BJJ stripes, also called "graus" in Brazil, are bands of white athletic tape or fabric placed on the black bar of the belt. There are at most four between two colors, and they break up a wait that lasts years. They are markers given by your coach, not certificates, and the pace at which they come varies hugely between academies.
Why BJJ belts have stripes
A BJJ belt is often worn for two or three years. Without an intermediate step, you would go more than a thousand days without any visible sign of progress. Stripes cut that time into four slices and give the coach a way to say "you are moving forward" without changing the color.
They are not part of any official syllabus. The IBJJF treats them as a custom and considers that a student with four stripes can be considered for the next belt. The rest is up to each school.
The black bar and how stripes are applied
Colored belts, from white to brown, have a black bar near one end. That is where the white stripes go, evenly spaced. On a black belt the bar is red (or white in some cases), and the bands on it are degrees, governed by minimum times. Our guide to BJJ belts covers that system.
In practice there are two camps. Athletic tape goes on in a second and peels off in the wash. Sewn stripes last for years. If your coach uses tape, replace it yourself when it comes off. Nobody will accuse you of promoting yourself.
How coaches decide on a stripe
Every coach has a method, but three broad approaches show up again and again.
By feel, in class. The coach watches rolls for weeks and gives the stripe at the end of a session, often without warning. This is the most common approach in small academies.
By attendance. Some academies tie stripes to a number of classes attended. The system is transparent, which reassures people. Its flaw is that it rewards showing up more than skill.
By written curriculum. Some affiliated schools publish a list of techniques for each stripe, with a test in front of the coach. It is the closest model to judo.
Each system has limits. The first is the fairest when the coach really sees every student roll, and the least fair once a class passes sixty people.
What a stripe actually measures
A stripe says one thing: your coach has noticed a change in you. Not necessarily a win in sparring. Often a small detail.
- You no longer panic under mount and you escape with a clean technique.
- You keep your closed guard against heavier partners without getting flattened.
- You chain two attacks instead of one.
- You roll with new people without hurting them.
That last point matters more than people think. A student who injures training partners stalls on stripes, even if they win every roll.
When the stripe does not come
Six months, a year, sometimes longer without a new stripe: it happens a lot and is rarely unfair. Before deciding your coach has forgotten you, check two things.
Start with your real attendance. Count your sessions over the last three months. Many people believe they train three times a week when the real number is closer to 1.5.
Then look at the position you avoid. Everyone has one. If you always pull guard so you never end up under side control, your coach has noticed. They are waiting to see you survive there.
If both are sorted, ask openly, after class and in private: "What should I work on?" Not "When is my next stripe coming?" The difference changes everything.
Stripes and competition
In IBJJF competition, only the belt color counts. A blue belt with no stripes faces a four-stripe blue belt in the same division. That is one reason newly promoted players often lose their first tournaments. Nothing to worry about: a first BJJ competition is best approached as an experience.
Stripes on the white belt
White belt is where stripes have the biggest psychological effect. A beginner who gets a first stripe after a few months is far more likely to stay. Coaches know it. Some give the first one fairly quickly for that reason, then space out the next ones.
After the fourth white belt stripe comes the BJJ blue belt, a real milestone. Do not be surprised if you spend a year at four stripes before you get it.
Compared with judo
Some judo federations use two-color belts for children, for the same reason: to break up the wait. For adult judoka, the judo belt colors come quickly enough that stripes are not needed. BJJ, with only five adult colors, needs them. For the rest of the art, see our introduction to Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
What we recommend: stop counting your stripes and start counting something else. How many times did you pass the guard this month, how many times were you submitted, and from which position. After a few weeks of notes, you will know what to work on. The stripe will follow, and it will mean something.