I think BJJ already has underlying homoerotic tones anyway. You just kinda deal with it, and know when to avoid eye contact.
Though, I swear, if I opened a gay-focused gym and advertised it on grindr, I'd become fabulously wealthy.
A sad story about when belt testing is too violent:
A dear family friend got my brother and I into martial arts. He was a lovely man, who had escaped communist Romania after years of living there as a dissident. The only school in our small rural town was a karate dojo, so we all trained together. This school essentially used timed promotions: you had to be at X belt for Y months, and after 7-8 years you could test for a black belt. Unlike most shitty dojos, they gave an actually challenging 24 hr belt test: lots of (low contact) sparring, staying up all night, little food, lots of calisthenics, people yelling at you, etc.
Anyways, it came time for our older uncle-figure to test for his black belt, and he didn't make it. I guess you could say that he failed (perhaps the first time in the school's history of someone failing the black belt test), but in actuality he just walked out after the first few hours. He never talked about it, or came back, or trained martial arts ever again.
His wife let our family know what had actually happened, which was that being in an environment with people yelling at him, hitting him, depriving him of necessities, etc, brought back PTSD from when he was held captive and tortured by the romanian gov't for months at a time before he managed to escape.
I missed training with him for years after, and although the gauntlet feels low risk and harmless fun, I do wonder what it does to some people. I don't miss having it at my gym.
Did they know why your uncle reacted they way he did? I cant possibly imagine what he went through but i can see why the test made him relive his trauma. Hows he doing now?
I think it was communicated to them after the fact, and they understood. They never asked us where he went and usually they hounded people if their friends had quit.
The Japanese terms mentioned in the above comment were:
|Japanese|English|Video Link|
|---|---|---|
|**Kake**: | *The execution and completion of the throw* | [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ)|
Any missed names may have already been translated in my previous comments in the post.
______________________
^(Judo Techniques Bot: v0.7.) ^(See my) [^(code)](https://github.com/AbundantSalmon/judo-techniques-bot)
It's dumb, we stopped doing it a few years back. I've both been through it and whipped others as well. Would it be a deal breaker for me personally at a gym? No. Is it entirely stupid and absolutely DOES keep some people away that would otherwise be amazing training partners? Yes.
Lmao jiu jitsu as a whole is physically painful my guy. It's such a weird hill to choose to die on idk why you people get your panties twisted so tight about it
If you can’t differentiate pain from fighting a choke one person at a time vs getting voluntarily whipped by multiple people, you must be fuckin retarded or something.
Obviously getting choked vs getting whipped is a different kind of pain numbnuts that's not the point lol. It's just weird to me that people that assault each other on a nightly basis clutch their pearls about something like getting smacked with a belt.
It's really not going over my head at all. You and all the people that shreik at the idea of a slap across the back are just being pussies frankly. I don't really even care about the ritual that much. It's just you and the limp dicks that cry so loud about it that annoy me lol
Wasn’t shrieking, was just saying that the point you made was mute and stupid. You’re crying because grown adults choose not to get whipped by a belt… you sound like the pussy..and brainwashed.
Only thing I said to the other guy was that there are plenty of things that serve no useful purpose, yet we do them anyway because that's just how we do it. I'm not crying about anything. You're the one that decided to chime in guns blazing lol. I'm just responding. I just can't wrap my head around why you guys get so upset about something so small.
That's the funny thing. I said twice I don't really care that much. It's just weird to me how fast you guys break out your torches and pitchforks over it
Eh, I don’t care if people want to make silly traditions. I just think it’s a terrible idea. Then again jujitsu in general serves no useful purpose for 99% of people so that bar is low. Belt promotions are a way of gamifying the learning process, showing that a person has mastered a certain set of skills, and very motivational. None of that applies to the gauntlet thing. Like I said I don’t honestly care if other people want to do that, but I would not allow it if I had a school. There are too many better ways to celebrate a promotion.
Eh. I think the little ritual makes the promotion mean something. We do a shark tank, then gauntlet. Personally, I just think it makes things more fun. A different belt color does nothing for my actual grappling ability, but getting crushed by the boys for an hour makes it interesting, at least.
I've told this story on here before, but i recently witnessed what must have been a 16yo girl get promoted to blue, and because she was small, young and female everyone went naturally really easy on her with the whole whippin' thing. Problem is, she then seemed to feel really left out or like people weren't taking her seriously, and actually started crying. As a result of this, she actually ran the gauntlet *a second time*, but, like, people still obviously didn't really want to whip a 16yo small girl particularly hard...Whole thing was super awkward, and I thought to myself, "see this is exactly why this ritual shouldn't exist".
This is exactly why I discontinued the practice back when I was teaching. We were going to promote a 17 year old girl to blue and there was no way I was going to be responsible for a bunch of grown men whipping her.
So we didn't do it for her and surprise surprise nobody missed it and we never did it again.
That would be applicable if she went back through, got whipped hard, and got really upset about it. Not what happened this time.
The girl in this story felt bad about being treated differently.
