The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is similar to the "kyu" and "dan" ranking system of Judo, and while it retains numeric ranking for "dan" or black belt ranks, it does not assign a numeric system to its "kyu" or lower ranks. Instead, below the level of a black belt, students are assigned a certain belt color, with different color sequences for children and adults. Additionally, adult belts are assigned white "stripes" on a black (or red) rank bar on the belt to denote progress within the belt, due to the large amount of time it typically takes to progress to the next belt color. Belts for children may either use a stripe system like the adult belts, or more recently, use a length-wise stripe in either white, unstriped, or black to signify progress within a given belt color.

The blue belt is the first adult rank that comes after white belt. It signifies that one is finally starting to have a rough idea of the strategy of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and familiarity with a broad variety of techniques in most sections of the curriculum. While familiarity with a broad variety of techniques is typical at this stage, competency in most techniques is usually still lacking, though a practitioner will typically have a few areas of technique where they have developed a surprisingly effective amount of skill.

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