We love the positive energy that comes with the new year here at SBG! Witnessing all of the New Year’s goals being chased after with renewed energy is inspiring. And seeing the positive change that comes from those goals being met is why we do what we do. In the spirit of positive change, we have a whole slew of new improvements for you going into 2022. All the changes that you read about below are effective January 1st. You’ll notice phasing some of the belts into play this month (Dec ‘21) but the official launch is January 1, 2022.
New Stripes/Belting System
Lots of Academies offer a belt between White and Blue so we wanted to test it and see if we liked it too. Our version of the belt between was called the Baby Blue Belt. It hasn’t been an awful system but we’d like to go back to keeping it old school (mostly). What I mean by that is we’re going back to the traditional 5 belt belting system of White, Blue, Purple, Brown, Black. And we like the traditional Jiu Jitsu striping system where one receives 4 stripes on each belt up to Black Belt. The only thing we don’t like is the tape stripes on White Belts because tape falls off and for us that’s a problem. There’s a big difference between a White Belt with 0 stripes and a White Belt with 4 stripes so it’s very important that we know exactly what stripe our White Belts are. Because of this we are going to offer belts instead of stripes for White Belts and it’ll look like this:
W0 – White Belt w/ zero stripes: This is where everyone starts. Foundations Classes only for this belt.
W1 – White Belt w/ one stripe: This belt is white w/ one horizontal blue stripe through it. The stripe/belt is received upon graduating from Foundations. W1’s are allowed to participate in Intermediate Jiu Jitsu Classes.
W2 – White Belt w/ two stripes: This belt is white w/ two blue horizontal stripes through it. This stripe is received when the Coach feels you’re ready. When determining who’s ready for stripes and belts we look at class attendance, ability to perform techniques properly, and how safe you are as a training partner. There are no additional classes that a W2 can attend.
W3 – White Belt w/ three stripes: This belt is half blue and half white and is received when the Coach feels you are ready based on the same criteria as above. Once you’ve received this Stripe/Belt you are eligible to attend Open Mats.
W4 – White Belt w/ four stripes: This belt is blue w/ one horizontal white stripe through it and is received when the Coach feels you are ready based on the same criteria as above. Upon receiving W4, you are now eligible to attend ADV (advanced) Jiu Jitsu classes. Additionally, you are eligible to compete should that be something you’re interested in. If so, be sure to let your Coaches know so we can help you along that path.
Foundations Program Launch
The FND (Foundations) Program is going from 18 lessons to 30 lessons which will take an average of 3 months to complete. Giving our students a little more time in the beginner stage will allow them to develop a stronger foundation for their Jiu Jitsu. It will also allow the body to adapt better to the riggers of Jiu Jitsu training. Upon successfully testing and graduating FND, the Student will receive their W1 belt and is allowed to start attending Intermediate classes.
Intermediate Program Launch
This program is essentially what our regular Jiu Jitsu classes are right now. Other than a few of the Intermediate classes becoming Advanced, and some slight curriculum modifications, there will be very little that changes in this program.
Advanced Program Launch
We are bringing back Advanced Classes in a big way. Starting Jan 1st there will be Advanced Classes at least once a week in every time frame except the evenings (to start) – that means 6AM, Noon, and 11:30AM Saturday. Each of these classes will be 90 min instead of an hour and will consist of 30 min of Reps, 30 min of Drills, and 30 min of Sparring. The focus of these classes will be based on an instructional from one of the great practitioners or coaches of our day. Everyone will be encouraged to purchase and study the videos as part of their homework. We will work through a new instructional every quarter. This class is for W4 and up.
New Private Lesson Pricing
The quickest way to get better is through Private Lessons. In a one-on-one or even a small group format, a Coach is able to look at your individual game along with your natural physical attributes and build off of that in a very personal way. Of course, you will get better at Jiu Jitsu by simply coming to class. Private Lessons just expedite the process. Our new pricing allows you as an athlete to have access at a lower price than before and tiers up based on the Coach’s qualifications. We’ve also added a 10 get one free incentive to our Private Lesson packages.