Master Cycle

Made up of 7 Positional Chapters and over 600 techniques, the Master Cycle was designed to clearly define the path from Blue to Black belt.  To simplify the learning process, the techniques in each chapter have been divided into 2-5 sections.

	Chapters
	1. Mount	2. Side Mount	3. Guard	4. Half Guard	5. Back Mount	6. Leg Locks	7. Standing
Sections	Controls	Controls	Controls	Bottom Strategies	Controls	Straight  Foot Locks	Front Attack Defenses
	Escapes	Escapes	Passes	Top Strategies	Submissions	Toe Hold Foot Locks	Rear Attack Defenses
	Submission Counters	Submissions	Submission Counters		Submission Counters	Knee Locks	Weapon Defenses
	Submissions	Submission  Counters	Submissions			Heel Hooks	Clinch & Takedowns
			Sweeps

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Master Cycle Attendance Card
The Journey is long from blue to black. On average, it will take a student approximately 8 to 12 months to earn each stripe (roughly the same amount of time it takes to earn a blue belt).  Although award of their stripe will be based primarily on their mastery of the techniques that comprise the Blue Belt Stripe 1 curriculum, we issue each student a Master Cycle attendance card so they can keep track of their progress.  Here are the tracking details:  

• 100 Stripe Checks – Students are not allowed to test for their stripe until they have received at least 100 stripe checks (although it usually takes much more than that).
• 5 Reflex Development Checks – Master Cycle students are so eager to get to black belt, that they often forget that they learned the most important techniques as white belts.  To ensure that Master Cycle students NEVER forget the foundational Gracie Combatives techniques on their path to jiu-jitsu mastery, we require that all students participate in at least five Gracie Combatives Reflex Development Classes, per stripe, on their blue belt. 
• 5 Fight Simulation Checks – These are the most important classes of each week. To encourage participation in these classes, we put five special check boxes on the attendance card. Keep in mind that the special check boxes are there just as a reminder, and that students are expected to do far more than five Fight Sim classes before they earn their stripe.
• Date/Approval - Once the student acquires all the checks for a particular stripe, it doesn’t mean they will pass the test, it just means they are allowed to test. For most people, it takes an additional 50-100 lessons to be fully prepared for the test.
• Once they earn all four stripes, they qualify to test for their purple belt.