Meritocracy

There’s a difficulty in Jiu Jitsu rank being subjective for everyone involved. Some places all you need to do is show up a certain number of times and your rank goes up. That’s a great business model, if you combine that with no live training, you can make a lot of money. That does not lead to useful skill though. The classic definition for what determines a blue belt is can you deal with nearly any brand-new person who walks in off the street? That to me is what you should want. Being able to use the skills you’re developing should be more important than fabric and tape. I promise you it’s much more fun to be the guy that people wonder why you aren’t promoted than to be the one that they wonder why you were.