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Home » BJJ Belts & Promotion » Should a BJJ black belt ever tap to a lower belt?
1

Should a BJJ black belt ever tap to a lower belt?

- John Q. Whitebelt

Posted by John Q. Whitebelt in BJJ Belts & Promotion | 1 comment

Community Answers

  1. 68
    9-8-14
    Marshal D. Carper says:

    The origin of this question has its roots in a dangerous mentality. As soon as you start to assume that a higher rank should not tap to lower belts, you introduce a poisonous element of ego that can not only hinder progress but lead to injuries.

    Training is not about winning and losing. Training is about experimenting and learning, regardless of the belts involved. If a black belt is not tapping to lower belts from time to time, the black belt is probably not extending themselves enough. It is worth noting though that if the skill disparity is large, perhaps as vast as the gap between white and black belt, the black belt may have enough ability to undo any damage they have done to their position by experimenting. That said, if the skill gap is smaller, it is not unusual for the black belt to tap out when an experiment fails.

    Stephan Kesting, a well-known and highly respected black belt, once wrote about learning the Chim Chim Pass, and he happily admitted to tapping out to a brown belt that was much lighter than he was. Why was he happy? He was learning. He may have been failing, but he was learning more about a new technique that interested him.

    The lesson here is two-fold: upper belts should not stubbornly refuse to tap to a lower belt as it stunts learning, and lower belts should not get too excited if they tap an upper belt as the upper belt may have been experimenting. Focus on learning, not on winning!

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