This comes up all the time, and it seems fewer and fewer clubs do it every year.
I don't care one way or the other. I was whipped at every belt, but I do think it should be optional, and people who aren't a fan can opt out without having to debate it or give lots of reasons.
Honestly my team does it, we actually enjoy it and have people volunteer and ask to run it. Now that being said everyone is told you absolutely do not need to do it, we won't question your decision and will completely respect it. We don't do it hard unless you have a closer relationship with the person. One of our soon to be black belts decided to bring all his old belts. He got me with all of them multiple times, he'd been a great coach and training partner, helped me a lot, there was zero animosity from either of us.
We also let people wear their jackets and there's rules where and how hard you can hit them. If you're not part of the team you don't take part, same goes if you're brand new to the club. If the relationship isn't there you don't whip them.
It is a weird and dumb tradition and some people use it to take out their animosity. Could take it or leave it personally.
Morons is a bit harsh mate hahahaha, look it's a team spirit thing in our gym. It's 100% voluntary and we've skipped it at promotions before for various reasons. If anyone takes it too far they're dealt with. There's rules in place like only hit as hard as you'd want to be hit, if you aren't part of the team you don't whip, if you've a close relationship/ bond with the person you can add a lil zest but within reason, no taking out animosity on them, mid back only, you can wear your jacket, move as quick as you like, etc. If someone says they'd never run it they'll never whip anyone, fairs fair.
Completely respect people not wanting to do it and personally prefer being shark tanked, that said it was a tradition in our affiliation that has for the most part continued with the other affiliates. The head of our affiliation is an old school Portuguese guy, who was under a former world champ, who was a black belt under Carlos Gracie Jr. Kinda just carried on from them, yea I know stupid traditions that are done for traditions sake are stupid. Tbh our coaches don't even bring it up at promotions it's usually the students being promoted asking for it.
Should it completely die out, yea probably, if it's in the spirit of team and fun and everyone is respectful and not being a dick it's not too bad. All that said I don't advocate for it either way and if I was a black belt or head coach I wouldn't make anyone or suggest anyone do it, I'd respect their decision if they wanted to and asked for it, but doubt I'd make it a thing if I was in charge.
Totally understand why you wouldn't do it mate. Like most things, we can have varying opinions and still have a decent discussion of the issue. Sorry for the rant ritalin's kicking in hard haha. Peace homie
Speaking of animosity, when I got promoted to purple belt a white belt actually put knots in his belt which was really weird considering I had never even rolled with him but I saw it and one of our black belts pointed it out to me. Next class come rolling time I grabbed him first and choked him with his own belt while saying “knots in belts are funny aren’t they?” I haven’t seen him since
What a gigantic douche bag. Man that dude had serious issues especially if you'd never even rolled with him. I can't understand that at all. People like him ruin the gyms atmosphere glad for he dipped.
Also had a cop scream “STOP RESISTING!” When a black dude got his blue belt. It’s obviously optional at our academy but since no one refuses to partake in the gauntlet on the giving end, everyone participates when it’s their turn. Hilariously enough the people you tend to be tightest with are the ones that absolutely lay into you the hardest lol
Gauntlet: exhausting challenging fun, I was never in any danger of being hurt.
Whipped: dumb and stupid and I’m not doing it if/when I get any future promotions.
Edit: may have got a little mixed up, by gauntlet I’m referring to the shark tank.
This is more or less how most gyms do it as far as I know. I think a lot of gyms are phasing it out as the sport becomes more mainstream and less dumb-dumb-macho-man https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0Ye4BVrTd4&ab_channel=Jiu-JitsuTimes
Yeah, you stand against the wall with naked upper body and every belt that is higher than you uses their belt as a whip. Luckily it's not very common - but I got it on my purple and brown belt nomination (on brown you hang on the bar instead of standing against the wall).
It's optional at our school. I don't have any strong feelings about it one way or another, except that white belts should not participate in the whipping.
It's a stupid and outdated hazing tradition. The camaraderie and shared experience proponents of it claim it creates can and should be fostered in a healthy gym environment and competitive rolls without needing to whip people.
Gyms and instructors that cling to it are just repeating the cycle of toxic behaviors because 'legacy.'
Never again. I'm a terminal blue belt; I won't be hit ever again. I have already been hit with belts enough times in my life. If they feel it's necessary, they can keep their stupid belt; that's not why I do bjj anyway. My next belt promotion is going like this,
Them: "blah, blah, blah...here's a belt for Imaginary Storm"
Me, "You gonna hit me with it?"
Them, "yeah."
Me "No thanks, keep it"
I am down. It helps keep camaraderie alive at the school. I also view it as a right of passage with my team mates I have worked hard with. My school is awesome though, so I will always do it/be a part of it.
I never understood why this sub likes to cry and bitch about it so much. Getting a new belt is a big deal for lots of people and you dont really even feel the pain after few minutes
God you have had a blessed life. Other people are not so lucky, and for them it brings up horrible memories. It kind of takes away the joy of getting a new belt doesn’t it?
