WHAT IS SANDBAGGING!?

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In the world of sports, the pinnacle of every effort should be competition!

It’s an opportunity to publicly test acquired knowledge, the effectiveness of training, the quality of preparation – and to compare oneself against other athletes!

In combat sports, which are rightly structured by belt color, age, and weight divisions, athletes have a clear system to track their progress and test their skills against others of similar level and experience.

Many organizations, in order to foster a realistic and fair environment, have even introduced guidelines on the recommended time between belt promotions.

Fortunately, thanks to countless documented promotions, we now have global statistics showing how long athletes typically spend at each belt level.

Here’s the general worldwide average:

White belt: 1–2 years (BEGINNER)
Blue belt: 1.5–3 years (BEGINNER / INTERMEDIATE)
Purple belt: 1.5–3 years (INTERMEDIATE)
Brown belt: 1–2 years (ADVANCED)
Black belt: From promotion onward, as long as you’re active (ADVANCED)

Add that up and you’ll see it usually takes nearly 10 years to earn a black belt!

Of course, many factors like talent, athletic background, physical conditioning, age, and similar affect the timeline for promotion.

Following that logic…

It would be natural to conclude that someone who spends 3 or even 4 years at white belt without being promoted to blue is either not talented enough, lacks the cognitive ability to absorb what’s being taught – or something far more serious is going on, something that threatens the integrity of our sport and community: SANDBAGGING!!!

So what is sandbagging, really?

Let’s not overcomplicate it – sandbagging is CHEATING IN COMPETITION!

“A sandbagger is someone who deliberately underperforms or hides their true abilities to gain an unfair advantage, often in sports or competitions. They may pretend to be less skilled than they actually are to deceive opponents, win bets, or manipulate outcomes for personal gain. The term also refers to those who intentionally misrepresent their skill level…”

The most common questions: How does this happen? Why is it allowed? And who actually benefits from it?

It’s always a toxic combination of factors that creates a sandbagger.

First, let’s say this: if all athletes were members of a unified federation with authority to monitor progress – like the IJF (International Judo Federation) – this issue would almost disappear.

Often, the very reason some “coaches” avoid registering their athletes or verifying belts with the Federation is because they don’t want that accountability.

In Croatia, we’re fortunate to have the Croatian Ju Jitsu Federation, which has an established belt verification process. However, despite all efforts, some “opportunists” still intentionally bypass this process for obvious reasons.

Unfortunately, many tournaments – even internationally known ones – are still organized without proper oversight, which means someone training for 4–5 years can easily register in a beginner division!

Some so-called “coaches,” eager to build a pretty-looking win/loss record they can advertise as a “huge achievement,” use their fighters to pad stats and attract new, naïve members.

You might wonder – what kind of fighter agrees to be used this way?

Often, the answer lies in ego – or in the coach’s manipulation. Some coaches easily convince a fighter that their undefeated record is due to the coach’s brilliance, not weak competition.

Sometimes it’s just ego. Let’s be honest – everyone loves to win! The photos on social media look great, the public doesn’t know the matches were against way lower-level opponents, and it’s easy to slip into this illusion of (artificial) greatness.

But when it’s a mix of a fighter’s ego and a manipulative coach – let’s call it what it really is: FRAUD.

How do you spot a sandbagger?

Easy signs: 25 wins, 0 losses – all in beginner divisions. 256 matches. Smoothcomp profile set to “private.”

Simple math will tell you: this person has been training a lot longer than average!

It’s also easy to spot entire “academies” that promote sandbagging culture. If a school’s been around for 5+ years but 85% of its members are still white belts, with a few scattered blues and purples, and brown or black belts are rarer than Bigfoot – something’s off.

These same academies often rack up 750 wins in beginner brackets at tournaments, yet rarely show up in intermediate, and almost never in advanced divisions.

What can we do about it?

Perhaps the biggest issue is that no one wants to talk about this publicly.

There’s an unfortunate mindset that calling out CHEATING is “whining” or “snitching.”

But let’s ask honestly – how, in a tight-knit community where everyone knows each other and EVERYONE knows who the sandbaggers are – is public calling-out something we’re ashamed of?

Shouldn’t exposing these practices help our community grow stronger?

Maybe loudly pointing it out, condemning it publicly, and submitting complaints to event organizers could start making a difference.

Maybe that’s the first, simple step toward bringing fairness and integrity back to the competition scene.