Need some advice...

[Jay]

JKD nicked my signature lol read that

[patusai]

If you respect your sensei's decision and respect you sensei as you have indicated there should be no discussion needed. Your sensei had him start all over again, he did, and through training your sensei saw that he is at a much higher level than a white belt.

What would you have your sensei do? If the guy knows the kata and can perform it to the level that he is at now would you keep him at a much lower rank and bore him by doing the same kata and techniques as someone who has yet to learn them? Would you put the guy at say 3rd kyu instead of 2nd kyu?

As for passing you, perhaps he will. Maybe he will not. Remember the rest of the training is new to him now...as is the training for you. As I see it, this is a great motivational tool for you. You train hard now train harder so that his skills do not pass yours.

There is a story told by a motivational speaker that goes something like this:

During an olympics there was a 100 yard dash (or some distance) two runners were neck and neck to the very end. It was a photo finnish. On the photo one runner was seen looking over his shoulder and one runner was show leaning forward (looking ahead). One guess as to which one won.

My point is don't look over your shoulder or you will be passed.

Good luck to to both of you

[Sohan]

To understand the way of the dojo we must realize that it is not a democracy, and it is not always fair in the way we might perceive fairness. The way of the dojo is the way of the sensei who operates it. It is his/her school and they have the right to run it the way they choose, but they do have a responsibility to their students and should conduct themselves as such.

Whether we like it or not, the sensei has the right to promote students as they please. We have the right to train with them or seek other places to train. In the end, I train for myself with all of my best effort and pay no attention to what goes on around me, knowing that my efforts will produce the results that I deserve.

Respectfully,

Sohan

[IcemanSK]

I have to aggre with most of the posters here. Your instructor has the right to promote anyone to the rank that he/she sees fit. This guy didn't get promoted off the street, he has prior experience in your art. You've valued your instructor's decisions up til now. Trust him on this one, also. Your focus should be on your training, not on what belt the next person has. From what I recall of your background, its pretty deep & rich. Most folks won't ever take the steps in MA that you have. Congratulations on your achievements!

[danbong]

In the long run, you will gain more from your training than the guy who is a natural athlete. No just in your technique and martial arts knowledge, but where it counts - your character.

[Jp656]

Dude.. it's a strip of colored cloth. GET OVER IT. The color of your belt doesn't affect your skills. It doesn't change who you are. I trained for six years without getting a belt of any kind, and when I got one, for various political and geographical reasons, it was the "We're pretty sure you aren't going to hurt yourself if we stop looking at you for a moment" rank. I know several people in Karate styles who don't test. The only way they'll accept a change in rank is if the instructor just hands them the new belt. They think testing for rank is a bad tendency in the arts that detracts from the practice.

Guys got a point, Then again, The color of your belt also earns you some respect that you cant get without proving that your have the experiece....with the belt...

Then again, I fight on the street most of the time, No one wears no belt there

[Fairfax_Uechi]

Isshinryu_heart,

I can understand how you feel when others "pass you" in rank. Like you, I progress very slowly. I'm not a natural. And I've seen folks zoom through rank and others take forever. At first, it upset me. Sometimes I get bothered that others fly along while I have to work 10 or 100 times harder to go half as fast, but then I remember that my martial art is about me. In other words, I've earned my rank, and I'm good at what I do.

[Aodhan]

Ok...so there's this guy in my dojo who was a jr. brown belt when he was a kid but quit (at age 9 0r 10). A few months ago, he came back to train again (he's in his 20's now). My sensei made him start back at white belt, but he was given a little more kata since he already knew some of it.

He did work really hard, made it to classes about 3 nights a week, and everything came easily to him (then again, he's one of those natural athletic types).

Well last week we had testing and promotions, and he was testing (we all assumed for yellow belt). But when it was time for promotions, my sensei promoted him to 2nd kyu (the same rank as me). Now I'm happy for him and his accomplishments and all that, but Ive been training hard for 6 years. I worked really hard to achieve my rank (everything is much more difficult for me because of my medical conditions). I feel kind of cheated out, because he came back to the dojo for a few months (not more then 5 or 6 months) and is already the same rank as me.

Of course, I respect my Sensei's decisions, and I would never try to second-guess him. I guess this sounds kind of selfish...but I barely know the guy and I'm going to test with him for black belt, and I really don't want to. There's a good chance that he will pass me in rank when we test for black belt, and I don't see how that's fair. It makes me feel insignificant.

This is where the ATA gets knocks for being a "McDojo" sometimes. Most ATA schools will promote not only according to standards, but how much you improve against yourself.

You might look at a ATA person taking their black belt test, who is 50 lbs overweight, and can't do a side kick at waist level and think "What moron promoted this guy?"

Then you find out that when he started 2 or 3 years ago, he was 245 lbs overweight, and couldn't lift a foot off the floor without falling over.

A black belt is not only a path of victory over material, but a path of victory over yourself. Yes, there will be people that pick things up right away, seem to double promote every other time, and just generally rock. Then there are those that skip testings, work their butt off and just take more time to get it. Does that mean that the person that takes longer is worth less? More? Neither. Each person worked within their capacity to reach a goal. Just because one has genetic gifts that may make that goal easier to attain does not demean or cheapen anything that anyone else goes through.

Take pride in your accomplishment. Take pride in his accomplishment. Both of you have worked hard to get there. Black belt is a journey and a state of mind, not a piece of cloth. It's also your first step into a huge world of martial arts. Once you've gotten the black belt, you've gotten the basics. Now it's time to start training.

Aodhan

[jaymac]

Well put Aodhan!

[kyop]

I don't want to read too much into your post but first you placed limitations upon yourself, citing "medical conditions". But immediately thereafter, you have a problem with conditions imposed by someone else???

What are you in it for? Is it to outshine everyone else or to achieve goals that are specific to you?

I've been at it 35 years and I'm a shodan. Granted, I'm a shodan in 3 different systems but that's as far as I'm going to go. I train in a gi bottom and a t shirt. My belt, when I wear it, is really nice and new looking. I sat on the testing board of people who now wear these stringy frayed black belts and really look the part. So what? I practice forms up to 5th degree and do them quite well IMHO. When I competed, I fought dudes with more stripes on their belts than I could count and it had no bearing on the outcome. I wouldn't have tested for black belt but it got people to leave me alone. I could then get advice from people who I sought out because I saw they had something special and I wanted to learn about it. I tested, got my shodan and convinced myself that "It don't get no blacker". Actually, it gets more stringy and then red and white or some such thing.

Take 2 fighters of greatly different abilities and put the black belt on the weaker one and a green belt on the better one. Let them fight and see what it all means. Like the prior posts say, it doesn't mean much at all.

Kinda like the Wizard of Ox handing out watch-fob hearts, diploma brains and courage medals.

Quite the illusion!