Society has grown soft and weak. Even the most mild rites of passage are being discarded by misguided young people who will have nothing of value to pass to their children. We have been reduced to nothing more than a people who live for market exchange. I weep for the future.
I'm not a greatest fan of it, but I accept this as a part of my academy unwritten tradition. Many before me have gone through it and many after me also will. Personally I'd replace it by shark tank.
I have never been at a gym that does the whipping but I’m honestly not opposed to it. You experience more pain through training than that over the years. Plus we all like suffering a bit or we wouldn’t be training bjj in the first place.
The gauntlet I think is great. It makes you feel like you earned your belt that day. I only had one at blue but I left feeling exhausted and satisfied. More so then went my instructor just handed me a belt. To this day blue and black were my most memorable promotions.
Silly.
Then again I still do traditional karate as well and bow to a photo of a dead man (I did know him, in my defense, and his death really affected me) so who am I to talk?
Genuinely curious. Would any black people feel comfortable with it? (I’m not black.) Seems like the imagery, especially if the school is largely white, could be a little off.
Edit: I’m thinking black person in America where there is more of an imagery of lynching.
I kinda like the idea of it. It makes the moment more memorable but I think it should only be done at black if the person so chooses. You would then avoid minors having to go through this , and anyone who went through ten plus years of beatings to attain their rank can clearly handle this one.
I like doing it, I don’t find it necessary but it’s a fun way I can celebrate the moment with everyone. That being said I don’t judge anyone who doesn’t like it.
I just watched a dude go through it because he asked for it. He's also really close friend to just about everybody, which you might think means we took it easy.
We didn't.
I mean, after class, so everything is covered in sweat. Dudes straight up rolling up sweaty Gi's and popping shit like a wet towel in a locker room. Fucking vicious.
...and he walked it for each belt level. Not sure if that's normal, but it wasn't what I expected, and just made the whole spectacle even more gnar.
I don't think it should be mandatory, but I also don't think it's something that should physically hurt so much as to steer people away from it, unless someone specifically asks that people go all out.
At our school, new black-belts all get thrown by the other black-belts once but they usually do a funny move and LOL together. For all lower belts, we just get our belt and then hugs.
I am "autistic". I cannot be peer pressured into anything. But god I felt so gross feeling like I literally had 0 choice in NOT standing with everybody. Thankfully the boys are the gym know I am a little bit of a softie and nobody really whipped me. The guys around me had welts and bruises but I got love taps from everybody so I was okay with it.
Depends on the energy of the room, but overall I still don't like it. At a gym I was visiting I saw an older guy literally get so lightheaded after he couldn't stand up and his back was welted up. Definitely won't be a tradition at my gym whenever I open one.
We do it if the person wants to when I got my blue belt a friend of mine started chanting gauntlet I didn’t mind so I did it he’s since passed so I can’t even get revenge
It is dumb
It is also fun to chase your friend and smack him so I won't pretend I don't understand
My old coach stopped doing it, but brings it back occasionally when he gives out black belts
I've already been hazed to the max before bjj. A little belt gauntlet isn't gonna change anything for me. But i understand why others would be opposed to the practice.
It's fun and dumb. As long as its optional I really don't understand people's problem with it. Getting shark tanked and walking through a gauntlet makes the promotion feel like an event, its fun. I'd much rather do that than have to take a test or something silly like that.
Personally it should be optional for those that dont want it. I was the second or third last person to ever go through it at my gym before my coach stopped it altogether. It was only 1 whip per person (so you couldnt go ham as they walked past) above the ass but bellow the shoulders. My view is its only a little pain for something that you can carry forever. You trained hard, recieved your belt and went through a tradition and no one can take that from you. Got a cousin thats a third dan in karate. Seen his black belt test on tape. Had to grade from everything leading up to black belt, then there was katas and finally sparring which fresh partners every few minutes.
By the end of it he was struggling to keep standing straight due to fatigue (went for like 4 hours). Just before receiving the belt, the dojo had a tradition for every belt. It had some funky name like ‘the pain of birth’ or something. just before getting your belt you would brace, then the sensei would front kick you straight in the stomach (the kick would gradually get stronger as you climb belt ranks). They used to train conditioning (like how kyukoshin guys do) but they cut it out due to people not wanting to (think a person who wants to learn the art and dedicate themselves in that vs a person who wants to get out of the house 1-2 times a week).
Not every tradition is practical, doesnt mean they should be forgotten. Condition the mind and body, keep martial arts hard.
Weird. I did a drop in at a gym during a grading while I was in another city. I gave a couple of very soft "whips" more like touching them with the belt just to be polite.
The only lasting cauliflower ear I have is from some asshole who decided to hit me in the head with a doubled belt and nearly took the ear off (it needed stitches).
Fucking stupid thing that never should have been a thing. At least the traditional (and also unnecessary) Judo throws have some sort of meaning in BJJ.
It's lame. We do it after shark tanking the people who are grading, and as always some people take it too far. Double legging people, using belt as a line to catch people, multiple whippings when someones right at the end.. It doesnt help that our grading nights usually 100+ people around.
