What should i do? grading question

[karate carolyn]

Grading question

Hello this is my first post so any feedback would be much appreciated.

I have recently went back to my old karate club after an absence of nearly 15 years. This is the same club I went to as a child and reached the grade of first brown. I have now went back and have started my training again however – this is the dilemma when I first went back my sensi told me (as I had my old grading book as a record of my grades) that I will start over as a white belt but when i have reached the level I was I would be allowed to ware my brown belt again without having to go through all the gradings but now he has said that I should go through them all again but do double gradings. Im not sure if I want to do this again. The time element does not bother me even if it takes the same amout of time with or with out the gradings to reach that level again. Could some give me some advice?

Thanks x

p.s love the forum finally can chat with people who love karate as much as me!!!!!

[ninjanurse]

Congratulations on returning. I hope your training goes well.

15 years is a long time without training and double gradings may be the best option here as the curriculum has probably changed a bit and your skills may need to get up to par. While not an issue for some, wearing a white belt for a long time can be discouraging to some students....and periodic testing gives you feedback as well as ownership. I think your sensei has your best interests in mind...I would do the same in my school for any kyu/gup returning after a long lay-off.

[Syphax]

I have to agree with ninjanurse. Re-grading is probably the best option for you considering the amount of time you have been out of the arts. Not only will it help you to improve, but it will also reaffirm to the other students that you aren't just coasting back to your previous rank.

[P.A.L]

I think his offer is fair, plus if you start really strong he may change his mind and let you get your belt back sooner.

[sonofkanga]

well, i was taught that you do what Sensei tells you.

So,do what your Sensei says,or leave.

[bushido_man96]

Training is training, and as long as you are getting good training, then I would say just go with the flow.

You will be back up to par before you know it.

Welcome to KF, by the way!

[Shotokan-kez]

Double gradings sounds like the sensible thing. I also had a good 10 years or more gap, luckily my sensei let me wear my old belt (4th kyu). But i had a lot of catching up to do, and had to wear the belt for a long time.

Like ninjanurse says, the curriculum may have changed too. Sometime with us certain moves in kata's are changed. Keep with it and train hard, soon you will be back to wearing that brown belt again and have a feeling of that is where you belong.

Good luck with your training!

[Rick_72]

I'm certain that you've probably retained some of your old knowledge from your previous training, so that's going to be evident to not only your instructor's, but your fellow students as well. I'll bet your Sensei also makes it a point when introducing you to let the school know of your past achievements, and may even use you as an example of perserverance in the martial arts.

Double grading back to your previous grade sounds like a pretty generous offer to me. Considering its been so long, I'd say your going to be working awfully hard anyway.

In our organization if a black belt doesn't train for more than 3 months without contacting the Dojo, they have to re-test back to their appropriate level (and our Shodan test is no joke). So having been gone for 15 years, yours sounds like a great situation to me.

[lordtariel]

What's in a colored strip of fabric? It's the peson that's important, not the belt. If you can double test you should be back in no time. If you can't get up there that fast, you probably shouldn't have the belt.

[karate carolyn]

Wow the feedbacks been great some really good points. Please don’t misunderstand me though I do not disagree with what my sensei has said but he left it to me decide what I thought was best and I thought this would be the best place to help (which it has).

I hope no one thinks that I am purely doing Karate as a status thing as I have far to much respect for MA and my fellow students for that and hold my sensei in the highest esteem. I do agree with lordtariel and that it is the person that wares the belt that it is important hence the reason that I am happy to ware a white belt (as I am starting my journey into Karate again ) but was just unsure as to what was the best thing to do and had no intension of jumping back to brown I knew either way that it would at least be a year at the earliest before I even thought of wareing the brown belt again. I’ll keep you posted as to what happens

Thanks again to you all.

Carolyn From Bonnie Scotland