I appreciate things that make me reconsider my fundamental assumptions about... well, anything. I keep a training journal online, and keep up with several other martial arts bloggers. I don't agree with everything they do or say, but sometimes, I'm completely surprised. A few days ago, I was reading one of the blogs I try to keep up with regularly. Mokuren Dojo blog is an aikido/judo blog and the guy who owns the blog is a thoughtful, interesting guy. He recently had a chance to interview David Camarillo. For anyone who doesn't know, David Camarillo is a black belt in both judo and BJJ. While the interview itself was interesting, I thought that the comment by Formosa Neijia (comment number 3) was really provocative. He says, "Question: so does what Dave is talking about in this quote impact belt promotions in BJJ? I notice that the belt promotions in BJJ are extremely subjective, and usually don't rely on belt tests. Wouldn't the teacher's perception of loyalty play a role?" One of the things that I really appreciate about BJJ is that the testings are NOT subjective. But I find it extremely interesting that there are people out there who believe otherwise. So, my question is this. BJJ relies upon a comparison of skill in sporting events for promotion. Even those who don't compete are promoted based upon their perceived skill relative to those who do compete. The idea in BJJ being that a blue belt in one school would be comparable in skill to the blue belt in another. Or put more simply, are belt testings more or less subjective than sportive performance with regards to assessing relative skill or merit for promotion than formal testings? What do you guys think?
Good points. If you asked me a year ago, I would tell you BJJ is WAY WAY more subjective in grading than most other more formalized arts because there is no set curriculum. Although I still hold they are more subjective (though more valuable IMO) the fact that they are in fact graded in comparison to competition in sister and rival schools makes it much more standardized and formalized than I once thought. It also keeps the art both pure and evolving constantly, as the constant reality checking between schools doesn't allow isolated training bubbles that you find in most other styles.
