The jiu jitsu belt ranks in order are white, blue, purple, brown, and black, with stripes marking progress within each belt. Kids follow a longer, age-gated progression before entering the adult system at 16. Here’s what each belt means and how promotions actually work.
Book a free class at 10th Planet Airlock if you want to start your own journey through them.
The Adult Belt Order
White Belt. Where everyone starts. You’re learning how to move, how to survive, and how much you don’t know yet.
Blue Belt. Proficiency in jiu jitsu. You understand the fundamentals, you have a game, and you can defend yourself on the mat against most untrained people.
Purple Belt. The beginning of mastery. Your game has depth. You’re starting to develop your own style rather than copying what you were taught.
Brown Belt. High-level knowledge and real dedication to the sport. Brown belts are dangerous, technical, and usually helping to teach.
Black Belt. The start of your lifelong dedication to jiu jitsu. Not the finish line. Black belts continue to earn degrees over decades, and after many years of teaching and contributing to the art, coral and red belts exist at the highest levels.
The White Belt Is the Hardest Belt to Get
We say this to every new person and we mean it.
Every belt after white is earned by showing up and putting in mat time. Hard, yes, but the path is clear. Getting the white belt means walking through the door of a gym for the first time, being a complete beginner in a room full of people who know what they’re doing, and choosing to come back anyway.
That’s the hardest thing anyone does in jiu jitsu. Everything after that is just training.
How Long Each Belt Takes
Honest timelines, assuming consistent training:
White to blue: Roughly 1 to 2 years.
Blue to purple: Roughly 2 to 3 years.
Purple to brown: Roughly 1.5 to 3 years.
Brown to black: Roughly 1 to 3 years.
Total time to black belt: Typically 10 or more years of consistent training.
These are ranges, not promises. Some people move faster, plenty move slower, and life gets in the way for almost everyone at some point. The only variable that consistently matters is how much time you spend on the mat.
Stripes
Belts carry stripes that mark progress between promotions. Four stripes on a belt generally means you’re approaching the next rank.
Most no-gi gyms skip stripes. We use them at 10th Planet Airlock because we like what they do for people. A stripe is a small, occasional reminder that your work is being seen and your progress is real. It’s encouragement and recognition. Nothing more serious than that.
How Promotions Work at Airlock
Promotions happen on special days, usually at one of our seminars or events, when Rei decides someone is ready for the next belt. That’s the whole process.
Here’s what we don’t do, and what we’d tell you to watch for at any gym:
No belt tests. Your training is the test. Rei sees you on the mat every week.
No promotion fees. You never pay for a belt.
No required private lessons. Any gym that makes privates a condition of promotion is selling belts, not awarding them.
Those three things are red flags anywhere you see them.
Sandbagging, and Why We Won’t Do It
Sandbagging is holding someone at a lower belt longer than they’ve earned so they can dominate an easier division at competition. It’s common, it’s a way for gyms to collect medals, and we think it’s unacceptable.
People get their belt when they’re ready for it. Not after they’ve stacked up gold medals competing against people they shouldn’t be matched against. That applies to adults and to our kids program equally. If one of our kids steps onto a competition mat, we want to be certain they’re in the right division.
Your belt is both a reward and a call to get to the next level. It should reflect where you actually are.
Kids Belt Ranks
Kids follow a separate, longer progression before they enter the adult system. We follow the IBJJF kids belt recommendations at our kids jiu jitsu program, which are structured around age and time spent training.
The kids progression runs white, grey, yellow, orange, and green, with white, solid, and black variants at most levels. Each rank has age requirements attached. When a student turns 16, they transition into the adult belt system, usually entering at blue belt depending on their experience.
The reason we follow the IBJJF structure rather than inventing our own is the same reason we don’t sandbag. Standardized kids belts mean that when our students compete, they’re matched fairly against kids at their level.
Do No-Gi and Gi Jiu Jitsu Use the Same Belts?
Yes. The belt system is the same across gi and no-gi jiu jitsu. A blue belt is a blue belt.
The 10th Planet system uses the same IBJJF-recognized ranks, even though 10th Planet gyms train exclusively without the gi. Our head instructor Rei Villa holds both a 10th Planet Black Belt under Curtis Hembroff at 10th Planet Austin and an IBJJF First Degree Black Belt. Same ranking structure, different training uniform.
The one practical difference: in no-gi jiu jitsu in Bastrop, you’re usually not wearing the belt while you train. It lives in your bag. The rank still means the same thing.
The Belt Is Not the Point
We’ll close with the thing that matters most.
Belts are useful. They organize competition divisions, they give coaches a shorthand for a student’s level, they help jiu jitsu memes really land, and they mark real milestones on a long road. But nobody who has trained for a decade will tell you the belt is why they kept showing up.
They kept showing up because the training is good, the people are good, and there’s always something new to learn. The belt is what happens along the way.
Come Train
No-gi jiu jitsu classes in Bastrop six days a week at 10th Planet Airlock. Inside Bastrop Fitness Project at 303 Martin Luther King Dr, Bastrop, TX 78602. Right off Hwy 71. Near the Buc-ee’s.
If you’re just getting started, read our complete guide to starting jiu jitsu. Your white belt is waiting.
Your first class is always free. No experience needed. No gear required.
Discounts for active duty military, veterans, law enforcement, and first responders.
Book your free trial class at 10th Planet Airlock →
Or call us: (512) 271-5260
Or email: airlockbjj@gmail.com
Check out the full class schedule here.
10th Planet Airlock | 303 Martin Luther King Dr, Bastrop, TX 78602 | Inside Bastrop Fitness Project | Voted #1 Best Martial Arts Gym in Bastrop County 2025 | We Defy Foundation Partner
