BJJ Black Belt aspirations?

I'm certainly not one for chasing belts, but I was thinking if in the next decade or 2 I was offered a BJJ black belt, I'm not sure I'd take it:

1) BJJ in general takes 5 times longer to get a black belt and requires 5 times the investment in class time compared to other martial arts (most other arts take 500-600 hours of class time or something like that. Stephan Kesting estimated it takes 2200-2500 for a BJJ black belt).

That's a helluva an amount of time away from family/friends/doing other things.

2) Assume a person could get a BJJ black belt after training 3 times a week for 10 years. Where I live, that would cost £7500 for training, plus say 3 "official" gis in that time, plus seminars... It's close to £10,000. Doing TKD in my local area for the same amount of time, even with all the silly belts and grading fees, would come to about £4000. For Judo, it would be about the same as TKD (assuming new gi's periodically and seminars etc...)

3) You don't have to teach once you get a black belt, but there is more pressure to teach where I live if you are at that level because there are a dearth of black belts in BJJ here. So the cycle of 3/4 nights a week away from family/friends continues.

This is just based on where I live, and in the future things will change. There will be more black belts and coaches, this will drive prices down etc...

I still enjoy the training, but I wouldn't thank you for a black belt in BJJ.*


* I probably would, it's just the BJJ forum is quiet and wanted to see what people think about the amount of investment BJJ requires.

 

That's the price but not the value

 

Purple belt is my goal. Anything past that is pure cherries.

 

Open your own gym and teach full-time. There's potential for your belt to have paid for itself within a couple of years.

 

I just compare how much training costs compared to the price of a pint, packet of ciggies or bar of chocolate.
And people gladly hand over great wads of cash for those things that, at best, offer a few minutes of pleasure.
I still carry with me the benefits of starting martial arts and the various milestone along the way, years after those events.

 

why does it matter? i started bjj at 40. pretty sure i'll never be a black belt. i'm content just going against guys and learning something. belt means nothing anyway. i chased a black belt in hapkido. only because of: BLACK BELT. looking back, it was foolish and i got sucked into staying somewhere i shouldn't have.

also i roll three times a week on average, and i compete once a year usually. and i have 3 kids and a career. so if i can do it, anyone can.

for me probably the biggest thing bjj has done for me is helped me with fear. like i love going against guys that are 20 years younger than me (i'm 45, today actually) and have more experience. sure they beat me, but i've learned to control my fear before going against them. because, it's darn scary to roll against someone that won a national collegiate wrestling championship, who's also a brown belt. or against a guy that competes in mma (granted, the minor leagues, but still).

i would say the second biggest thing bjj has done for me is actually grappling skill.

so again, belt means nothing. just roll baby!

 

Happy birthday you old fart.

 

Happy birthday Giovanni!

 

thanks for the birthday wishes guys. at this point, i'm very happy to be a part of a great community (map). cheers!

 

Happy Birthday Giovanni!

 

I think your underestimating tkd and Judo costs, how much is a tkd first Dan now?

BJJ is cheap per hour, I only buy sale Gi's/shorts etc I don't waste money on dubious 'BJJ lifestyle' nonsense.

My biggest outlay recently was home mats, which was less then paying for three nights out.

 

PS Happy birthday Giovanni!

 

I paid £30 for a whole semester of judo classes once a week.

 

Uni club right?

 

Yeah.

 

Giovanni I think you are bizzarro me because you just described my experience.

Oh and a belated happy birthday!

 

I started bjj at 38 and my body is already pretty broken from previous MA training so I most likely will never reach black but who knows. I'd be content being a good purple.

 

For WTF TKD where I live (I know the instructor):

£28 a month for 4 sessions a week.
28 x 12 = £336 a year
10 is 336 = £3360 for 10 years study

Sparring gear = £50

6 gradings at £25 = £150
3 gradings at £35 = £ 105
1st Black belt grading = £130
2nd Black Belt grading = £150
3rd Black Belt grading = £200

Annual membership + insurance £20 a year x 10 years = £200 for 10 years.


So.... that comes out at £4345. Maybe I missed a few things like seminars, new doboks or new sparring gear. So £4500 might be a closer number. Even if it was £4500, it's still about half the price of BJJ where I live.

 

I look at those figures and all I can think is, "And?"

Gonna be dead eventually anyway, might as well spend the cash doing something you love.