[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFgXP0V7TJQ]

By now I’m sure everyone in the BJJ community has seen the video I listed above. In the video you see a guy claiming to be a black belt who can’t even recount his lineage or previous instructor. Anyone who is a black belt can rattle off their instructor’s name without a second thought, and if they know their lineage as they should, they can go all the way down the line back to Mitsuyo Maeda.

Faking a belt is incredibly offensive, especially a black belt. I find it so offensive because I know what I’ve personally had to deal with, as well as others, in order to receive the right to wear the rank. The training for me was the easy part. I love training. It is all the other things that have constantly gotten in the way or created obstacles, obstacles that tested my dedication to Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. Not least of them have been all the injuries. I look at someone faking a black belt and get angry. I imagine a similar reaction would be cause if someone wearing a military uniform with insignias that was never actually in the military was spotted by a former military man or woman. It means something very dear to them to wear the patches and the uniform, and for someone to just fake it is completely unacceptable.

I’m happy that this guy posted a video bringing attention to this faker. As our sport grows it is only inevitable that more fakers will pop up. Even worse, some legitimate black belt with their eyes on the dollar and not the preservation of our sport / martial art will begin to give belts away to undeserving recipients.

It’s important for us as Brazilian Jiu-jitsu practitioners, teachers and students to uphold the tradition that we were brought into and keep it alive. It’s a tougher journey and many won’t have the “stuff” to make it, but it will keep our art strong. Like the saying goes, “the cream rises to the top.”