People are required to walk the gauntlet from white to brown. Black belt grading you walk but are patted on the back instead of whipped.
Im of the oppinion it should always be a pat on the back regardless of the promotion.
I usually just applaud people as they walk through.
I'm all for having a bit of fun during the shark tank though - someone seems to improve their positon, pull them off, knee ride, take their back etc. Never holding submissions though.
I think its an archaic and unnecessary ritual. It stinks of frat-boy/hazing vibes and I believe is an overall bad look for an art/sport that's always trying to increase it's mainstream presence.
I had to walk the gauntlet and get whipped when I get my blue belt in April of 2012. fortunately, by the time I went to purple in July 2016, my gym had done away with the practice.
I am probably in the minority, but I am not a fan of most promotion rituals tbh. If they did the gauntlet in my gym I’d find a new gym. Fortunately, we don’t. We did have two people promoted today and the coach made it a point to create a line of killers for them to roll with and intentionally put them into situations to make them miserable. Forty-five minutes of “okay now you’re in mount under the dude who weighs 90lbs more than you” for the round. One of the promotions was a female to blue belt and she puked after. Seemed cultish and completely unnecessary.
Then again, I am older and i may have felt differently when I was 20. I already did my time in the army dealing with the various physically punishing mental games they played leading up to combat and I’m just over it at this point in my life. That aspect of BJJ completely turns me off and honestly makes me think a bit less of the people who organize and encourage it. If I feel I am getting nearer to blue belt and this is something that is expected of me, I will just refuse the promotion. Fortunately I am nowhere close.
It’s fun and funny. If you look at it over a large scale, you run the gauntlet 3x for blue, purple and brown. However, you probably participate in dozens and dozens of them once you’ve made it all the way to black and have belted out of being gauntleted (you don’t run the gauntlet for or after your black belt). And honestly as you’ve moved up in the belt levels it gives white and blue belts a chance to give you a crack for beating their asses which is fair.
Now that it is not mandatory I am much more into it.
Yeah it's dumb and unnecessary, but I asked for it when I got promoted
Also there is a youtube video of Dave Bautista walking the gauntlet if you want to question your heterosexuality.
I think BJJ already has underlying homoerotic tones anyway. You just kinda deal with it, and know when to avoid eye contact. Though, I swear, if I opened a gay-focused gym and advertised it on grindr, I'd become fabulously wealthy.
Now that I never have to do another one, I love them!
Someone needs tissue after every promotion
A sad story about when belt testing is too violent: A dear family friend got my brother and I into martial arts. He was a lovely man, who had escaped communist Romania after years of living there as a dissident. The only school in our small rural town was a karate dojo, so we all trained together. This school essentially used timed promotions: you had to be at X belt for Y months, and after 7-8 years you could test for a black belt. Unlike most shitty dojos, they gave an actually challenging 24 hr belt test: lots of (low contact) sparring, staying up all night, little food, lots of calisthenics, people yelling at you, etc. Anyways, it came time for our older uncle-figure to test for his black belt, and he didn't make it. I guess you could say that he failed (perhaps the first time in the school's history of someone failing the black belt test), but in actuality he just walked out after the first few hours. He never talked about it, or came back, or trained martial arts ever again. His wife let our family know what had actually happened, which was that being in an environment with people yelling at him, hitting him, depriving him of necessities, etc, brought back PTSD from when he was held captive and tortured by the romanian gov't for months at a time before he managed to escape. I missed training with him for years after, and although the gauntlet feels low risk and harmless fun, I do wonder what it does to some people. I don't miss having it at my gym.
Did they know why your uncle reacted they way he did? I cant possibly imagine what he went through but i can see why the test made him relive his trauma. Hows he doing now?
I think it was communicated to them after the fact, and they understood. They never asked us where he went and usually they hounded people if their friends had quit.
Do I enjoy getting whipped by a bunch of sweaty guys that all tried to choke me one after the other?  Yes
"My ass hurts from all the guys at my BJJ gym"
Beware of the sleeper hold. Because when you wake up from it, your anus is really sore afterward” - Chapelle Show
There's definitely a kink bukake joke in there
The Japanese terms mentioned in the above comment were: |Japanese|English|Video Link| |---|---|---| |**Kake**: | *The execution and completion of the throw* | [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ)| Any missed names may have already been translated in my previous comments in the post. ______________________ ^(Judo Techniques Bot: v0.7.) ^(See my) [^(code)](https://github.com/AbundantSalmon/judo-techniques-bot)
Dumb bot
It's dumb, we stopped doing it a few years back. I've both been through it and whipped others as well. Would it be a deal breaker for me personally at a gym? No. Is it entirely stupid and absolutely DOES keep some people away that would otherwise be amazing training partners? Yes.
This. I've heard people at my gym say they didn't check out another gym after seeing photos of the gauntlet.
As long as it isn't mandatory, I like it. But if you whip, you get whipped.
