It's like putting tape on your assault rifle. May look cool, but doesn't really mean anything. :D

You have conscription in Finland too, so don't you put white tape on your assault rifles during winter? It means a lot for camouflage :-)

Best idea I've come across is from Wim Deputter. Only stripe a white belt. This is purely to keep the beginners motivated. When they're a blue belt, they are old enough to put on their big boy pants and just suffer & improve without external validation.

You have conscription in Finland too, so don't you put white tape on your assault rifles during winter? It means a lot for camouflage :-)

Nope. No tape. We use a net-like fabric.

Just like the military, we have a system of visual identification of someone’s rank, skills and accomplishments.

I find three types who have an issue giving stripes to adults and are constantly saying that people should not worry about belts. 1. Higher ranks who have the “I had to walk 30 miles through the snow with no shoes to get to school” attitude even though BJJ is the most participation trophy sport known to man.

Anybody have any reliable info on who started the whole stripe thing? Was it an individual or federation? I'd imagine that black belts were the first to receive stripes, and then someone decided to give out stripes to non-bb's after that, but perhaps I'm wrong. When I received my blue belt in '08, it didn't even have a ranking bar on it... Anyway, just curious!

I'd assume that, like the belt system, it didn't start with Jiu Jitsu and in inherited from Judo.

It is not an invention of traditionally Judo as I know. [In Judo there were no coloured belts at the beginning, too. It was mudansha and yudansha (students and teaching persons) and they have had white or simple black belts. Later coloured belts were invented (in Europe) and brought into Judo and back to Japan probably by Kashiwasaki. Kano implemeneted these students ranks in Judo and other martial arts copied it.] Even the different coloured ranks of yudansha (pure black, red and white and red) were only introduced in the 30´s of last century. I would assume that stripes on a BB are adapted from Karate or Korean martial arts like Tae kwon do or something like that.

It is not an invention of traditionally Judo as I know. [In Judo there were no coloured belts at the beginning, too. It was mudansha and yudansha (students and teaching persons) and they have had white or simple black belts. Later coloured belts were invented (in Europe) and brought into Judo and back to Japan probably by Kashiwasaki. Kano implemeneted these students ranks in Judo and other martial arts copied it.] Even the different coloured ranks of yudansha (pure black, red and white and red) were only introduced in the 30´s of last century. I would assume that stripes on a BB are adapted from Karate or Korean martial arts like Tae kwon do or something like that.

Your assumptions on the origin are incorrect. Not being in judo does not mean it was not created by Judo. Colour belts were not original for example, but they were still developed by judo first, and from there spread to other martial arts. Dan ranks actually existed before coloured belt ranks in judo. Which is where BJJ degrees come from. Belts and ranks existed in judo long before BJJ or Tae kwon do even existed. It's common misconception that judo only had black and white ranks. They only had black and white belts, but the concept of kyu and dan ranks were used from the first year of kodokan existing. Kano adopted Kyu and Dan ranks from Go. The first martial art to do so. The various coloured belts were kyu belts were added later, but the concept of kyu/dan was well established in japan for centuries at stage.

Your assumptions on the origin are incorrect. Not being in judo does not mean it was not created by Judo. Colour belts were not original for example, but they were still developed by judo first, and from there spread to other martial arts. Dan ranks actually existed before coloured belt ranks in judo. Which is where BJJ degrees come from. Belts and ranks existed in judo long before BJJ or Tae kwon do even existed. It's common misconception that judo only had black and white ranks. They only had black and white belts, but the concept of kyu and dan ranks were used from the first year of kodokan existing. Kano adopted Kyu and Dan ranks from Go. The first martial art to do so. The various coloured belts were kyu belts were added later, but the concept of kyu/dan was well established in japan for centuries at stage.

I thought the judo belt system was more or less a western system that started in France. The Japanese themselves didnt adopt it untill much later.

I'd assume that, like the belt system, it didn't start with Jiu Jitsu and in inherited from Judo.

I don't think this is correct. The black belt was based on a black ribbon awarded to expert swimmers in Japan at the time.

That is an interesting set of claims.

To be correct I did not wrote, that coloured belts were not invented by Judo first in martial arts. What I wrote is that stripes are not an invention of traditionally Judo. -And by the way I added that even coloured belts were introduced later. The existence of kyu and dan ranks under categories of mudansha and yudansha in Judo says nothing about stripes on a belt at all. 🤷‍♂️ Do You have any sources which prove that stripes are invented by Kano or Judo?! I am honestly interested in!

Im honestly thinking about not giving out stripes any more on purple and brown belts. Its almost impossible to quantify imo.