What does BB really mean to you?

[ovine king]

....well.....

 

i'm not sure that special emphasis should be put upon that specific grade; at least not more than any other grade. that is kinda been one thing i never really liked about the common perception of things; that the black belt is more special than the others before it, as if the other grades don't matter as much if at all compared to the black belt.

 

mental aspect?

 

i'm not practicioner of a japanese art or one that has a firm grade system so i can't really understand the fixation on the attainment of that .

 

i'll give a few things that were always repeated to us during training.

 

i) we're not playing; take this seriously because you might need it when things are serious. if you want to play, go home.

 

ii) i can only show you how to do something, it is up to you to practice and make it work for you.

 

iii) don't show off because you never know what the next person can do.

 

those things kinda illustrate the kind of mentality my sifu expected from us about the training aspect.

 

we were also told that outside of training we are still represtative of him as it was known, especially to the locals, that we were training with him; anything bad we do eventually comes back to him. i guess this is just a simple example of the notion of 'the bigger picture' which is something everyone has to understand.

 

granted these things aren't exclusive to people who train in these arts and some are dependent on your location (i.e the perceptions of the chinese people in hk aren't going to be the same as those of someone in the US suburbs) but they seem to play a bigger role becauese of the bad image that fighting has.

 

of course, i don't know you so i can't say why you were told you don't have the mentality of a black belt. then again, what that means depends on the views of the person who said it.

[shotochem]

Hi Laurie,

 

Attaining a BB IMO, is that mentally and physically you are a serious dedicated student.

 

I personally live my life to my own personal morals and standards. I do not need a martial art to dictate what I do. I consider the MA as an extension an expression of who I am.

[jarrettmeyer]

Ok, here's a new question ... How should a black belt be or act? Should they live by the tenets and creed of their art? Should they be good people, etc? What is important to you as a BB (other than the physical stuff, belt, etc)?

 

Should you not be a good person just because you are not a BB? Should you not live by your creed/religion/mantra/etc? Should you not respect your dojo/sifu/sensai because you're a white belt? Should you ever be a show-off in anything? Why should these things only be expected of BB?

 

Although I don't teach MA, I do teach a lot of other stuff (math, physics, computer programming, statistics). All you can be is an example. I don't think that there's this rigorous mental discipline that must be followed at all times. And everyone can be an example. I'm still a white belt. I try to be kind. I try to be respectful. I try to help out whenever I can. Sometimes I'm good; sometimes I'm not. Sometimes I say things I shouldn't say. But I'm aware of it. Does becoming a BB mean that all of that will go away? Probably not.

 

I think from the moment you are born, you should be working towards balance. That's why I got into MA. For me, MA is my balance between all of that other analytical stuff that I do all day. It complements my body with my mind. If there is a mental aspect to becoming a black belt, I think that becoming a it means understanding balance in your life. (Maybe that's a yin-yang thing.) Sure, you can go to class 5 days per week and learn every technique. But what about your spouse, kids, parents, school, work, church, friends, etc?

 

Therefore, in answer to your question and assuming a very idealist viewpoint, I am forced to say that I think that being a black belt should be the ability to perform technique to a level desired by your sensai/sifu, whatever level that may be. You should be doing the mental stuff anyway.

 

[A. Orstrom]

I agree with you (Jarrettmeyer) on this one, you have an excellent point, but I think there is another thing you have to take into consideration.

 

When you are a black belt you are at the same time a symbol of the art and an authority others (especially kids) look up to. A black belt behaving badly in a dojo will attract much more negative attention and have more of an impact on the other practitioners than a white belt will.

[jarrettmeyer]

A black belt behaving badly in a dojo will attract much more negative attention and have more of an impact on the other practitioners than a white belt will.

 

Absolutely, great point, and I totally agree! Humans are weird that way. On top of that, one misbehaving student will attract more attention than a dozen students behaving properly, regardless of belt.

 

There probably is a "external attitude scale" built in somewhere. If you see a black belt not giving 100% (and you can tell the difference between a student who is distracted because of relationships/work/school versus a student who's being lazy), you'll remember that more than a yellow belt doing the same.

 

But I still believe that both the white belt and the black belt should be held to the same mental standard. The physical standard will come with time.

[Thaegen]

Mentally there is no difference between white or black. Belts doesn't matter, it only means to keep your paints on.

 

Why should you start mentally preparing for a black belt? It doesn't matter

[ninjanurse]

Wow. Quite a few differing ideas, attitudes, opinions, and angles on this subject to say the least. Laurie's question is not as simple as it may seem on the surface, nor is the answer. I think we can all agree that there are certain physical expectations of any BB-but even those must be weighed against many factors (i.e., size, weight, disability, etc.). The question here is not about the physical, nor is it particularly performance related (although some aspects of performance do relate to internal factors such as attitude, character, etc.). It is about the "self"...who is that person that we recommend for promotion? What qualities do we look for in our students that tell us "That's the one!"? What qualities do we look for in ourselves that give us fuel for growth or cause us to stagnate? I think these are the questions Laurie is asking. A desire to know what to recognize in students and ourselves, and what our teachers are looking for in us as we train. Seems simple, yes?

 

It is simple yet comlpex. It's like the stone you find in the middle of your yard that you decide to move. You start to dig and you find that the stone is just the tip of a large boulder buried deep beneath the soil. What started out as a simple task is now going to consume an entire afternoon.

 

[Pacificshore]

Sometimes you get a simple question and end up with a complex answer, and sometimes the question is complex, but ends with simple answer

 

In all seriousness, plenty of good varying answers which leaves food for thought.

[karatekid1975]

I agree, Pacificshore. And thanks Heidi for helping me out here. Yes, that's what I was trying to ask. Eventhough, there were a lot of good answers, it wasn't what I was looking for. But Heidi nailed it on the head. She knows me better than anyone (we're from the same school).

 

Thanks again, Heidi

[ShotokanKid]

I think that getting a black belt boosts a person's morale until they realize that they really don't know much now that they're BB