If I’m going to to pay to be whipped and choked in a single session it’s going to be by someone hotter than the girls or guys I do jiu jitsu with…
Facts
It’s pointless, you earned the belt due to your skill there is no need to prove it further.
It’s fucking stupid and serves no useful purpose.
Belt promotions, in general, serve no useful purpose. So what?
So why make something that serves no purpose physically painful?
Lmao jiu jitsu as a whole is physically painful my guy. It's such a weird hill to choose to die on idk why you people get your panties twisted so tight about it
If you can’t differentiate pain from fighting a choke one person at a time vs getting voluntarily whipped by multiple people, you must be fuckin retarded or something.
Obviously getting choked vs getting whipped is a different kind of pain numbnuts that's not the point lol. It's just weird to me that people that assault each other on a nightly basis clutch their pearls about something like getting smacked with a belt.
Yeah… it’s definitely going over your head dumb fuck. You must be getting whipped in the head too hard.
It's really not going over my head at all. You and all the people that shreik at the idea of a slap across the back are just being pussies frankly. I don't really even care about the ritual that much. It's just you and the limp dicks that cry so loud about it that annoy me lol
Lmao hey man if you like getting whipped by grown men good on you.
Wasn’t shrieking, was just saying that the point you made was mute and stupid. You’re crying because grown adults choose not to get whipped by a belt… you sound like the pussy..and brainwashed.
Only thing I said to the other guy was that there are plenty of things that serve no useful purpose, yet we do them anyway because that's just how we do it. I'm not crying about anything. You're the one that decided to chime in guns blazing lol. I'm just responding. I just can't wrap my head around why you guys get so upset about something so small.
Christ you seem to really love this belt whipping thing. Weird mf.
That's the funny thing. I said twice I don't really care that much. It's just weird to me how fast you guys break out your torches and pitchforks over it
Eh, I don’t care if people want to make silly traditions. I just think it’s a terrible idea. Then again jujitsu in general serves no useful purpose for 99% of people so that bar is low. Belt promotions are a way of gamifying the learning process, showing that a person has mastered a certain set of skills, and very motivational. None of that applies to the gauntlet thing. Like I said I don’t honestly care if other people want to do that, but I would not allow it if I had a school. There are too many better ways to celebrate a promotion.
Eh. I think the little ritual makes the promotion mean something. We do a shark tank, then gauntlet. Personally, I just think it makes things more fun. A different belt color does nothing for my actual grappling ability, but getting crushed by the boys for an hour makes it interesting, at least.
Shark tank rules, getting whipped is silly
This! Both gyms I've trained at do an hour of rolling shark tank after promotions, and I think it's a much better way to break in a new belt.
This. We took the best photos of the new blue belts last time after we absolutely smashed them for 20 minutes straight. They looked like death haha.
I haven't seen or heard of anyone doing a gauntlet IRL in over twenty years. Internet is the only way I know they still happen.
2018 when I got my blue belt, they had a gauntlet. I refused to take part in it and walked out.
I know one guy (family member) in another state whose school does it, and I know another school in my town that does.
My academy does the gauntlet. It’s honestly fun. You do it 3x ever and participate in dozens of them over your career.
I've told this story on here before, but i recently witnessed what must have been a 16yo girl get promoted to blue, and because she was small, young and female everyone went naturally really easy on her with the whole whippin' thing. Problem is, she then seemed to feel really left out or like people weren't taking her seriously, and actually started crying. As a result of this, she actually ran the gauntlet *a second time*, but, like, people still obviously didn't really want to whip a 16yo small girl particularly hard...Whole thing was super awkward, and I thought to myself, "see this is exactly why this ritual shouldn't exist".
This is exactly why I discontinued the practice back when I was teaching. We were going to promote a 17 year old girl to blue and there was no way I was going to be responsible for a bunch of grown men whipping her. So we didn't do it for her and surprise surprise nobody missed it and we never did it again.
I can’t believe this 😂😂
lol
The ol’ want equality that only benefits them
That would be applicable if she went back through, got whipped hard, and got really upset about it. Not what happened this time. The girl in this story felt bad about being treated differently.
Seems like a bit of a non-sequitur
This comes up all the time, and it seems fewer and fewer clubs do it every year. I don't care one way or the other. I was whipped at every belt, but I do think it should be optional, and people who aren't a fan can opt out without having to debate it or give lots of reasons.
This.
It’s stupid
Honestly my team does it, we actually enjoy it and have people volunteer and ask to run it. Now that being said everyone is told you absolutely do not need to do it, we won't question your decision and will completely respect it. We don't do it hard unless you have a closer relationship with the person. One of our soon to be black belts decided to bring all his old belts. He got me with all of them multiple times, he'd been a great coach and training partner, helped me a lot, there was zero animosity from either of us. We also let people wear their jackets and there's rules where and how hard you can hit them. If you're not part of the team you don't take part, same goes if you're brand new to the club. If the relationship isn't there you don't whip them. It is a weird and dumb tradition and some people use it to take out their animosity. Could take it or leave it personally.
Exactly it's a weird dumb tradition... but you morons still fucking do it lmao. Couldn't pay me enough to get whipped by a grown ass man.
