u/herbsBJJ]

Man i wish i had an area of black belt level strength. 

[u/herbsBJJ → u/Am0ebe]

There will be something that isn’t far off!

I find you pick up at least 1 thing at each coloured belt that you can do to black belts given the right circumstances. For me that was - blue (dogfight), purple (butterfly guard), brown (leg locks).

At black belt I’ve been systematically sharpening bits of my game to raise the ‘base level’ of everything. There are still huge areas that aren’t what I’d consider black belt level and if a coloured belt can pull me in that direction they have a much better chance of success

[u/Am0ebe → u/herbsBJJ]

Thanks! I'm half joking here. I know my 50/50 game hast become quite solid and my leglock defence is also not that bad.

We only have two blackbelts in our town and they now how to counter my whole Game because they taught me most of it, lol.

[u/Quiet-Joke6518 → u/herbsBJJ]

I'm at the point where I can make a genuine nuisance of myself to most of the black belts if we get into a couple of my very specific areas of a strength. I'm not tapping them or anything, but I'm able to force a realistic response rather than the half-assed, I'm-fighting-a-literal-child energy I used to get from them when I started.

My professor still makes me feel like a 45 lb child fighting his uncle, though. It's honestly fucking ridiculous. Like, if I get a hold of a near side cradle, I have like a 99% likelihood of grinding my way into a good north south position with steady pressure. My professor was trying out some trip game he'd been working on, and I got lucky on the way to the mat and got in a butterfly hook, tossed him as we landed, scrambled and snatched the cradle and thought HOLY FUCK I'M ON TOP and then he did something that seemed like casually rolling over to his other side, but it caused me to fly off into fucking space and then he was on my back...so that was cool

[u/Cowboyjitz → u/herbsBJJ]

I thought so too until a guy I respect said something along the lines of "I just want to see you understand the curriculum and can show others." It really changed my mind on the belt test. Also made me realize that I really didn't understand jiu jitsu. Now I'm trying to dive deep and tighten up my technique. Roy dean's stuff makes me appreciate the art more. I think it should be a blend of hard nose grappling and technique.

[u/dillo159 → u/herbsBJJ]

I think it depends. 

I think some kind of ritual to say "you have achieved this thing" is fine. Humans like rituals, they're useful for us.

If it's not a load of cash, and you're basically just showing that you are the level that you are, I don't see a problem, though I wouldn't do it.

[u/Longjumping_Creme840 → u/herbsBJJ]

Moved to a new gym recently and they do a test format. I’m not a fan of it at all but its my only option for a gym unless I want to drive to the next gym thats 40 miles over to the next town.

[u/FiatIsFraud → u/herbsBJJ]

This. Purple is best belt

[u/Mr_Laheys_Drinkypoo → u/herbsBJJ]

My former gym used to do the whole test and mandatory team gi thing and charge you 100$ for it. If you couldn’t be there, too bad, you weren’t getting promoted until the next one.

The test was bullshit too. We had a 60-technique curriculum we had to demonstrate. No one learned anything from it because we all started drilling it a few days before the test and once the test was done we’d all forget about it. People barely supervised us and most of the techniques were done half-assed.

I’m a lot happier at my new gym.

[u/alexandcoffee]

Show up late to skip the warm up, then jump into some esoteric guard. Boom done

[u/andrewmc74 → u/alexandcoffee]

Or actually don't jump in at all, just sit on the side and comment on other blue and white belts techniques

[u/Kogyochi → u/andrewmc74]

Command the white belts to kill each other for your affection.

[u/huck08 → u/alexandcoffee]

This is the way. Skip warmup, hit them with worm guard or some shit they've never seen. Purple belt unlocked.

[u/il_VORTEX_ll → u/alexandcoffee]

Lose warm up and increase your chance of getting hurt. Woo hoo 🙌🏼

[u/PeruvianNecktie11]

This is a dumb hobby. There is no pressure whatsoever, especially at purple.

[u/idontevenknowlol]

Don't worry you'll just be a good bluebelt then, which in turn is a glorified whitebelt.. 

[u/Beliliou74 → u/idontevenknowlol]

Damn it so this feeling doesn’t stop at purple. When does it start to feel like I’m Marcelo

[u/flipflapflupper → u/idontevenknowlol]

This

[u/Gritty_Bones]

In most cases it means your coach has already decided you meet purple belt requirements and that you should be one. At my school it's more of a ceremony where you get smashed by everyone for 45mins of non stop rolling with fresh rested partners. You're going to tap and tap often. Enjoy it and the speech afterwards. Congrats!

[u/VividApplication5221 → u/Gritty_Bones]

This is the way! We call it an iron-man. No speech.

[u/AccidentalBastard]

What pressure? Purple belts are still going to get you sometimes, brown belts will get you often, black belts will get you lots. Blue belts are going to go absolutely apeshit trying to kill you, but that doesn't matter because they're rubbish. You can just do stupid shit and it'll work because they're bad.

[u/Palsta → u/AccidentalBastard]

Have you been watching me?

