My first coaches were Issac Riggs and Jason Sullins, and they would often say "stripes are for zebras."

They're more for tracking than anything, so if your coach uses a different system for tracking and ranking, so be it - as long as the training is good.

Stripes are completely arbitrary. I would be fine removing that whole metric from our system.

Why not both?

I have some very concrete ideas of the milestones one would have to surpass in order to earn each stripe as a white belt, but for blue belts and above, it gets a bit more esoteric, and perhaps less important.

I wrote a longer explanation on this topic a while ago: https://www.opensourcebjj[...]promotions

When I go to open mats at other gyms they give some indication of what to expect. A 4 stripe blue is usually, but not always, better than the no stripe blue. It is a microcosm of belts as a whole. I have run into really bad purple belts and really tough blue belts, but generally the purples are better than the blues. Generally lots of stripes are better than no stripes.

I like stripes for the same reason I like belts - my main concern is my skill level and if it is improving or not, but still - monkey brain like pretty colors.

I am bad with stripes as I have always felt the belt concept itself is more to keep people focused on the next milestone and kind of view the stripes more as a thing to keep people motivated. As i don't care about attendance I have never really done the whole stripe thing

Our organization has a specific curriculum for each belt stripe, so we use them to keep students focused in their training. I also like the fact that they help students gauge their progress in the art given the fact that it takes years to go up a colored belt.

Also, when the rank sleeve starts falling off a really old belt, the stripes help hold it in place. :)

That is interesting and I do like the concept that the stripe is tied to something tangible

Probably more important at white than any other belt, since BJJ is one of the rare martial arts that has you be a white belt for a couple years on average.

Stripes are good especaily for kids, teens and people newer in low belt ranking. Its good way to gauge how long been doing something giving them a stepping stone goal to keep striving on the mat. Alot people feel like not learing and grasping concepts especially at lower belt ranks but as a coach there always small victories that we tell the students to strive for. Most time they don't realize how well there doing or if they are getting anywhere especially if rolling with upper belts. But when award out stripes it boost confidence and keeps them coming to learn more wich only way to grow is consistently coming to learn on the mat.

I use stripes strictly as way to mark time on the mats. Somebody could stay at Four stripes after they have enough time, if they need to round other areas out. But that also allows me to promote someone quicker if they have the minimum amount of time and are well rounded.

The stripes are for your instructor not for you. If he decides to give a stripe every 6 months, it saves up time scrolling through social media to find out how long you've been training. Let's say he ordered some new blue belts from amazon, he doesn't have to scroll all the way to the post saying "Welcome to the team Zy. We hope you enjoyed your first session." to check the date on the post and make sure you've been training long enough to get your blue belt. It's enough to scroll to " Congratulations on your 3rd stripe to Zy." Finger tape is expansive but you have to remember TIME IS MONEY. Oss!

10 stripes per belt on each side for twenty total. It’s the only way to assert your dominance over the Zebras.

It’s a long hard journey so using stripes to keep up motivations is always good, makes you feel like progress is being made. Especially when there are so many years between belts if you ever get better

I don't care one way or the other about them. I think there are good and bad aspects of the stripe system. At our gym, and most other local gyms, they are based solely on training time. One benefit of having stripes are that they give people an indication of where you're at, especially at white belt. If I'm training with a no stripe white belt I know I probably need to ask them about their training. If they have one stripe I know they've been at it about 4-6 months and should have a pretty good idea about what's going on. If they have four stripes I know they should be getting close to blue belt level if they've been training consistently. At blue, purple and brown I think they possibly serve as more of a motivator to keep going since improvement isn't as readily visible at those belts, but they aren't as important for determining skill level. I'm going to be a bit of a hypocrite here and say that even if the stripes aren't important to you as an upper belt, you should still strive to earn them just to be a good example for the lower belts. Getting a stripe may not motivate you, but I always feel good when I see my team mates getting recognized for their effort and seeing you get a stripe may be motivating to someone else.

I'd say if you do them at all, it would have to be for the white belts and blue belts maybe. After that if you need grip tape to keep you doing Jiu-Jitsu, then there's a disconnect lol.