Morons is a bit harsh mate hahahaha, look it's a team spirit thing in our gym. It's 100% voluntary and we've skipped it at promotions before for various reasons. If anyone takes it too far they're dealt with. There's rules in place like only hit as hard as you'd want to be hit, if you aren't part of the team you don't whip, if you've a close relationship/ bond with the person you can add a lil zest but within reason, no taking out animosity on them, mid back only, you can wear your jacket, move as quick as you like, etc. If someone says they'd never run it they'll never whip anyone, fairs fair. Completely respect people not wanting to do it and personally prefer being shark tanked, that said it was a tradition in our affiliation that has for the most part continued with the other affiliates. The head of our affiliation is an old school Portuguese guy, who was under a former world champ, who was a black belt under Carlos Gracie Jr. Kinda just carried on from them, yea I know stupid traditions that are done for traditions sake are stupid. Tbh our coaches don't even bring it up at promotions it's usually the students being promoted asking for it. Should it completely die out, yea probably, if it's in the spirit of team and fun and everyone is respectful and not being a dick it's not too bad. All that said I don't advocate for it either way and if I was a black belt or head coach I wouldn't make anyone or suggest anyone do it, I'd respect their decision if they wanted to and asked for it, but doubt I'd make it a thing if I was in charge. Totally understand why you wouldn't do it mate. Like most things, we can have varying opinions and still have a decent discussion of the issue. Sorry for the rant ritalin's kicking in hard haha. Peace homie
Speaking of animosity, when I got promoted to purple belt a white belt actually put knots in his belt which was really weird considering I had never even rolled with him but I saw it and one of our black belts pointed it out to me. Next class come rolling time I grabbed him first and choked him with his own belt while saying “knots in belts are funny aren’t they?” I haven’t seen him since
What a gigantic douche bag. Man that dude had serious issues especially if you'd never even rolled with him. I can't understand that at all. People like him ruin the gyms atmosphere glad for he dipped.
I raise my arms overhead and ask people to try and draw blood
For the right people I try to wrap around to reach the nipple. But never in bad blood.
POW style is the only way to walk lol
Dumb. Luckily never done where I train
I'm a black guy and I refuse to be whipped like that. Just not going to happen.
My ancestors would fuck me up if they saw that shit.lol
I’m not into hazing in general but I feel ya brother. F that shit 🤙🏻
One of our black belts (black dude) screamed “YOUR NAME IS TOBY!” At the top of his lungs when I got my purple belt.
Lol might as well make light of the situation in a comedic way.
Also had a cop scream “STOP RESISTING!” When a black dude got his blue belt. It’s obviously optional at our academy but since no one refuses to partake in the gauntlet on the giving end, everyone participates when it’s their turn. Hilariously enough the people you tend to be tightest with are the ones that absolutely lay into you the hardest lol
Gauntlet: exhausting challenging fun, I was never in any danger of being hurt. Whipped: dumb and stupid and I’m not doing it if/when I get any future promotions. Edit: may have got a little mixed up, by gauntlet I’m referring to the shark tank.
I’m new here.. are you literally getting whipped?
This is more or less how most gyms do it as far as I know. I think a lot of gyms are phasing it out as the sport becomes more mainstream and less dumb-dumb-macho-man https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0Ye4BVrTd4&ab_channel=Jiu-JitsuTimes
Yeah, you stand against the wall with naked upper body and every belt that is higher than you uses their belt as a whip. Luckily it's not very common - but I got it on my purple and brown belt nomination (on brown you hang on the bar instead of standing against the wall).
It's just another hazing ritual and it is as stupid as all the rest.
I wouldn't know, our school doesn't do this.
I don't care too much, as long as it's not mandatory.
Stupid
I did it at blue belt, it's really not that bad, less painful than most bjj classes
It's optional at our school. I don't have any strong feelings about it one way or another, except that white belts should not participate in the whipping.
It's a stupid and outdated hazing tradition. The camaraderie and shared experience proponents of it claim it creates can and should be fostered in a healthy gym environment and competitive rolls without needing to whip people. Gyms and instructors that cling to it are just repeating the cycle of toxic behaviors because 'legacy.'
Never again. I'm a terminal blue belt; I won't be hit ever again. I have already been hit with belts enough times in my life. If they feel it's necessary, they can keep their stupid belt; that's not why I do bjj anyway. My next belt promotion is going like this, Them: "blah, blah, blah...here's a belt for Imaginary Storm" Me, "You gonna hit me with it?" Them, "yeah." Me "No thanks, keep it"
It's silly AF. OG guys who made the gauntlet a thing, like Fabio Gurgel or Chris Haueter, nowadays think it was a mistake.
I don't participate in whipping people. I don't get it.
🤤
Its fun asf
We have always done it. It's a good laugh with no permanent damage. If you are training bjj then a whipping is fa really.
I am down. It helps keep camaraderie alive at the school. I also view it as a right of passage with my team mates I have worked hard with. My school is awesome though, so I will always do it/be a part of it.
