No. There are no testing fees for stripes, belt promotions, or even the belt. However, you will be responsible for the cost of your belt if you are replacing a lost or old belt.

We generally do not make children test. We usually have adults test from white to blue, but not for the subsequent belts. This is at the discretion of the instructor(s).

Jiu Jitsu translates (from Japanese) as the “Gentle Art”. It was given this name due to the ability for practitioners to go 100% while staying relatively safe, unlike martial arts that involve striking. If those strikes are performed at 100%, the potential for damage/injury is much higher.

It’s for the same reason that Judo got its name, which translates as the “Gentle Way”.

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a grappling/submission/self-defense martial art that primarily focuses on ground fighting.

BJJ promotes the concept that a smaller, weaker person can successfully defend against a bigger, stronger assailant by using proper technique, leverage, and most notably, taking the fight to the ground, and then applying joint-locks and chokeholds to defeat the other person. – Wikipedia

The BJJ belt system is different for children and adults. However, both use a 4-stripe promotion system where a stripe is added onto the black bar every so often. Once the belt has 4 stripes, the next advancement will be to the next belt.

For adults, the belts are fewer and take longer to earn. They are:

The short answer – They’re the same.

The long answer – What was originally called “Gracie Jiu Jitsu” was later called “Brazilian Jiu Jitsu” due to the many non-Gracie athletes who have helped to shape the face of our sport and bring it to the rest of the world.

Additionally, many schools with Gracie in the name claim to be more self defense oriented, than sport. This is of course a generalization and many non-Gracie schools can and do emphasize self-defense as well as sport Jiu Jitsu.