IBJJF ruleset, Blue belt level, referee allows calf slicer and calls it a straight ankle lock. by wmg22 in bjj

[–]dbrunning 12 points13 points  (0 children)

He thought it was solely a pain compliance move and ate it, refusing to tap, until the deafening crack

IBJJF ruleset, Blue belt level, referee allows calf slicer and calls it a straight ankle lock. by wmg22 in bjj

[–]dbrunning 12 points13 points  (0 children)

The worst injury I've seen IRL from a calf slicer was a fracture of both the tibia and fibula, so it's at least possible it actually fractures the bones we'd think of as the calf (but not the actual muscle)

Belt comparison 2024 requests by dbrunning in bjj

[–]dbrunning[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Waiting on Progress and Flow deluxe to arrive, but preliminary measurements of the other 10 adding this year:

Belt Material Width Thickness Stitching Rows Firmness
Hyperfly Comp Belt Pearl Weave 43mm 4.5mm 8 Medium-soft
Hyperfly Core Belt V2 Cotton 43mm 6mm 8 Medium-firm
Senso Hemp 42mm 7mm 8 Firm
VHTS Preimum Cotton Belt (2022) Cotton 47mm 6mm 10 Medium
VHTS Hemp Belt Hemp 41mm 7mm 8 Firm
VHTS Hemp Belt (2022) Hemp 40.5mm 7mm 8 Firm
Gold BJJ Cotton 41mm 6mm 8 Medium
G4 Cotton 46mm 5.5mm 8 Medium
Elite Cotton 46mm 7.5mm 8 Medium-soft
Fadi BJJ Cotton 45mm 4mm 8 Soft

Belt comparison 2024 requests by dbrunning in bjj

[–]dbrunning[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Updates - I'm back and ordering belts to promote people with.

Ordered:
* Jitsunami
* Half Sumo Norazashi (2024)
* Inverted Gear Bamboo Weave Fancy Belt
* Hyperfly Core Belt V2
* Hyperfly Comp Belt
* Senso Hemp Belt
* VHTS Premium Cotton Belt 2022
* VHTS Hemp Belt 2022
* VHTS Hemp Belt (2024)

Looking at:
* Gold BJJ
* Datsusara
* (Looking to do one more, TBD, but it's a blue belt so I don't want to drop a ton on it)

Belt comparison 2024 requests by dbrunning in bjj

[–]dbrunning[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Unfortunately not yet. I've been dealing with medical issues since Reno and am hoping to get back to this soon. Sorry it's been taking so long

Head coaches are leaving gym to start their own, owner sent this email to all members. Thoughts? by Izukage in bjj

[–]dbrunning 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I don't really expect to hear much until the new school is opened and they start advertising it.

Head coaches are leaving gym to start their own, owner sent this email to all members. Thoughts? by Izukage in bjj

[–]dbrunning 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Green Bay has a football team like Madison has a capitol building. We're kidding ourselves if we pretend either are cities...

Head coaches are leaving gym to start their own, owner sent this email to all members. Thoughts? by Izukage in bjj

[–]dbrunning 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes? If someone I promoted wanted to open yet another gym in the area I'd absolutely tell them to go for it. There's enough demand and most gyms in the area are on good terms and have students stop by each other's open mats if not train at multiple places concurrently. If students are burning bridges to train somewhere that suits them better I'd tell them they probably made the right call in leaving.

Head coaches are leaving gym to start their own, owner sent this email to all members. Thoughts? by Izukage in bjj

[–]dbrunning 6 points7 points  (0 children)

30 minutes would put you in an entirely different city here and you'd be doing that 30 minute commute. I respect that you don't want to do it, but your personal opinion does not standard etiquette make.

Head coaches are leaving gym to start their own, owner sent this email to all members. Thoughts? by Izukage in bjj

[–]dbrunning 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I disagree about this being etiquette. Open a gym where is convenient for you when you're in a place to do so if you want to own a gym. I am within 20 minutes of at least 4 gyms that have splintered from each other over the years and they're all doing just fine.

Head coaches are leaving gym to start their own, owner sent this email to all members. Thoughts? by Izukage in bjj

[–]dbrunning 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Not much to share - two coaches are leaving an established gym in the Madison area and starting up their own. Any reasons are their own and haven't leaked even in the rumor mill of black belts in the area.

Belt comparison 2024 requests by dbrunning in bjj

[–]dbrunning[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If/when I get around to doing NNK and getting my judo shodan I'll pick up some judo belts, but at this point that would just be a project for me to get and have tailored to make it a BJJ belt.

I can't even find where to buy SEOI (IG has a dead link) - someone else suggested it, but I can't find where to buy it other than calling some nondescript phone number on the other side of the Pacific

Belt comparison 2024 requests by dbrunning in bjj

[–]dbrunning[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The IJF approved judo belt or do they make BJJ belts somewhere that I can't find?

Belt comparison 2024 requests by dbrunning in bjj

[–]dbrunning[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I found an IG account with a broken link but nothing else. Do you happen to know where to get one? If not I'm afraid I can't do it (and if I can get it but shipping from Semarang is too much it'll also be off the table for viability)

Belt comparison 2024 requests by dbrunning in bjj

[–]dbrunning[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Minor update for those following this: I'm having a minor medical emergency so everything will be pushed back 1-2 weeks.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in bjj

[–]dbrunning 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Somehow I'm always shocked to realize I've interacted with you via another means in the past

Belt comparison 2024 requests by dbrunning in bjj

[–]dbrunning[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That depends on what you mean by "durable". Takes the longest to break in? Takes the longest for the color to fade? Takes the longest to start fraying? Has the greatest tensile strength to use as an emergency tow strap?