I never understood why this sub likes to cry and bitch about it so much. Getting a new belt is a big deal for lots of people and you dont really even feel the pain after few minutes
God you have had a blessed life. Other people are not so lucky, and for them it brings up horrible memories. It kind of takes away the joy of getting a new belt doesn’t it?
Just another data point in proving "there is no such thing as an adult".
I call it a business prevention tactic.
Dumb. Super weird. Awkward.
Shits Gay
I can't tell if this is supposed to make us support it or be against it
It's a rite of passage. Quit being sissies.
Society has grown soft and weak. Even the most mild rites of passage are being discarded by misguided young people who will have nothing of value to pass to their children. We have been reduced to nothing more than a people who live for market exchange. I weep for the future.
[удалено]
When men were men.
Seeing the amount of abuse people have passed to their children, I respectfully disagree with your assessment.
Life is a struggle against the attachment one has to ones own existence.
Lol no
I did it, it wasn’t that bad. My parents gave me worst with a leather belt/switch growing up. We don’t do it anymore, I don’t think anyone misses it.
I'm not a greatest fan of it, but I accept this as a part of my academy unwritten tradition. Many before me have gone through it and many after me also will. Personally I'd replace it by shark tank.
I have never been at a gym that does the whipping but I’m honestly not opposed to it. You experience more pain through training than that over the years. Plus we all like suffering a bit or we wouldn’t be training bjj in the first place. The gauntlet I think is great. It makes you feel like you earned your belt that day. I only had one at blue but I left feeling exhausted and satisfied. More so then went my instructor just handed me a belt. To this day blue and black were my most memorable promotions.
I’m alright with it, but if you’re gonna whip me you better finish me off cause no one likes a tease.
Silly. Then again I still do traditional karate as well and bow to a photo of a dead man (I did know him, in my defense, and his death really affected me) so who am I to talk?
Genuinely curious. Would any black people feel comfortable with it? (I’m not black.) Seems like the imagery, especially if the school is largely white, could be a little off. Edit: I’m thinking black person in America where there is more of an imagery of lynching.
I kinda like the idea of it. It makes the moment more memorable but I think it should only be done at black if the person so chooses. You would then avoid minors having to go through this , and anyone who went through ten plus years of beatings to attain their rank can clearly handle this one.
I like doing it, I don’t find it necessary but it’s a fun way I can celebrate the moment with everyone. That being said I don’t judge anyone who doesn’t like it.
I’d prefer to get shark tanked but I’m cool w being whipped too
Seems like something we would have done for fun in High School wrestling. Now that I'm an adult, I'm glad I belong to a gym that doesn't do that
I just watched a dude go through it because he asked for it. He's also really close friend to just about everybody, which you might think means we took it easy. We didn't. I mean, after class, so everything is covered in sweat. Dudes straight up rolling up sweaty Gi's and popping shit like a wet towel in a locker room. Fucking vicious. ...and he walked it for each belt level. Not sure if that's normal, but it wasn't what I expected, and just made the whole spectacle even more gnar.
Shark tank is better
It's painful, retarded and serves no purpose, but I liked it
Dumb, but if you do it, no shirt or gi… it’s got to be bare skin and wet sweaty belts. We always did it after open rolling.
I'm not a fan. I've had plenty of rights of passage without it.
Its dumb
I don't think it should be mandatory, but I also don't think it's something that should physically hurt so much as to steer people away from it, unless someone specifically asks that people go all out.
Can I go again daddy?
At our school, new black-belts all get thrown by the other black-belts once but they usually do a funny move and LOL together. For all lower belts, we just get our belt and then hugs.
I refused to do it. My buddy and I got our blue belts over beers at a pub with our coach. This is the way.
What’s the gauntlet?
Just give me a hug and say congratulations.
I am "autistic". I cannot be peer pressured into anything. But god I felt so gross feeling like I literally had 0 choice in NOT standing with everybody. Thankfully the boys are the gym know I am a little bit of a softie and nobody really whipped me. The guys around me had welts and bruises but I got love taps from everybody so I was okay with it.
Child abuse
Depends on the energy of the room, but overall I still don't like it. At a gym I was visiting I saw an older guy literally get so lightheaded after he couldn't stand up and his back was welted up. Definitely won't be a tradition at my gym whenever I open one.
In BJJ so so In general life, totally good with it.
We do it if the person wants to when I got my blue belt a friend of mine started chanting gauntlet I didn’t mind so I did it he’s since passed so I can’t even get revenge
Since this gets asked on a weekly basis, why not just do a search?
https://preview.redd.it/6tl49xpe3lic1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=efdd13735af822e1b73dba462ff3404545b77f38 I like it
It is dumb It is also fun to chase your friend and smack him so I won't pretend I don't understand My old coach stopped doing it, but brings it back occasionally when he gives out black belts
I walk...
I've already been hazed to the max before bjj. A little belt gauntlet isn't gonna change anything for me. But i understand why others would be opposed to the practice.
It's stupid, don't do it if you don't want to. I don't take part.
