Didn’t IBJJF change that to 3rd degree?

I have verified many on the 'back of photos' or through other trusted members verification as well. After reading so many posts about members disapproval of these types of verifications it has me thinking of withdrawing a bunch of votes. It is true someone can take photos with a gi on and a belt etc at a seminar or whatever. I know my instructor won't take photos like that anymore for this very reason. I check social media and even do web searches, check their academy web pages looking for a chink in the armor. I've even messaged a few black belts on facebook messenger that I do not know that were listed as coaches to get verification too. I thought that was the whole point of this site. You see a profile, you do some research and you vote on whether you believe they are legitimate in their claim or not. If you know them or can easily find out if they are legit than even better. If it were only based on people who know the practitioner directly the majority of people on here, legit people, would not be verified at all or at least it would take a very long time. Of course everyone can do what they like but perhaps when receiving a vote from an unknown person that is willing to vote for their profile, they should politely message them and ask them to rescind their vote for the sake of their personal view of how this site should work. This way they can keep their integrity intact. :-) Just my 2 cents for what it's worth.

I personally have never verified someone I do not know in real life and have rolled with or reffed in competition. As with any system, it comes down to the integrity of it's participants.

This site doesn't legitimize anyone. Our verification is worth nothing in the real world. Only their instructor can verify them legitimately. Here we just look over their profile, photos and certificates and cast a vote on whether we believe they are legitimate or not. Your vote, like mine has no real value in that regard. Of course looking at peoples profiles and social media has been helpful in pointing out obvious discrepancies but does not really change anything.

I mean, ultimately you could say that even your own instructors areification doesn't mean much. It's not like there's a standardized practice to gaining a belt

I agree, and that is the problem in Jiu Jitsu. Sylvio Behring was trying to get it standardized like Judo but then nothing was ever heard about it again. He wanted all black belt promotions to require a written test as well as a demonstration/test in front of a committee if my memory serves correctly. I could be wrong about the written test. He also wanted the self defense to be part of it. Many would be against that (self defense portion) from what I read in the forums. It would be a huge undertaking but if all practitioners and instructors get behind it, it could work.

During the shark tank I would get asked randomly [...] while I'm being smashed to recite my lineage

wait what??!? :D :D :D :D

My blue belt test was something like this. I had to know my coaches lineage, I had to know the proper names for x amount of techniques. I had had to know a chain of techniques from a number of positions. During the shark tank I would get asked randomly during rolls to perform x technique, or while I'm being smashed to recite my lineage, or the names of the people credited with creating BJJ.

There really is two main arguments for and against standardizing bjj. For: beyond the obvious of legitimizing each belt, it would also make instruction more like an academic approach rather than what is haphazard at a lot of the academies. No one would ever sign up for a class in college and not know what is needed in order to pass. This is something that must change within Brazilian jiu jitsu. Against: one of those beautiful aspects of Brazilian jiu-jitsu is that it is kind of like jazz music, improvisation and personalization is what makes this dynamic art so adaptable and personal. Someone looking to defend themselves in a physical attack outside is probably looking for something pretty different from what a competitor is looking for. Forcing everybody to mold into rigid standards could really impede the arts progress. Just look at the progress of the art in the last 20 years. I would never want something that would limit the arts ability to grow and become more and more effective. Dogma generally does that.

if I happen to travel and my belt rank is question I can quickly bring up beltchecker and settle that.

how it DOESN'T WORK. So, I joined belychecker. I am currently a purple belt from Russia. I have the largest LJ community on the Russian-language Internet and I immediately told our subscribers about this project. Then I saw the influx of Russian guys into the beltchecker system. But... I worry that few of these guys (including me) will not get full approval from the participants of this project. The reason is that we don't have a lot of friends here. Almost none of the Russian athletes. That is, the project works like this: you visited the camp - you were recognized and approved. Or : If you have friends , you are approved. If you don't have friends here, they won't recognize you. The Russian guys don't have any friends here. And we can't even approve of each other:)))) What to say... Even ROY, who gave me the purple belt, looked at my profile and said nothing. Really. It's just some guy from Russia... In general, the project is not for 'wild dirty Russia' right? Soryan for my English

how it DOESN'T WORK. So, I joined belychecker. I am currently a purple belt from Russia. I have the largest LJ community on the Russian-language Internet and I immediately told our subscribers about this project. Then I saw the influx of Russian guys into the beltchecker system. But... I worry that few of these guys (including me) will not get full approval from the participants of this project. The reason is that we don't have a lot of friends here. Almost none of the Russian athletes. That is, the project works like this: you visited the camp - you were recognized and approved. Or : If you have friends , you are approved. If you don't have friends here, they won't recognize you. The Russian guys don't have any friends here. And we can't even approve of each other:)))) What to say... Even ROY, who gave me the purple belt, looked at my profile and said nothing. Really. It's just some guy from Russia... In general, the project is not for 'wild dirty Russia' right? Soryan for my English

People have been saying EXACTLY this since the site launched in January 2019, but statistics prove to us that the problem simply does not exist as you imagine it. 97% of all completed profiles are verified at this moment and I doubt that those 3% are just Russians :D Just create a well documented profile, be active on the site and you and your friends will also be verified and able to vote for each other. History has showed this to be the case again and again and again :) At this stage, only 25 Russians have created profiles, of which just 8 have finished their ID verification etc. So no wonder it takes a little bit of time. Best thing you can do is to convince your friends to start using the platform. As soon as some of them have created well documented profiles that are being verified by the community, then the ball will start rolling really fast. Just like it has happened with many other countries, areas and communities who have joined up here :) Good luck!

I love this reporting system because it keeps records and lets the public know some things about each participant. IBJJF has performed great as a tournament. The CBJJ has dropped the ball in the promotion and ranking declarations in my humble opinion. The JJGF lead by Master Rickson Gracie is trying to fix some of the many mistakes of the CBJJ. I truly think that the organization like the USJJF lead by Professor Bruce Bethers is the most organized. Master Rigan Machado is apart of the organization. For me it is about organization, common educational criteria with in the art, and just having fun. I truly think that all black belts should have to be tested by a board of professors just like getting a doctorate. The tournament should never be the test, because that is not the point of the art in my opinion.

Tested how, Scott? What's a good universal proof in regards being a 'true black belt in BJJ'?

Great question. Maybe they could be tested on leadership, education psychology, sports psychology, reffing, dojo management skills, sexual harassment, curriculum design, self protection or martial arts history. I think these are just some of the subjects that could taught.