"So, what rank are you?"

[Beka]

Every time I tell someone I do MA that is ALWAYS the first question they ask. Without fail. This bothers me because the answer has no real meaning. My style only has 4 colors for adult ranks, while other styles have a whole exaggerated rainbow. I go to a school where it might take a year or more to get to a new belt, wheras others get a new color (who cares which one, to the guy asking, he doesn't know what order they come in) every month or two. a Mcdojo will shove you through the ranks quickly so you keep giving your money. Mine, on the other hand, takes things a little more slowly. My friend's hapkido school practically guarantees a promotion after a set amount of time. I think it's ridiculous. Not that my school's perfect or anything, I'm just using it as an example.

 

To me, rank has nothing to do with who is a better martial artist. Of course, those who are higher ranked are going to have been doing it longer, and they are most likely very very good (especially since the drop-out rate will probably weed out those who aren't as good, or at least think they aren't). However, the brown belt who started 3 years before the white belt, all other things being equal, is not inherantly better than the white belt, they just know more stuff. That means nothing as to the white belt's ability to learn and perform well. I'm not saying that a lower rank shouldn't respect a higher ranked person, just that had they started at the same time, it wouldn't matter.

 

Anyway, I just don't like that question because it assumes a lot.

[G95champ]

Not a fan of McDojo by far but most people outside of MA don't know much about the ranking system. They know black is good and brown is high.

 

I dont have a prob. with telling my rank if asked. I dont like bragging about it but if asked no big deal Im happy to explain it to people.

 

We dont test on a set amount of time but rather with the idea that you can not test till a set amount of time has passes. Usually 3 months. If your ready cool if not then you wait till you are.

 

You are right the rank dont matter as much as what you know and how you use what you know but Rank is one of the questions you cant get arround in Martial Arts. When I see other teachers I know its rude but I want to know there rank. Not because im jelous or acting tuff I just want to learn.

 

But thats me.

[angelica d]

I agree Beka, people always ask what rank I am - then if I tell them they usually don't understand anyway! But at my dojo its obvious that there are people of the same rank who are in fact at very different levels. For example (not meaning to brag) I train at least three times a week, am athletic, and can pick up new things quickly. Whereas there are some people I know who are the same 'rank' as me who train much less, and have difficulties in remembering combinations and things. We all get the opportunity to grade at the same time, and usually everyone passes (albeit some better than others). It just shows that comparing your rank with other people doesn't always work.

 

Personally, I think that getting a belt promotion is a good challenge, and it means that you're competing against yourself. They indicate that you have been training for a certain amount of time, can remember certain sequences of movements, and can perform various techniques. What most people who don't do MAs realise, is that being a darker coloured belt doesn't necessarily mean you're great at MAs, and being a lighter coloured belt doesn't necessarily you're not very good at it. They're supposed to show experience, not ability IMHO.

 

OK I think I'm talking too much now

[Legion]

^^ same as ... i hav about 3 months to perfect my current forms then i go for green .. if im not good enough then i hav to wait .. dont get passed for sympathy ..LOL

 

and a belt doesn mean how good you are imo ... some ppl in my class are the same belt as me but not half as good (not bragging) they pay less attention in class.. they dont practice.. thats the main thing that annoys me .. ppl who get an easier ride

[TangSooGuy]

You're right...I hate it when people come up to me and ask me "Are you a black belt?"...especially when I'm wearing my uniform and they can see that my belt is black..."No, i'm actually a green belt, I'm just colorblind..."

 

But I digress....the point is they don't even know what a "black belt" is...

 

I just try to educate them a little, and let them know that better questions to ask are:

 

"How long have you been training/ teaching?"

 

or

 

"What did it take to get to your present rank?"

 

That's almost always what they really want to know anyway.

 

And most peope hate it when you tell them that it takes a lot of hard work...I'm amazed at the number of people who walk onto the floor thinking they're going to turn into Jackie Chan or Bruce lee in a week or a month without working for it...

 

and even moe amazed at the number of people that put no time into their training outside of class, even though I tell them repeatedly that the time they spend in class alone is not enough...

[Mart]

The reaction i get is, they find out i do MT, they say ah yeah thats alright if they arent armed but

 

"what if theyve got a gun",

 

everytime.

 

So i just tell them about my go-go gadget copter.

 

What the hell was that, i mean inspector gadget has a helicopter in his head, who comes up with this stuff.

 

Tang soo guy

 

You're right...I hate it when people come up to me and ask me "Are you a black belt?"...especially when I'm wearing my uniform and they can see that my belt is black..."No, i'm actually a green belt, I'm just colorblind..."

 

Being colur blind is no excuse, get someone to point out green to you.

[Legion]

^^lol

[Dijita]

I agree Beka, it's annoying. I think it's just a result of the media putting an emphasis on the elusive "black belt" I think theres styles out there that only have 3 belts, white, brown, black... maye Aikido (I might be wrong though).

 

For our dojo... you can't test more than once a year.... and you have to have at least trained for 3 to 4 months in between testing. We have 10 kyus.... so getting to black belt is quiet a process. Then once you get to black belt it takes a REAL long time to go up in Dans.

 

I also hate it when I go to a tournement and someone says to me "holy cripes!!! You're going to fight a green belt in your first round!" then it just makes me nervous

[tommarker]

I can't tell what is funnier...

 

What TangSooGuy said, or the possibility that Mart didn't quite get it. Either way, I'm amused.

 

I get the "are you a black belt" question a lot too. I usually just say "yep." and prepare myself for one of the following statements:

 

1. can you (insert bizarre physical stunt here)?

 

2. Yeah, my nephew has one of those in TKD. He's 10.

[Fat Donkey]

Tommarker thats hilarious and true. I stopped telling the jerks who try to pick fights with me that I do MA's. It seemed to infuriate them more, so now I just turn and walk instead of trying to warn them off. They always offer to insert my non-existent belt into an uncomfortable body orifice and end taking up my foot in the same. The McDojos really steam me. 10 year old black belts in 3 years of training. It took 6 to 8 years of training and two or three international competitions to get a black belt in my old TKd school. And back when I did Shotokan I met 1 of the 9 10th degree black belts out of 90,000 members of JKA. Now every one is a tenth Dan and a lot of people get their * kicked because they think a belt bestows some magical ability. It also gives that form of MA a bad name. When I did Hapkido there was no belts. Thank god for MT where we fight and fight and fight some more, only student and master, no other ranks.