barney Posted January 18, 2020 Report Share Posted January 18, 2020 So recently I moved back to my parents' city and that means changing dojo/gym.So I quit my Jiu Jitsu gym where I used to live and searched for a new one here, found a nice ATOS team gym really near my house, everything looking juicy and all... But the sensei asked me to train for a couple of months as white belt until he can "get the feeling" of how I roll and my behaviour before allowing me to go back to my original belt. I am not beginner at the mat, I've trained Judo for a long time, I know that, even tho its not universal, its a pretty common practice. So, whats your thoughts about this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bwang Posted January 18, 2020 Report Share Posted January 18, 2020 Good opportunity to be humble, and think like a beginner again. Refreshing. Couple of months seems quite long though. I suppose you need to see how you feel about him as a sensei too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shards Posted January 18, 2020 Report Share Posted January 18, 2020 The belt is a mark of your experience. He can't/shouldn't be able to take away your rank in Judo, he should be asking you to also be a white belt in BJJ for a while - likely while he's explaining basics you haven't learned. To some degree you have to remember it's unlikely he outranks you in Judo but this creates a situation where he can now 'award' you a belt, sustain his position of instructor, and right after you've been a white belt getting to know everyone he's also validating your rank in his gym. It depends and it's likely your judgement call, he could be a dick about this and be using it as a means to exert control or he could be legitimately trying to look out for you and his gym, potentially this could also be a method of ensuring the legitimacy of your training if this place has dealt with people sporting fake ranks in the past. This would be a more open and shut "No, terrible idea" if you were moving from a BJJ gym to a new BJJ gym but this is crossing disciplines with enough of a difference that you need to be brought up to speed. You shouldn't even get a blue belt after a couple months so getting whatever rank you have in Judo back is fairly respectable. P.S. Don't lead with teaching dudes to throw other dudes, at least wait for the class to be over so you're not risking interrupting anything. I only bring it up because once some BJJ guy gets thrown onto the mat proper you might open some eyes and you find a few will really want to tack onto you and learn that. Most BJJ gyms spend very little time teaching the stand up and it only took me getting rocked once to decide I also wanted to learn how to be the one doing that instead. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barney Posted January 18, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2020 Good opportunity to be humble, and think like a beginner again. Refreshing. Couple of months seems quite long though. I suppose you need to see how you feel about him as a sensei too. When I moved to my last town (for college) I already left my judo orange belt behind for a white belt, so this is nothing new to me... And I did again, no problem at all. Just wanted to inititate a discussion and see how everybody thinks, as some may feel disrespected because they did earn their belts. He is a GREAT teacher. He is Andre Galvao brother and the gym is really nice. I`m really ok with it. Also, he keeps his white belts for an year before blue, so he is already speeding it up a lot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barney Posted January 18, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2020 The belt is a mark of your experience. He can't/shouldn't be able to take away your rank in Judo, he should be asking you to also be a white belt in BJJ for a while - likely while he's explaining basics you haven't learned. To some degree you have to remember it's unlikely he outranks you in Judo but this creates a situation where he can now 'award' you a belt, sustain his position of instructor, and right after you've been a white belt getting to know everyone he's also validating your rank in his gym. It depends and it's likely your judgement call, he could be a dick about this and be using it as a means to exert control or he could be legitimately trying to look out for you and his gym, potentially this could also be a method of ensuring the legitimacy of your training if this place has dealt with people sporting fake ranks in the past. This would be a more open and shut "No, terrible idea" if you were moving from a BJJ gym to a new BJJ gym but this is crossing disciplines with enough of a difference that you need to be brought up to speed. You shouldn't even get a blue belt after a couple months so getting whatever rank you have in Judo back is fairly respectable. P.S. Don't lead with teaching dudes to throw other dudes, at least wait for the class to be over so you're not risking interrupting anything. I only bring it up because once some BJJ guy gets thrown onto the mat proper you might open some eyes and you find a few will really want to tack onto you and learn that. Most BJJ gyms spend very little time teaching the stand up and it only took me getting rocked once to decide I also wanted to learn how to be the one doing that instead. He is def not being a dick about it and quite honestly I dont care much