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It takes 2 years, on average, to earn a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu blue belt.
That’s the common knowledge, and it’s backed up by a 2011 survey of 1500+ jiu-jiteiros.
If you’re training 2-4 classes per week, you should expect it to take up to 2 years to earn a blue belt. Of course, this timeline varies depending on factors like natural talent, hard work and dedication, BJJ tournament success, previous martial arts or sports experience, your instructor’s standards, and more.
Some people have earned blue belts as quickly as 6 months or even faster. An extreme example is Dave Camarillo, who earned his blue belt after just a few classes since he was already a competitive judo black belt. Wrestlers switching to BJJ are often promoted to blue belt quickly since they aren’t “true” white belts.
On the other end of the spectrum, there are people who have taken 5 or more years to earn their blue belts. This is usually due to interruptions in regular training, like being injured, getting discouraged and quitting for a while, life changes like having a baby, or moving away from a BJJ school. Promotions are sometimes delayed because the student is training under an instructor who isn’t a black belt who can award new belts.
It’s not uncommon for a dedicated white belt to earn their blue belt closer to the one year mark if they train 5+ times per week, especially if they do well in competition.
Standards for promotions to blue belt also vary from between instructors, schools and associations. The International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF), the biggest regulatory organization, doesn’t require a minimum time at white belt before being promoted to blue belt. They do require the student be at least 16 years old.
Some schools follow a standard beginners curriculum with regular stripe promotions, making the promotion to blue belt more predictable. But the norm is for schools to follow no set lesson plans, and for promotions to often be a surprise at the end of a normal class or maybe a promotion day event.
A few associations (notably Robson Moura’s, Saulo Riberio’s, and Ricardo Liborio’s American Top Team) have an adult green belt between white belt and blue. They each have their own standards for the difference between white, green and blue belt. At schools and tournaments that don’t use green belts for adults, they are still considered white belts. Read more about green belts here.
While formal testing is less common in BJJ, some schools and associations do require it. Tests usually require the student to know certain number of techniques and to spar against different partners and instructors. These tests may also require the student have been training for a certain amount of time.
At most schools, promotions are based on the head instructor’s personal judgment of each student’s skills, knowledge, and commitment. The instructor is likely looking at factors like how long the student has been training, how regularly they attend class, their conditioning and endurance, how well they perform in sparring against training partners of different sizes, ages and belt rank, and more.
It is normal for white belts to be excited and focused on earning their blue belt, but they shouldn’t become too obsessed with it. The best approach is to go to class as much as your body and lifestyle allow, pay attention to your instructor’s lessons, drill your techniques, improve your conditioning, and spar a lot. The belt will come when it comes, and all you can do is work hard so you feel like you deserve it.
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