What are good BJJ goals for white belts?

Train 3 times a week for 12 weeks, learn the 5 main positions, and survive a full round with a blue belt. Tap early every time. The blue belt is the direction, and these counts are the way there.

How long does it take to get a blue belt in BJJ?

The IBJJF sets no minimum time at white belt, so your professor decides. The minimums start after that. For someone who starts as an adult, they are 2 years at blue, a year and a half at purple and 1 year at brown. That is why good goals count classes, not months.

How many stripes are on a BJJ belt?

In the IBJJF system, the white, blue, purple and brown belts are each split into 4 degrees, often shown as stripes. Whether a school uses them is up to the professor. A stripe is a good checkpoint, but it is given, not taken, so set your goals on the work.

25 BJJ goals for white belts, blue belts and every roll in between

Updated October 4, 2026

Tally marks adding up in fives, like stripes on a belt, as jiu-jitsu classes are logged

A belt in BJJ takes years, and your professor decides when it comes. So good BJJ goals count what you control: classes, rounds and one technique at a time. Escape side control 5 times a class, roll 500 rounds a year, tap early every time. Here are 25 BJJ goals examples for white belts, blue belts and competitors.

BJJ white belt goals

White belt goals are about surviving, learning the positions and coming back for the next class. If you are still choosing an art, martial arts goals covers judo, karate and the rest.

Train 3 times a week for your first 12 weeks.
Name and hold the 5 main positions: mount, side control, back, closed guard and half guard.
Shrimp the length of the mat and back 3 times at the start of every class for a month.
Survive a full 5 minute round with a blue belt without being submitted.
Tap early in every round for your first 3 months, and tap at once to any hold you do not know.

BJJ blue belt goals

If you start as an adult, the IBJJF rules keep you at blue belt for at least 2 years, which is long enough to build a game of your own.

Hit the same sweep from your favourite guard 10 times in live rounds.
Finish a rear naked choke and a bow and arrow choke from the back in live rolling.
Pass the guard 3 ways, a knee slice, a toreando and an over-under, each in a live round.
Log 200 classes in your first 2 years at blue belt.
Roll light with 5 new white belts in their first week.

BJJ technique goals: escapes, guards, sweeps and submissions

Escapes come first, because staying calm while you are held down is half the game. Surfers need the same calm when a wave holds them under, so surfing goals are worth a look if you do both.

Escape side control 5 times a class in positional rounds for a month.
Drill the scissor sweep 50 times on each side in one week.
Start 10 rounds on your back and keep your guard for 2 full minutes in each.
Finish an armbar, a triangle and a cross collar choke from closed guard in live rolling.
Take the back with both hooks in 10 times in live rounds this month.

BJJ training goals: classes, rounds and open mats

Training goals count mat time, the part of the plan that belongs to you. Marking every class on a calendar is the old idea behind don't break the chain.

Step on the mat on 150 days this year.
Roll 500 rounds this year, about 10 a week.
Roll 5 rounds after every class for 8 weeks.
Go to one open mat a week for 3 months.
Train no-gi once a week for 12 weeks.

BJJ competition goals

Competition goals should be about what you do in the match, because the person across from you trains just as hard.

Sign up for your first tournament and step on the mat.
Compete 4 times this year, in the gi or no-gi.
Make weight on the first try at every tournament this year.
Open every match with your plan: a takedown or a guard pull.
Film every match and pick 3 things to drill the next week.

What is a good BJJ goal?

A good BJJ goal is something you can do on the mat this week. "Get my blue belt" is the outcome, and your professor decides when it comes. "Escape side control 5 times a class" is the goal. A review of 27 studies of goal setting in sport found that process goals, the ones about how you carry out a skill, had by far the largest effect on performance. Goals about results had the smallest.

Belts take years, and the rules say so. Under the IBJJF graduation system, an adult who starts at white belt stays at least 2 years at blue belt, a year and a half at purple and 1 year at brown. Blue and purple can start at 16, brown at 18. White belt has no minimum time, so that part is up to your professor. From blue to black, the minimums alone add up to four and a half years.

So fill those years with specific, hard goals. A review of 35 years of goal research found that specific, hard goals beat "do your best". Hard does not mean hurt: tap early, tap to anything new, and roll with partners who do the same.

How to track BJJ goals

Log each class and your rounds before you leave the gym. A review of 138 studies found that people who monitored their progress reached their goals more often, and that the effect was larger when progress was written down.

Classes and mat days are a day count. Rounds, reps and drills are amounts that add up. A year of mat days is tracked like a 365 day challenge, with rest days left in.

A stripe can take months to arrive. A picture that fills a little with every class you log shows the mat time that comes before it.

Frequently asked questions

What are good BJJ goals for white belts?: Train 3 times a week for 12 weeks, learn the 5 main positions, and survive a full round with a blue belt. Tap early every time. The blue belt is the direction, and these counts are the way there.
How long does it take to get a blue belt in BJJ?: The IBJJF sets no minimum time at white belt, so your professor decides. The minimums start after that. For someone who starts as an adult, they are 2 years at blue, a year and a half at purple and 1 year at brown. That is why good goals count classes, not months.
How many stripes are on a BJJ belt?: In the IBJJF system, the white, blue, purple and brown belts are each split into 4 degrees, often shown as stripes. Whether a school uses them is up to the professor. A stripe is a good checkpoint, but it is given, not taken, so set your goals on the work.