about belt color, I think its just a stripe of cloth that covers just the tip of the butt crack; all the rest is on you to protect... But I've already seen some guys get really pissed off and even refuse to join the gym and look for another place to train... Its all about feeling the situation. The moment the master allow you to wear the colored belt you bring form another place, he is recognizing you as an equal to his own colored belt. And this is not only skill or knowledge wise, its also commitment, personality... I mean, I understand you not recognizing it right away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJMitchell Posted January 18, 2020 Report Share Posted January 18, 2020 Might be a good idea to get Camara's thoughts in here. Seems right in his wheelhouse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjsquirrel Posted January 18, 2020 Report Share Posted January 18, 2020 If we are talking BJJ here Judo belts doesn't matter, then you wear the white even if you are a judo black belt. But you said you had been doing jiu jitsu before. If you have a BJJ belt you should get to wear that, especially if you got an IBJJF certificate to go with it. Still I'd happily put on the white if coach asked me to when coming to a new gym. If you compete however you should go with whatever colour you are actually ranked at, anything else would not be fair to the white belts, especially if you also got judo experience. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rambo Posted January 19, 2020 Report Share Posted January 19, 2020 Shouldn't take a couple months to feel it out. Open session grapple with somebody higher belt than you. Dominate. Continue. You'll earn your stripes. It took all of 10 minutes of bag work and 5 sparring sessions with pro's to join the elite classes... but not everybody is an athletic specimen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barney Posted January 20, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2020 Oh no, he definitely said I roll hard and that I will get belts quick. I think he wants to feel how I behave in training, outside of the mat, my comitment... These kind of things. Shouldn't take a couple months to feel it out. Open session grapple with somebody higher belt than you. Dominate. Continue. You'll earn your stripes.It took all of 10 minutes of bag work and 5 sparring sessions with pro's to join the elite classes... but not everybody is an athletic specimen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rambo Posted January 20, 2020 Report Share Posted January 20, 2020 Oh no, he definitely said I roll hard and that I will get belts quick. I think he wants to feel how I behave in training, outside of the mat, my comitment... These kind of things. Just stick to it. Belt colors are trivial and shouldn't concern yourself with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barney Posted January 20, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2020 Just stick to it. Belt colors are trivial and shouldn't concern yourself with it. Thats my point of view. I didnt want to get judo black belt, so at a point I just asked my sensei to stop planning graduations for me. I spent a LONG time at orange belt. When I go to another gym just to a casual roll. You know, travelling, want to keep conditioned, or maybe just roll with different guys, different fighting styles, etc... I dont downgrade my belt if the coach asks to. Im not HIS student. But when changing gyms and asking someone else to my teacher and he asks me "Hey, wear this until I figure out what color should I put you in", that's 100% reasonable... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobbMogg Posted January 20, 2020 Report Share Posted January 20, 2020 Also you gotta flip this and look at it from his point of view, if he has set ways of running his gym,(such as how long his students study before he starts grading them) then a relative stranger turns up and starts getting favourable treatment, then that's gonna cause friction and animosity amongst his existing students. From what you said the guy seems genuine and doing things the right way, Shards made a brilliant comment on here and covered everything really. Sounds like your instructor is impressed by your skills and has plans of fast tracking you anyway, also he's gotta assess not just your skills, but your commitment and attitude as a person. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barney Posted January 20, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2020 Also you gotta flip this and look at it from his point of view, if he has set ways of running his gym,(such as how long his students study before he starts grading them) then a relative stranger turns up and starts getting favourable treatment, then that's gonna cause friction and animosity amongst his existing students. From what you said the guy seems genuine and doing things the right way, Shards made a brilliant comment on here and covered everything really. Sounds like your instructor is impressed by your skills and has plans of fast tracking you anyway, also he's gotta assess not just your skills, but your commitment and attitude as a person. His stardands are 1-2 months before white belts can roll and an year to blue. He asked me to join rolling sessions/free mat right away Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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