Over the years I’ve coached martial arts, I often get asked about what criteria I use for promotion, particularly in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Judo has a set criteria and curriculum, so I don’t have to worry as much about it in that art. But, in BJJ, much is left to the instructor’s discretion.

From that point, I want to describe a usable, somewhat scientific standard of measurement for BJJ promotions. As I’ve mentioned in another post, this is not “The” standard, which I don’t believe exists. I want to offer a way of looking at the five major BJJ belts and their potential connection to a popular framework in education, Bloom’s Taxonomy.¹

Bloom’s Taxonomy puts educational objectives into six distinct stages, organized in a hierarchical order, often portrayed as a pyramid, with each stage building on the previous one. The modern stages of Bloom’s Taxonomy are:

1. Remembering: Remembering is the lowest rung on the cognitive ladder and generally takes the least mental effort. It involves recalling or retrieving information from memory. This largely includes semantic memory, such as remembering facts, definitions, or concepts.
2. Understanding: Moving up the ladder, understanding requires students to demonstrate comprehension and interpretation of concepts. It involves explaining ideas or concepts in one’s own words, summarizing information, or translating information into different forms. This stage focuses on grasping the meaning of the information rather than simply memorizing it.
3. Applying: The applying stage involves using acquired knowledge and concepts to solve problems, apply procedures, or carry out tasks. It requires students to transfer their understanding to new situations and contexts. This stage encourages the practical application of knowledge and skills in real-world scenarios.
4. Analyzing: In the analyzing stage, students break down information into its constituent parts and examine the relationships between them. This involves identifying patterns, organizing information, and recognizing a concept’s underlying structure or components. Analyzing enables students to delve deeper into the subject matter and develop a more nuanced understanding.
5. Evaluating: Nearing the top of the educational ladder, evaluating means making judgments or assessments based on the criteria and standards of the learning task. Students critically assess information, arguments, or theories, and make informed decisions. This stage encourages students to consider multiple perspectives, weigh evidence, and defend their opinions based on reasoned arguments.
6. Creating: The highest level of Bloom’s Taxonomy is creating. At the top of the pyramid, creating brings all the other stages together by combining elements or concepts in new ways. Students are tasked with designing, inventing, or producing something new using their knowledge and understanding. This stage fosters creativity, innovation, and the application of higher-order thinking skills.

Although I’ve used a ladder analogy to help visualize Bloom’s Taxonomy, it doesn’t have to be a linear process. Teachers and coaches may engage students at different levels simultaneously or in a non-linear sequence based on learning goals and student needs. Now to how to apply Bloom’s to BJJ.

If you are familiar with BJJ, you know the main belts are White, Blue, Purple, Brown, and Black. There are a few past Black (coral, red, etc.), but as they are often tied more to time in grade and years of service, not to mention a long way off for me, I’ll leave them for someone else to elaborate on.

Like Bloom’s Taxonomy, the BJJ belt system follows a hierarchical structure, with each belt color representing a different level of proficiency and experience. I wanted to synthesize the two pyramids or hierarchies to give an idea of where to start. Full disclosure, this is my thoughts on promotion and not meant to be prescriptive for anyone else—just some ideas.

White Belt: As with most martial arts, the white belt is where we all start It is the initial stage of learning. If it were learning a language, the white belt is where you learn the alphabet and simple words such as cat, dog, run, jump, etc. At this initial stage, students learn basic techniques, positions, and concepts they will need for the rest of their BJJ journey. The white belt mirrors the Remembering stage of Bloom’s. The point is to be exposed to and remember as much as possible.

Blue Belt: In many ways and for many people, the blue belt makes us feel like we have arrived, or at least achieved to some extent. This effect is so powerful that many quit at this stage, signifying what we know of as the blue belt blues. Aside from that negative point, it is the blue belt where most practitioners start developing their personal game. They begin to Understand the art in Bloom’s terms. They begin to see an armbar as a concept rather than a distinct move from guard or mount only. They begin to understand the consequences of actions while sparring. This understanding of how moves connect and their repercussions lead to the practitioner being able to start Applying what they know, which bridges the blue and purple belts.

Purple Belt: We often hear the cliché that a purple belt in BJJ is like a black belt in many other arts. I agree to a point simply because I was around five years into training when I was promoted to purple belt, plenty long enough to be a black belt in other arts. I also started my academy as a purple belt. At this belt, students have begun to Apply the art effectively during rolls and Analyze their performance as well as the performances of others. Purple belts often help teach new students basic techniques. At this stage, purple belts might have begun to create their own game or iterations of the art. The technical proficiency of a purple belt is typically easy to see compared to white belts and many blue belts, although still less proficient than a brown or black belt.

Brown Belt: Most would agree that Brown belts are highly skilled practitioners who deeply understand the art. They may teach classes or even seminars, though some would disdain the latter. Regardless, brown belts have many years of experience and can Evaluate problems in their game and those of their students or teammates. This evaluation means being able to diagnose why a technique works for some body types but needs modifications for others. Or, why someone can’t get a technique to work and then provide the game-changing tweak. The brown belt can use the evaluations to problem-solve and modify as needed. Also, by brown belt, most students have developed a unique style and can adapt their techniques to various situations.

Black Belt: In most cases, the black belt symbolizes a level of mastery of the art. It often takes years of training. The magic of the black belt lies in their ability to Create. To go back to language as an analogy, once you’ve remembered some words, can understand a conversation, can apply the words by taking part in the conversation, analyzing what the other person is saying and evaluating where they are going with it, you can then create something beautiful, like poetry. Black belts are like good poets: they can create beautiful flows with the ease of technique or sequences of moves that might look magical to a new white belt who doesn’t speak the language yet. All of this comes with an amazing caveat. As we create and recreate our art, we also must continue to learn to adapt to the new creations as they take on lives of their own. Ever be the student, and treat the black belt like a beautiful new journey of continuous learning and creating.

For a visual guide, I tried to show how Bloom’s Taxonomy might look with the belt colors behind it. It’s a work in progress.

I hope this combining (or alchemy) of Bloom’s Taxonomy and the BJJ ranking system offers food for thought if you are a coach who has to weigh how to promote your students. This is not a perfect synthesis, but it might give you a starting point, one which has been applied in educational settings for many years. Let me know what you think and if it helps.

1. McGuire, Saundra Yancy. Teach students how to learn: Strategies you can incorporate into any course to improve student metacognition, study skills, and motivation. Stylus Publishing, LLC, 2015.

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