Promotion is a huge deal in jiu jitsu given the amount of time and effort it takes to master the gentle art. This is why it never fails to surprise when someone gets promoted under strange circumstances or goes through ranks in a staggering time period.

The student in question this time is a man named Rohy Batliwala who has his own gym in Switzerland.

But what’s perhaps more surprising is that this promotion comes under the Nova Uniao school – Manu Alves of Nova Uniao.

Note the dates in the pictures:

September 21st there was a purple belt:

And then came the black belt in staggering 8 months – June 11th:

Bjj black belt from Zurich Switzerland Filipe Thiago Broa in the Carlson Gracie Jr Lineage writes:

“Manu Alves, you do not represent the jiu-Jitsu in Switzerland! You can’t pass a student from blue to black in 8 months. Stay here my message in support of Jiu-Jitsu and its rules. Anywhere on the planet that can happen. Attention community of Jiu-Jitsu.”

UPDATE:

Since posting the article we’ve received a message from the man in question. Here’s how he described his situation.