I am not a belt, I am a human being!

[Taesujutsudrw]

Tim,

 

My students in class fight all ranks...including BB.

 

In open tournaments it is required that you wear the belt color that you are at. However, they never (except in Kids division) compete against anyone higher than their belt color.

 

While you may not appreciate the rank system, there are some hard styles..that if you do not have the rank and the proof to back it up..they will not listen.

 

 

Peace,

 

Tae

 

 

[Taesujutsudrw]

F-S-K

 

A teacher shouldn't need a belt around the student to be able to tell how much they are progressing.

 

Actullay until the late 19th..and early 20th centuries..there were no belts in any styles.

 

Peace,

 

Tae

 

 

[Taesujutsudrw]

egarlock,

 

In all seven of the hard style that I have BB rank in..I went to white belt at every school.,, while being BB in the style I was in at the time.

 

Of couse this was not the idea of the teacher..but mine.

 

When a black belt goes to another system to teained..they are not trained as they would be as a white belt.

 

Good point.

 

Peace,

 

Tae

 

 

[thaiboxerken]

I don't understand what belts has to do with fighting tournament or not. What should be looked at when matching fighters is weight and experience in fighting.

 

 

[Karateka]

There are certain things a person learns in their Martial Arts career. Generally, these things are gradual and while you may have lots of tournament experience, you may not have the skills of say a blue belt with one tournament experience who kicks the cream out of you.

 

 

[Lau gar]

i do not believe in belt systems but thets face it the biggest reason is prob to make more money

 

 

[ckdstudent]

We use belts for several reasons, the first is to give people something to aim at. Its nice to have something solid which you can look at, and remember the work that you put in, and look back to where you started and see how far you've come since then.

 

There's also the fact that we teach techniques at different levels, to give the students time to learn their new techniques, patterns and combinations. With the belt system they can go to any school and the instructor can instantly tell what they have, and have not been taught. I don't see the difference between this and say, GCSE or A-level qualifications. If you pass to the next level it means that you have met a set standard, and the instructor can tell that you can hold at least that level.

 

Finally yes, there's money. Why is everyone so against instructors earning money from their art? If you want to go on a painting course, you pay for it. If you want to learn how to sculpt, you pay someone to teach you. If you want to learn to shoot you pay to learn at a range. If you want to learn to sail you pay someone to teach you and you pay for tests which give you relevant qualifications. If you want to learn to drive you pay for lessons and you pay for a driving test. What is it that makes martial arts so valueless that no one is willing to pay for them?

 

 

[--]

Because they overcharge. $40 for a belt test is ridiculous, yet this is the standard at most places. Sometimes they chage up to $60, or even $80, for higher belts to test. The classes are expensive, the tests are expensive, and it's all geared towards money making. It's understandable that a sensei needs to eat and have a place to live, but the amounts they charge are simply absurd (I'm trying to substitute for more profane terms).

 

I just wear my white belt. No worries. If a higher rank laughs at my belt, they won't be laughing when they're lying flat on their face on the kumite mat.

 

 

[ckdstudent]

If a higher rank laughs at a white belt they deserve to be flat down, either from the white belt or someone equal or senior to them, by that level they should have learnt respect.

 

Do you know how much it costs to learn to drive, taking account of insurance, licensing, lessons and the two tests (theory and practical)? How about this one. As a foreign student in England going to college (high school for the Americans) you'd be expected to pay something in the region of £10'000 as your fees, plus accomodation. Going to University I'm going to be paying £1000 a year, and I'll probably end up earning more through martial arts than through a job (although since the subject I'm studying puts me in high demand maybe not), so paying £500 or so for a years training and grading, including insurance, licensing and as many classes as I can make it to (up to eight a week unless I'm willing to make over an hours drive) doesn't really seem that bad after all. Actually since I'm now an assistant I don't pay monthly fees either, so that cuts it down to about £100 a year.

 

And before you call my instructor money grabbing I'd just like to point out that he has lived for eighteen months out of the back of a van, six months in an attic, four in a garden shed and eight in a wendy house simply so that he can keep his schools running and pay for courses to improve his own knowledge to pass on to us.

 

 

[--]

Well, you have a dedicated instructor. The difference between martial arts and driver's ed is that martial arts are meant to have traditional discipline. I can't count how many times I've seen tradition ditched in favor of cash, and it's just sickening.