Think you don’t deserve your belt promotion? The one thing to tell yourself

Your name is called. You walk up to your JiuJitsu instructor. Your belt is untied and a new one is tied on for you while your old one hangs behind your neck. You can’t believe it. You’ve worked so hard and so long for this. You don’t think you deserve this belt promotion.

Well, you’re wrong.

​Sometimes as a society we believe that if we think we do not deserve anything good, then it is a sign of us being humble. While it is very important to not flaunt, that doesn’t mean you never deserve anything good in your life. After getting a belt promotion, some students have a tendency to say that they didn’t think it was going to happen that day or that they feel pressure because they don’t deserve it. If you ever think this, there is one thing you need to ask yourself.

Do you trust the judgment of your jiujitsu instructor?

If no, then you should probably switch schools. If yes, then that is all you need. If you trust in the judgment of your BJJ instructor/professor, then you have to trust that he/she made the right call when deciding to promote you. There is nothing else you need to justify it.

Unlike a job, a belt promotion is not dependent on the current count of people above or below you. That is, sometimes a promotion at a job is given because there is a vacancy. With JiuJitsu and other martial arts, none of that matters. You aren’t simply held back because of vacancy. You shouldn’t have to buy or test for a belt. Instead, you should just be given one when your teacher thinks you are ready. It’s like in Kill Bill when Beatrix says to the maker of Hatori Hanzo swords “I didn’t say sell me, I said give me”.

Simply put, you are given your belt at that point in time because your teacher believes you earned it at that point in time.