So, the BJJ survey is still going strong--with 200 additional people taking the survey since I started taking a look at the incoming data. To date, 720+ people from around the world have now taken the survey. As I have promised, I will release the final data set once I close the study (likely on August 1st). In the meantime, I will keep posting the results from the first 500+ participants (since that is a large enough sample to draw some preliminary conclusions and I don't want to have to keep updating my posts while the survey is still up and running). As of now, I have posted the results from the first section of the study--which focuses on basic demographic information (see here and here ). In the next few posts (including this one), I will start posting the results from the second BJJ-specific section of the survey. While the answers to the open response questions will take a while to compile--with 500+ individual responses needing to manually be categorized for each of these questions--in this post, I will be presenting some of the other results from this section. I hope you find the data interesting!

How old where you when you started jiu jitsu?

Answer % Count 0-10 0.98% 5 11-15 2.94% 15 16-20 16.67% 85 21-25 26.47% 135 26-30 21.96% 112 31-35 15.69% 80 36-40 9.41% 48 40+ 5.88% 30 Total 100% 510

What is your current rank in jiu jitsu?





Answer % Count I do not hold a rank 2.76% 14 White belt 31.69% 161 Blue Belt 31.30% 159 Purple Belt 20.28% 103 Brown Belt 7.68% 39 Black Belt 6.30% 32 Total 100% 508

How long have you been training jiu jitsu?





Answer % Count 0-2 years 33.66% 172 2-4 years 20.74% 106 4-6 years 16.05% 82 6-8 years 11.74% 60 8-10 years 7.44% 38 10-12 years 4.11% 21 12+ years 6.26% 32 Total 100% 511



How long did it take you to go from white belt to blue belt?

Answer % Count 0-2 years 41.07% 207 2-4 years 19.64% 99 4-6 years 3.57% 18 6-8 years 1.19% 6 8-10 years 0.40% 2 10-12 years 0.00% 0 12+ years 0.20% 1 I don't have my blue belt yet 33.93% 171 Total 100% 504



How long did it take you to go from blue belt to purple belt?

Answer % Count 0-2 years 11.00% 55 2-4 years 19.00% 95 4-6 years 3.80% 19 6-8 years 0.80% 4 8-10 years 0.20% 1 10-12 years 0.00% 0 12+ years 0.00% 0 I don't have my purple belt yet 65.20% 326 Total 100% 500

How long did it take you to go from purple belt to brown belt?

Answer % Count 0-2 years 3.25% 16 2-4 years 7.93% 39 4-6 years 2.03% 10 6-8 years 0.41% 2 8-10 years 0.00% 0 10-12 years 0.20% 1 12+ years 0.00% 0 I don't have my brown belt yet 86.18% 424 Total 100% 492

How long did it take you to go from brown belt to black belt?

Answer % Count 0-2 years 1.01% 5 2-4 years 4.06% 20 4-6 years 1.01% 5 6-8 years 0.20% 1 8-10 years 0.20% 1 10-12 years 0.00% 0 12+ years 0.00% 0 I don't have my black belt yet 93.51% 461 Total 100% 493

On average, how many times do you train per week?





Answer % Count 1-2 times 23.82% 121 3-4 times 53.35% 271 5-6 times 18.31% 93 7+ times 4.53% 23 Total 100% 508

Do you train both gi and no-gi?

[*This wasn't the best way to get at what I wanted. I wanted to see how many people train only in the gi, vs. only no-gi vs. both]





Answer % Count Yes 72.21% 369 No 27.79% 142 Total 100% 511



Do you prefer training gi or no-gi?

[*Yet another bad question since it didn't allow people to say they like them both equally!]





Answer % Count Gi 72.18% 358 No-gi 27.82% 138 Total 100% 496



Does your academy focus on self-defense?





Answer % Count Self-defense is the primary focus 6.29% 32 Self-defense is one of several focuses 54.62% 278 Self-defense is not a focus at my academy 39.10% 199 Total 100% 509



Does your gym have a formal curriculum?





Answer % Count Yes 43.20% 219 No 56.80% 288 Total 100% 507

Well, that's plenty of data for now! I am curious what you think. One thing I like about this data set is that is gives us a snapshot concerning how long it usually takes people to make it through the ranks (from white to black). You often hear that it takes 8-10 years, on average, to get your black belt. But this seems to be anecdotal at best. While this study is admittedly skewed towards American practitioners, with 500+ participants and a global participant pool, the responses to the progression questions sheds some light on how long it takes at each step of the way. It would be really nice to run a follow-up study in Brazil--to see whether it takes more or less time, on average, to progress through the ranks in Brazil--but I had to start somewhere!

I am also especially interested in responses to the self-defense question. One thing you often hear is that modern jiu jitsu has moved too far away from its self-defense roots. A related claim is that this is a bad trend for jiu jitsu because most people come to the gym for the first time to learn how to defend themselves. If both of these claims are true, then the trend indeed bad for jiu jitsu. But are these claims true? Given that 40% of the participants train at gyms which do not focus on self-defense and only 6% train at gyms where self-defense is the main focus, it seems reasonable to think that sport jiu jitsu has overtaken Gracie jiu jitsu (which has self-defense as a major focus). What about the second claim--namely, that learning self-defense is the main reason people initially try jiu jitsu? I collected data on precisely this issue by asking people why they got into jiu jitsu!

Unfortunately, these answers were open response, so it will be a while before I have anything to share. For now, you'll have to stay tuned!