"What a Black Belt means to me"

[The BB of C]

Black belt does not mean much to me. I believe there was a time when "black belt" would actually mean something somewhere. But nowadays, in my eyes, all I see are good martial artists and bad ones. It's not often I see rank actually mean something.

[Akaratechick]

Black belt does not mean much to me. I believe there was a time when "black belt" would actually mean something somewhere. But nowadays, in my eyes, all I see are good martial artists and bad ones. It's not often I see rank actually mean something.

Why do you think this is? I definitely understand about good and bad martial artists but am not sure what you mean....

[The BB of C]

It's because of the whole commercialization and modernization of martial arts. I'm sure you know what I mean by that.

DISCLAIMER:

Everything I am about to say is directly my own oppinion that has come from my personal experience with martial arts, martial arts schools, and martial artists in general. I do not apply this in a universal perspective.

Most schools I've seen claim to be self defense schools that teach good techniques. But they never teach how to do them, when to do them. In simplicity, how to apply them to a street situation because they're over concerned with the student's safety. The only reason they're concerned with the student's safety because everyone is afraid of a lawsuit. They fail to realize that the Shiolin martial monks train by striking bricks, water, sand, and having bamboo sticks broken on their backs and spears pressed against their neck. I'm sure these kids can take a few moments of having their wrist or arm bent in an uncomfortable direction during a class.

I've been in trouble and seen other people get in trouble for hitting an opponent during sparring. Does that make much sense to you? Most schools in sparring wear more armor than a European knight during the Feudal era.

Then there is the cockyness of black belts. Even when modesty is "taught" in the schools, outside they are still a black belt in their mind and they still think they're indestructible and everyone who doesn't have as much training or is a lower rank than them in a/the style can't beat them. Even after they get beaten they come up with excuses to why they lost. "I wasn't hardly trying" is the one I hear most often.

I have fought a number of black belts both in and out of class. I have beaten most of them. There are three I know personally I cannot defeat. One of them is my cousin, a second or third degree in Inshonryu (I think that's how it's spelled. Pardon me if I got it wrong, please) and had good training. The other two are my friends, one is a second degree and the older brother to the other one who is a first degree. They too have had good training and have had twice as much fight experience as me. Other than that, the other 7 I've fought are lousy excuses for martial artists and got by in class because they could memorize forms and the sequence of techniques. They get overcome by me in fights and spars and I admit I am not that powerful. All it does is say to me that Black Belt rarely means something nowadays.

I know there's more but I can't remember it off the top of my head. Is there anything else you think I didn't explain from my point of view?

[Red89]

It Dosn't mean an awful lot to me, it is only the beginning. I have been training 10 years and I am only a brown belt because I was not fussed on gradings, rather I trained hard on technique and sparring and now Im going to try and grade and it will pay off. I went to another school to try it once, it was shotokan, there were so many blackbelts and when it came to sparring they were so surprised angry that they couldn't score against me. Most of them had been training about 3-4 years and were somehow black...

Although someday I would like to be black, and then progress from there, because every student must surpass his master in knowledge and skill, otherwise the art would simply deteorite rather than grow

[straightblast]

It means, do not need rope to hold up pants.- karate kid-

[bushido_man96]

Black belt does not mean much to me. I believe there was a time when "black belt" would actually mean something somewhere. But nowadays, in my eyes, all I see are good martial artists and bad ones. It's not often I see rank actually mean something.

I think that many people feel this way, after they have held their black belt for a few years. Initially, I think many practitioners get excited about achieving the rank of black belt, and I think they should. I know that I was. If I would not have been, then I probably would not have been working hard for it. Now, it isn't quite as big a deal, but it still doesn't take away from the accomplishment. And it still keeps me working hard.

When I first started taking TKD, there was a group of around 12 of us. When we tested for our 1st degree, there were 3 of us. Now, I am the only one that I know for sure is still practicing.

[Charlie_Shodan]

Its definatly an achievement and something to be very proud of (I am)

You have to have the right attitude to be worthy of getting a black belt. THe colour of your belt doesn't mean anything tho... they just hold ur trousers up, its what u can do that counts and how much you've achieved.

[Cheradenine]

To me my first Dan grade was just simply another step. There was no 'ok, I'm here, now what?'. It just felt like natural progression. I was prepared for what was to come next.

Going from a higher Kyu grade to lower Dan grade is like the old saying - being the big fish of a little pond, to a little fish in a big pond.

There was certainly a pressure to some degree to attain the promotion, but now there is a new pressure to retain it, or justify it, to higher grades that want you to prove you deserve it (unlike alot of people who quit training thinking that the Black Belt is be all and end all to accomplishment within martial arts). You also have lower grades looking to you as a role model.

[Shorin Ryuu]

It means absolutely nothing to me. Of course, we don't use rank, so that is only to be expected.

[ninjanurse]

To me a Black Belt represents the person that you are inside-a culmination of years of not only physical development but spiritual/emotional development too. Those that see it as only a piece of cloth that "holds their place in line" or "just another belt" are not incorrect in their belief as that is what they are taught (or not taught) in their systems. My belts represent the tenets and precepts of every system I have studied and I strive to uphold them to the best of my ability both in and out of the dojang/dojo-whether wearing the belt or not. It reminds me of the person I was, the person I am now, and the person I should be tomorrow.