Retaining black belt status

[fireka]

and again I ask my question. Just because someone hasn't been atending the dojo twice a week doesnt mean there not training, or even advanceing.

[Drunken Monkey]

that's why i say i would prefere to have a hands on test to see what i think of him/her.

 

if it was me, going back to hong kong to help train the new guys, i would first like to know that i'm still on par with my peers before atempting to train the new guys.

 

i expect them the test me.

 

i want them to test me.

[Sasori_Te]

i've personally never held much regard for belts.

 

too many people obssess over them as an object and forget what they actually mean.

 

Amen brother Monkey!

[White Warlock]

Hehe. Seems we were tossing pebbles at each other, whilst standing on the same side of the fence.

[Drunken Monkey]

it's all good.

 

just trying to explain how i see things.

 

i know that when that happens sometimes, what i am saying gets lost from what we are talking about.

[fireka]

i feel like I never really understood this post from its begining. Oh well, i guess i'll know when i'm closer to you guys level.

[Vash]

stuey-san, you say you've only been training for 18 mo. That is just about enough time that your instructor may be thinking you might stick with it, at least for a while. Goju1 made some really good points. To that, I'd add that sometimes you can reach burnout in training. Come back and talk to us after you've trained untold dozens in their basics, only to watch them leave. Or after you've been burned a few times by the inevitable politics- maybe watched a few friends get hurt, or had them turn on you. Then there's the umpteenth time you have to fight back from an injury or other forced downtime. These are all things that I've known to cause others to burn out and take down time, and I've considered it myself for some of these.

 

I've got to agree here. I've been down for nearly a year, and I'm probably not going to be back for at least a good 3-4 months. I got injured testing for my shodan. Got a shodan Ho for political reasons, but that's beside the point.

 

Anyway, there are things which stop training. Delta1 explained them a lot better than I could, so I'm just gonna look at his post and say "yeah. that sounds about right."

[ESA-Shotokan]

Okay as I started this I may as well contribute further. A lot of comments have used past eductaional qualifications as a comparison for passing the Shodan grading ten years ago.

 

If you took a PhD 10 years ago in IT for example, your skills would be well out of date now, especially if you went on to work in Toys-r-Us. In the same way, any educational qualification at such a high standared needs the succesful person to continue to build on this knowledge and keep themselves up to date or else they wont get very far.

 

While passing a higher degree 10 years ago will still look good on your CV, no employer will really honour it if you have not used the skills for as long a time.

 

So the same thing with karate and the Shodan (or higher) grades. If you walk into the dojo and your belt wont even tie around your waist and you are sick after performing the first three movies of Heian Shodan, then No, you should not keep your grade or at the very least, you should have to do a test after a period of around six months, just to demonstrate your ability.

 

[White Warlock]

A PhD in IT is not even remotely a good comparison. IT is a fast expanding field of study, where you could fall behind in a matter of months. Many martial arts are 'just' as they were 200 years ago. It would be better to compare a BB to a PhD in history, but that would be taking it to the 'other' extreme and still it would merely be posed as a 'pursuit in knowledge,' rather than a pursuit into training the mind and body to work as one.

 

If we were to toss out a comparison, it would be better to compare it to some other physical endeavor, such as tennis, dance, or swimming. If i was a champion swimmer in college, but then stopped swimming for 10 years... would i drown in a bathtub?

 

Obviously not. The mind and body, when trained together, hold to what is learned... almost forever. As a bike, a skateboard, a keyboard, or walking... once you've learned... you've learned.

 

The catch argument here is, what about 'memorization of katas?' Well, what about them? Katas are not the system. They are a means to develop and strengthen the system, just as pushups and situps are a means to strengthen certain muscles.

 

The assumption that someone has obtained a 'tire' about his waist being some sort of disqualifier, is ridiculous. Especially when you consider that many elder practitioners just happen to carry not only a tire, but a tire iron as well.

 

Anyway, we're going back to that silly argument. If someone obtains a BB, does anyone other than the person who presented that BB have the authority to take it away? I do not feel so. As i indicated earlier... a stupid BB is merely a mental indicator of their status. If a person has obtained a BB, and they are unwilling to put it down... then so be it. As an instructor of a school, you have the 'right' to not let him practice in your dojo while wearing that belt... but can you truly see a situation where it would be necessary to 'cut someone down' like that?

 

Maybe... just maybe... something like that may happen, and you'll have some guy walking in wearing a BB.. that hasn't been practicing for a very long time... and can't remember what side of his left foot to walk on. Well, if, after you talk to him, he's unwilling to put his BB in his closet, be humble, and put on a white... then why are you wasting time with him in the first place?

 

His belt and his ego can go practice somewhere else, right?

[Sasori_Te]

I had a BB come to my class once upon a time. He was a sandan in "Sho'in Ruin". At which time I asked if he meant Shorin Ryu and he replied 'Yes, that's it."

 

"It's been awhile" he said. So He and I had a nice conversation about the martial arts and some techniques in "Sho'in Ruin" that a sandan should know. Heck, the questions I asked a yellow belt should have known. He, however, did not know.

 

I explained to him that since it had obviously been a long while since he studied that he would need to wear a white belt until I could evaluate his skills. I never saw the guy again. Oh, and did I mention that his breath smelled of stale beer?