Belt Testing and Sandbaggers - Mike Currier

In this episode I have Mike Currier back to cover a couple of topics that were top of mind with me.

Mike is a Jiu Jitsu black belt under fourth degree black belt Professor Michael Chapman.

Mike began training gymnastics at age 10 and was a nationally ranked gymnast until 1999. After retiring from competitive gymnastics, Mike transitioned into coaching. He has coached for multiple gyms including the world famous Camp Woodward in Woodward, PA. While living in Pennsylvania, Mike also worked as an assistant gymnastics coach for Penn State University. He began training Jiu Jitsu in 2014 and started coaching movement classes shortly after. In December of 2015, Mike opened his first Jiu Jitsu academy in Sherwood, Oregon. In June 2018, Mike and his wife Samantha (a BJJ brown belt) and their son moved to Fountain Hills, AZ where they opened Impact Fountain Hills. Impact was the first Jiu Jitsu academy in Fountain Hills and remains the only tumbling/parkour gym in the area.

This episode focuses on two topics I wanted to explore. One is the topic of belt testing which arose from my conversation on another podcast. The other topic revolves around a Reddit response from one of the Mendes brothers repudiating accusations that Cole Abate was a sandbagger due to his being a 16 year old blue belt who routinely beats black belts. I still feel no real resolution on either topic and am left with even more questions to explore in further episodes.

In terms of the belt testing topic, I can respect both positions for and against them. One thing to note, belt tests vary widely (please note I am a novice to the topic) but some of you have told me these “tests” are largely ceremonial and that the decision to belt someone up has already been made in advance. Others have said they are indeed technique tests that result in a pass/fail scenario. But the vast majority have told me their academies do not test and that it is the discretion of the instructor to award a belt or not and that process varies widely in itself.

As for the Cole Abate controversy, to me, this seems to be more a topic of the subjective nature of “belting” itself. The self imposed age limitations, various standards, and there is no ubiquitous agreed upon logic to the whole thing which results in even more questions. Additionally with the advances in Bjj information, teaching techniques, nutrition, starting younger and training protocols. it makes me wonder if we need different tracks for practitioners ie amateur, minor/farm league division, and a professional track? Or something to that effect.

Ok, some housekeeping notes: This was a last minute interview so you may hear me and Mike refer to that without giving context. We start the conversation with a recent situation where Mike agreed to a match but had to pull out with short notice, Mike will clarify why in the conversation.

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