Is it safe for beginners to fight each other?

A black belt training with a white belt is the safest option but sometimes it's fine for white belts to fight white belts.

It's often said that white belts should not fight other white belts or even lower ranking belts like yellow belts or orange belts. The reason is that these less experienced players don't have such good control and could end up hurting each other. Is this true and should white belts never fight each other?

The answer is nuanced and not a clear yes or no. It is true that beginners have far less control over their own actions. They also lack the gripping experience to control their opponents. This can be a recipe for disaster.

Among the mishaps that could happen:

a) An illegal technique is done. A beginner might not know that a waki-gatame done with a throw is illegal, for example. It's something they might do instinctively in the heat of the moment. Or in newaza, a beginner might arch their opponent's back or do some movements that hurt the spine, not out of malice but simply because they did not know better and did this during an aggressive newaza exchange.

ii) Limbs get entangled. Sometimes beginners might get their limbs entangled when trying to do a technique and do not know how to abort or disengage. When both fall to the ground, one or both could get injured.

iii) Spatial awareness get lost. Beginners are usually very keen to score and can easily get so lost in the moment that they don't realize they are near other pairs doing randori or near a wall. As a result they might crash into another pair or worse still, crash into a wall.

Does that mean beginners should never fight each other? No. It really depends. Some beginners are naturally safer than others, while some are naturally more reckless. If you put two relatively safe beginners together, it's fine for them to do randori under the watchful eye of an experienced player who can intervene if it looks like something dangerous could happen. If, however, you have a reckless one, it's best to pair them with experienced players.

I once had a harrowing experience with a beginner in another club that our team was visiting. That beginner, who was a heavyweight, first had a randori with one of our black belts. I was also doing randori at the time but through the corner of my eye I noticed him doing what looked like a waki-gatame. Fortunately our player was experienced enough to break free and avoid the waki-gatame. He got through that randori uninjured.

Then that heavyweight white belt asked me for a randori. That's when I realized how incredibly dangerous he was. It was only my experience that prevented me from getting injured. I basically fended off his more dangerous attacks through tactical gripping. I was especially careful to not allow him to be in any position to do a waki-gatame.

Shortly after that randori was over, I saw him go over to one of our lightweight girls to ask for a randori. Even though that girl was a high-level player, she was a lightweight. I intervened and stopped that randori from happening. I didn't want to have to carry her out of the dojo on a stretcher.

I couldn't help but imagine what damage such a player would do to a fellow white belt, even one his size. Actually I wonder why the sensei of that dojo didn't do something about that heavyweight beginner's fighting style. His play was beyond reckless. It was dangerous. When you have someone this hazardous, you need to do more than just pair him with experienced players. You need to correct their judo.