Comparing BJJ and judo ranks

http://www.mokurendojo.com/2008/12/comparing-bjj-and-judo-ranks.html
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In judo, though, the first black belt is seen as a mere starting point on the road toward expertise. In fact, judo ranks as high as 3rd black are still considered students, and the official teaching ranks don't begin until 4th black because it is not until about then that the student has seen the whole system.

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So, where BJJ has five student ranks, each taking about 2 years, culminating in 'expertise' at about 10 years, judo has nine student ranks, each taking progressively longer, and also culminating in 'expertise' in about 10 years. (This 10-year mark turns out to be significant per Malcolm Gladwell's new book, Outliers, on expertise and excellence.)

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As a very rough guide, you might equate ranks in the two styles as follows:

• blue belt BJJ (2 years) = 2nd brown belt judo (1 year)
• purple belt bjj (4 years) = 1st black judo (3 years)
• brown belt bjj (6 years) = 2nd black judo (5 years)
• black belt bjj (8 years) = 3rd black judo (8 years)

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