I read Jiu-Jitsu University as a white belt. Saulo Ribeiro wrote that you spend most of your time at blue and black. Reading that, I knew what to expect. When I got my blue belt, it was going to be a long time before purple. It was longer than I planned. Six years.¹

Part of that was teaching. When you’re running class, your focus isn’t on your own jiu-jitsu. It’s on getting good as a teacher. Not an excuse. Just why.

But somewhere in those years, I learned something about belts. I’ve rolled with lower belts who felt higher, and vice versa. Same with the stripes when we’re the same color. The belt and stripes tell you something. But the thing that really tells you something, is feel. You find out the moment you grab them.

When I opened my school, I brought that with me. I was stingy with stripes on the blue belts. But for white belts and kids, the stripes are attendance-based.

I know there’s an argument against it. But a lot of these students have never done anything like jiu-jitsu before. Some started at an older age. Some never played sports. For a lot, class is the first time they’ve been pushed and pulled and grabbed and made uncomfortable. They’re still deciding if they like it.

You have to give them something to hold onto while they figure that out.

Two things confirmed I was on the right track.

The first was a parent who had looked at both kinds of schools, the ones that award stripes based on attendance and those that award on merit. The merit schools developed better students faster. I can believe that. But the kids that were training years later and made it to middle or upper belts, came from the attendance schools. The faster-developing students dropped out.

Progress in jiu-jitsu is noticeable early. Then there’s a long period of what feels like zero progress. Getting good in year two doesn’t matter if you’re gone by year three.

The second thing was my own kid. He started going to group class. I could see he was having fun. He was trying. And when he got his first stripe, he was proud.

I’ve taught over a hundred kids. I never quite saw it the way I saw it with my own. I was always motivated to train, so I never cared much for stripes. But I knew they mattered to others. They helped students notice their progress and commitment. I understood that. I just never felt it until my kid got his first one.

For someone who hasn’t fallen in love with jiu-jitsu yet, that stripe can be the reason they show up the next week. And the week after. Until one day they don’t even think about it anymore.