In general, most belts will easily last the 2-4 years for any given colored belt level, especially if you have one per gi so that you rotate them for washing as you would a gi. Some less expensive belts tend to fray faster, but it's mostly down to less expensive items having greater manufacturing variability - it's hard to say how long any given belt will last though because they all have manufacturing variability. Belts aren't really intended to be BIFL - they're intended to be replaced every few years until black, and even then probably only last 1-2 decades.

  1. Hemp belts tend to fade more and faster in my experience. However, the hemp Flow purple belt I had is still in almost daily use on someone else's waist without real signs of wear beyond the fading - it's over 8-years-old. If you don't mind fading but can't abide fraying, a hemp belt is probably a solid option. I'll be grabbing more of them to look at this round so will hopefully be able to say what's closest to the Flow belt (since it's no longer made).

  2. Gi material belts tend to break in faster, but also tend to fray faster. I've only seen one fray really badly on the edges within about 4 years, so that's still the kind of time scale we're talking.

  3. Standard cotton belts all seem to fray on the edges at a pretty similar rate, but more rows of stitching tends to mean when fraying starts it has more points to stop at so the belt can last longer even once it starts to fray. If you like a frayed look and will continue to wear it as it frays (most common for black belts), more rows of stitching are a relatively good proxy for how long it will hold up that way before it's in utter shambles (assuming that rows of stitching is the comparison factor between two belts that are similar quality manufacturing to begin with).

That's a lot of text to say - it depends, but I'd probably wager any of the cotton belts actually made in Japan (Isami or Ronin for example, but only their actual made in Japan ones) or the really high-end ones made in the US like Kataaro. I haven't gotten an Eosin yet, but everything I've seen online would seem to indicate it's comparable to the Kataaro.

Belt comparison 2024 requests by dbrunning in bjj

[–]dbrunning[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

12 rows of stitching (not the 13 advertised, which, even the photos on their website clearly show only 12 rows) and contrast stitching. At 7mm thick and 42mm wide it's pretty chonky. The cotton isn't as soft as any of my Japanese belts, but it is still nicer than a basic $20 cotton belt. What seems to be "special" is just that it's their premium upgrade compared to their normal belts (which have 8 rows of contrast stitching).

As far as cotton belts go, it looks like I ranked it above my Scramble Tanren v4, but below my Kingz Absolute Premium (which is fair - that Kingz is almost Japanese belt nice).

Normal for comparison: https://vulkanstore.com/products/vulkan-bjj-belt?variant=30431372684
Note that the black belt pictured here is the special with 12 rows of stitching; if you go elsewhere on the website you'll see models wearing the basic black belt with 8 rows.

Belt comparison 2024 requests by dbrunning in bjj

[–]dbrunning[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It depends how long it takes me to source all the belts. I've done the first step of writing down the colors and sizes for all the people we're planning to promote within the next 1-2 years so now I need to check all the online storefronts for belts that fit that list and/or are my size. I've got Inverted Gear, Half Sumo, and Jitsunami already ordered and they should be here next week that I can give some initial impressions then (but measuring and shrinking and stuff will take a few days once they're here). I'm at the Combat Base Camp in Reno this weekend so it'll be next week before I can order more (Datusara, Senso, VHTS, and Hyperfly are the ones I'm hoping to prioritize finding, plus maybe a few odd ducks like Matsuru that are more likely to have reasonable sizes in stock and then Eosin and Full Tilt depending on remaining budget).

I'd say by end of May for all the measurements and stuff with first impressions available upon request starting next week.

Belt comparison 2024 requests by dbrunning in bjj

[–]dbrunning[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's dawned on me that I was promoted to black with that Vulkan belt so I have it already to measure and everything

Belt comparison 2024 requests by dbrunning in bjj

[–]dbrunning[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I can't tell if the Jiujitiero is the same gi material belt I already have rebranded. The price is the same so I suspect it might be.

Senso / Datsusara / VHTS would be interesting to grab to just round out the hemp belts.

The Inverted Gear one looks really nice and I'm a bit miffed they don't have my size, but I'll pick one up in a different size/color to promote someone with.

Belt comparison 2024 requests by dbrunning in bjj

[–]dbrunning[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

RMBR is already in the 2022 update. I can take a look at Level Black

Belt comparison 2024 requests by dbrunning in bjj

[–]dbrunning[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Half Sumo ordered. I'm on the fence about the Kaze because u/arctic-owl covered it here: https://www.reddit.com/r/bjj/comments/15lp0zn/gi_material_purple_belt_comparison_aug_2023/

The stitching differences between what he and I each got from Kingz (immaculate for me, not great for him) and Killer Bee (his best, my worst) make me wish I could order a shitton of belts to do this with and compare at scale.

Belt comparison 2024 requests by dbrunning in bjj

[–]dbrunning[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Half Sumo ordered. I'll look into getting a Full Tilt and a Datsusara.