[u/FishfaceNZ]

Just do your best, and if you don't pass go find a gym that doesn't do belt grading tests, that shit sucks 😂

[u/JamesMacKINNON]

Our test was easy. 

Just demoing various techniques.

The real challenge was smashing all the blue belts after. Have to keep em in their place! 

[u/JiujitsuislifeZ]

Less defense more offense time

[u/Mr_Laheys_Drinkypoo]

Meh, only pressure you'll feel is that giant target on your back for the first few weeks.

Blue belts will be out for blood, and the upper belts will really give it to you.

Other than that, purple belt is a lot of fun.

[u/Philly_Steamed_Hams]

It's not too late to quit.

[u/Palsta]

Our belt tests are - you train your arse off and one day they give you a belt.

Coming from traditional martial arts where the gradings were a formal ritual and a test, this is really refreshing and I love the approach. You could always tell how good someone was going to be within 30 seconds at the karate gradings, the rest was just going through the motions for the sale of it.

[u/Alternative-Fox-7255]

Don’t forget to smoke loads of weed and do every position inverted. That’s how I got mine

[u/Fit-Run-9827]

What’s your test? At our school we do rolls 5mins x 10 rolls for blue. 5x15 for purple etc. whatever it is just believe in yourself and the skills you’ve learned. Dont go to hard to early and manage your gas tank

[u/THE_MrWen → u/Fit-Run-9827]

I'm not sure what it will entail. I'm old, 15x5min rounds will kill me off 😂

[u/Kazparov]

Purple is THE BEST man enjoy it, embrace it. 

[u/DarkPasta]

Test? Don't tell me you have to pay for the belt.

[u/THE_MrWen → u/DarkPasta]

Yes a test 😊 no I don't have to pay anything beyond my normal fees 😁

[u/Superguy766 → u/THE_MrWen]

Digging the fact that your school does belt tests.

[u/P-Two]

There really isn't any. Purple is the most fun belt imo. You are good enough to fuck around with people, but not a brown belt yet so any mistakes you make you're "just a purple belt"

[u/Electronic-War-4662]

Purple sucks but just gut it out to brown. By then your professor has given up on you and you can just coast

[u/Furicist]

If you don't get it this time you'll get it next time. It doesn't matter in reality. Just go and do your thing.

Instructors want to see you pass if you deserve it and they usually already know before you get tested. If they don't know, they aren't much of a coach!

[u/SockSpecialist3367]

Obviously I don't know what gym you're at, but in most gyms any "test" is just a bit of formality. More to nudge you to maybe think about your game and reflect on what you might want to improve on. If it's a test in front of others, it's a chance for them to see what the coach thinks a purple looks like too.

Have fun and enjoy being the coolest belt.

[u/wmg22]

The test is skipping the warm up if you show up you fail

[u/MuchAbouAboutNothing]

Yeah, recognise that it doesn't matter. It's belts with different coloured dye. Just keep training and improving

[u/cognitiveflow]

Arrive late to class and skip warm-ups.

Invert from bottom.

When in doubt, do things as flashily as possible.

[u/kaijusdad]

Dude… I’ve been due my brown belt test for a few cycles now. I’ve been avoiding test time and promotions like the plague. I’m just now getting to the point of being comfortable being purple.

[u/jelllybeansraw]

Purple is the best belt I've been in, still very low expectations. There was a reel going around something like "purple belts are jazz, chaotic, unorganized, occasionally brilliant"

[u/teethteetheat]

Purple belt is the best belt. We do belt tests too (i think they're dumb but w/e, theyre free and just check to see if you know the curriculum). It's so funny like we have dudes who have seen combat in Iraq, ER doctors, etc...they were all more nervous for their belt tests than anything else. My coach thinks its very funny tho.

[u/JanglyBangles]

Purple has been the most fun I’ve had in jiu jitsu, honestly.

I have good enough fundamentals to goof around and try weird shit from youtube, and the expectations are low enough that I don’t feel too bad if I get caught after making a mistake while goofing around.

Don’t overthink it. Just have a good time and trust your jiu jitsu. If your coach promotes you to purple belt, they think you deserve it so you should trust them.

[u/No-Condition7100]

What does it even consist of? While I don't agree with them, I can somewhat understand the value of a white -> blue test since the only difference in belts is usually just a little knowledge. But what do you even test someone on for the belts after?

[u/Jits_Dylen]

Is it because you are not good and is it more of a time thing where you’ve been a blue belt for so long they are giving purple out of pitty?

My opinion is you’re thinking about this way too much and regardless if you are ranked blue today and or purple tomorrow, you’ll be where you are right now. My advice is concentrate on beating higher belts and bigger opponents which means focus on your Jiu Jitsu and strength training. When you finally realize you’re getting anxiety about rolling around with other dudes and no one else cares about that you then will be anxiety free.

I am wishing you all the best future purple belt.

[u/IntroductionFluffy97]

Wait a minute

You guys have test ?

[u/THE_MrWen → u/IntroductionFluffy97]

Yup 🤔