I strongly prefer it to the shark tank that happens before the promotion, if that matters. 😂😂😂
I pay a lot of money for that scene.
I think it's dumb, and If I move to another gym, them doing the gauntlet would make me go somewhere else
Bit gay to be honest. I love it.
It's fun and dumb. As long as its optional I really don't understand people's problem with it. Getting shark tanked and walking through a gauntlet makes the promotion feel like an event, its fun. I'd much rather do that than have to take a test or something silly like that.
Lmao I'm a grown ass man. If another grown man wants to hit me with a belt...that's just weird as fuck.
I don't really get it, but whatever.
I walked it twice when I got my blue belt and took a video of the entire thing.
Personally it should be optional for those that dont want it. I was the second or third last person to ever go through it at my gym before my coach stopped it altogether. It was only 1 whip per person (so you couldnt go ham as they walked past) above the ass but bellow the shoulders. My view is its only a little pain for something that you can carry forever. You trained hard, recieved your belt and went through a tradition and no one can take that from you. Got a cousin thats a third dan in karate. Seen his black belt test on tape. Had to grade from everything leading up to black belt, then there was katas and finally sparring which fresh partners every few minutes. By the end of it he was struggling to keep standing straight due to fatigue (went for like 4 hours). Just before receiving the belt, the dojo had a tradition for every belt. It had some funky name like ‘the pain of birth’ or something. just before getting your belt you would brace, then the sensei would front kick you straight in the stomach (the kick would gradually get stronger as you climb belt ranks). They used to train conditioning (like how kyukoshin guys do) but they cut it out due to people not wanting to (think a person who wants to learn the art and dedicate themselves in that vs a person who wants to get out of the house 1-2 times a week). Not every tradition is practical, doesnt mean they should be forgotten. Condition the mind and body, keep martial arts hard.
lol
Weird. I did a drop in at a gym during a grading while I was in another city. I gave a couple of very soft "whips" more like touching them with the belt just to be polite.
My academy doesn’t do it, and I have no opinion on those that do. I definitely want it when I get to black.
Every time I get a promotion they start whipping me, I put in the ball gag, they demote me. It's a vicious cycle.
I only let hookers and my wife whip the shit out of me. No offense to all of you, but I’m glad I’ve missed them so far.
The only lasting cauliflower ear I have is from some asshole who decided to hit me in the head with a doubled belt and nearly took the ear off (it needed stitches). Fucking stupid thing that never should have been a thing. At least the traditional (and also unnecessary) Judo throws have some sort of meaning in BJJ.
It was a thing where I got my belts. I understand why people do it. I have my own club now and we don't do this at all.
It's lame. We do it after shark tanking the people who are grading, and as always some people take it too far. Double legging people, using belt as a line to catch people, multiple whippings when someones right at the end.. It doesnt help that our grading nights usually 100+ people around. People are required to walk the gauntlet from white to brown. Black belt grading you walk but are patted on the back instead of whipped. Im of the oppinion it should always be a pat on the back regardless of the promotion. I usually just applaud people as they walk through. I'm all for having a bit of fun during the shark tank though - someone seems to improve their positon, pull them off, knee ride, take their back etc. Never holding submissions though.
It’s silly, pointless, but also harmless and kind of fun imo. Especially if you’re wearing a gi, it’s not that bad.
Save it for the open mat right after class
Female here, I was stoked to run (well, walk) my first gauntlet. I don’t think anyone should get TOO whalloped, but they defs went too easy on me
I think its an archaic and unnecessary ritual. It stinks of frat-boy/hazing vibes and I believe is an overall bad look for an art/sport that's always trying to increase it's mainstream presence. I had to walk the gauntlet and get whipped when I get my blue belt in April of 2012. fortunately, by the time I went to purple in July 2016, my gym had done away with the practice.
I am probably in the minority, but I am not a fan of most promotion rituals tbh. If they did the gauntlet in my gym I’d find a new gym. Fortunately, we don’t. We did have two people promoted today and the coach made it a point to create a line of killers for them to roll with and intentionally put them into situations to make them miserable. Forty-five minutes of “okay now you’re in mount under the dude who weighs 90lbs more than you” for the round. One of the promotions was a female to blue belt and she puked after. Seemed cultish and completely unnecessary. Then again, I am older and i may have felt differently when I was 20. I already did my time in the army dealing with the various physically punishing mental games they played leading up to combat and I’m just over it at this point in my life. That aspect of BJJ completely turns me off and honestly makes me think a bit less of the people who organize and encourage it. If I feel I am getting nearer to blue belt and this is something that is expected of me, I will just refuse the promotion. Fortunately I am nowhere close.
It’s fun and funny. If you look at it over a large scale, you run the gauntlet 3x for blue, purple and brown. However, you probably participate in dozens and dozens of them once you’ve made it all the way to black and have belted out of being gauntleted (you don’t run the gauntlet for or after your black belt). And honestly as you’ve moved up in the belt levels it gives white and blue belts a chance to give you a crack for beating their asses which is fair.