Verified on Beltchecker



Are you a Jiu-Jitsu practitioner?

Have you heard of Beltchecker?

It's a free site that seeks to provide ways for BJJ practitioners to validate their own rank, and therefore the ranks of others.

I had signed up a while ago, but had not taken the steps to verify my profile.

The main steps involved uploading a profile photo, uploading a photo of me with my name and Beltchecker ID number (Reddit AMA-style), and verifying my name. I chose to do the latter by donating $2 to the project, rather than uploading copies of documents.

Those steps verified me as a user, but I also needed to verify my rank.

Each rank requires "votes" from existing registered users. For blue belt, I needed 200 points. 

Registered users can vote to endorse my rank. The number of votes they can provide is based on their own rank. For example, a black belt can offer 100 votes. 

I decided I would try contacting Jeff Shaw from Bellingham BJJ, as I had attended his great online history of BJJ sessions. I also contacted David Porter, also of Belingham, who was previously one of my instructors at my home school of One Spirit Martial Arts. Finally I asked Sifu Alan Baker, a black belt in the Pedro Sauer Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Association, which whom I had attended several spring and fall camps. 

All three were fully verified users, meaning they could vote for me. I only saw two other students from my home school in the system, and they were not yet verified either.

Professors Shaw and Baker were quick to respond to my request, so I am now officially verified as a blue belt at Beltchecker. I'm sure I'll hear from David at some point too!

I suggest checking the site out and seeing who you might know on the site! 

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