A true black belt? or a fake?

[Traymond]

The influences are in my mind fighting to get out, I pride myself tho on being able to keep them inside my mind only...until I freestyle then my style gets mixed.

[sensei8]

I've only one thing to say about this topic...Good Grief! It's true; the longer one lives, the longer one will have heard just about everything!

[Traymond]

I've only one thing to say about this topic...Good Grief! It's true; the longer one lives, the longer one will have heard just about everything!

Haha thats true.

[tallgeese]

In fairness, it's been thru a few subject changes in the body or replies

[quinteros1963]

If the guy can hold his own with other BB's then he is at BB level.

[eidlyn]

The real answer is, this guy obviously doesn't care what we or anyone thinks, as we sit around in judgement of him. He bought a black belt and started training himself, and thought he knew better than his sensei what he needed for training.

In response to the actual question though, if you look at all the world champions in fighting, they're the ones with the great kata. Then again, if you look at Christof Pina, or whatever his name is, he has no skill in kata, and was the world champion twice.

This guy hardly has the discipline that a true black belt would have, as he refused to learn from his sensei(based on the story), and i agree with the guy that says that this dude is just an mma fighter. The first black belts didn't give themselves black belts, they just practiced a lot. Also, if beating people up made his black belt legit, then I would have a black belt from when I fought that TKD black belt using my green belt judo knowledge.

Overall, this guy isn't a black belt. Just an MMA fighter. A pretty good one by the story.

[Okami]

You know to tell the truth I never really met a fake Black Belt. Of course I never went looking for one either. With me it deals with ability not some certificate on the wall with scrigly writing. If a person can go into open compitition and win or place or just make a good showing that should tell you right there. I dont question someones rank, in a real fight it is the quick and the dead. I just hope they are on my side if they say they are a Black Belt.

Now its nice to be black belt in the miliatry because you always get to "Take the Point," or be his body guard once the Co finds out you are a warrrior. I know I got to do both. Should have kept my mounth shut.

[TheArtofDave]

Here in lies the problem with the statements regarding whether he is a "real" or a "fake" black belt. For one I might say who cares where a martial artist draws his inspiration from. I know tons of MA's who were inspired by Street Fighter 2 to learn the martial arts. That doesn't make them any less credible in learning their style, nor does it put them in a lower class regarding their motivations.

I've always loved the martial arts for the self discipline. But I'm just now getting back into a style I truly enjoy. I voted real. I'm not ashamed to admit it, and I still believe he is a real black belt. The over all consensus where the debate split is this guy was wearing his ego.

He wasn't. I'll give you a valid reason why. I didn't like Shotokan because of its forms. And at the time it was the only game in town and it took me over 20 years before a style moved into my town that I truly enjoy. After I graduate college in 2 weeks I'm back to training.

This kid didn't like kata. So he was inspired and motivated by a video game. If he had quit, after ward I'd agree with you. But he kept it up. Why because the black belt kept his confidence up, and motivated him to train. Using "The Art of Fighting" probably was not the best name for it, but I don't judge. Now at 13, and even at 15 it's going to take you a very long time to perfect your style of fighting. If its a style of fighting, even your own style, it can be deemed an art. And if it can be an art it can be a martial art even though an organization wouldn't recognize it. But you're training to be a better person & for fitness, and for self defense. Do you actually need an accredited organization to document what works for you? Martial Arts is about how you train, who am I to question somebody else's methods. The only way for me to test their effectiveness would be to actually see them.

I do question the competition. It makes me wonder if he was being seen an outcast for localizing a style effective for him. Did he have to stand up for himself? Usually most honorable instructors will not compete against a student who is learning the fundamentals.

I wasn't there but it does make me wonder.

Now the thing to do would be for him to take his style into a seminar if he wanted more exposure. But he'd have to be very methodical, and know every stance. It would have to be a very fluid, and proper way to it. But he doesn't train to teach. He trains to improve himself.

So my question, or observation rather...

If you have no formal training, but you have the skills, and all you do is train. Does it make a difference where the inspiration comes from? I certainly wouldn't go around picking fights. But if all the elements are there to be effective, and if a black belt gives you confidence, and motivates you to train who are any of us to say he is not a real black belt?

The discussion is split. A black belt is a belt. It's used as a symbol. Would it matter if you were taught backwards in a reverse system? Probably not. Your experience, inspiration, and motivation define you as a black belt whether you hold one or whether you carry yourself as such in daily life.

Everybody has reasoning for getting their black belt, and even continuing on after they get it. But its a belt. It doesn't give you the authority to discredit anybody else.

Would you want to be treated in the same fashion? Don't martial arts teach you respect for yourself, your instructor, and the people around you regardless of whether you disagree?

When you see it for what it more than likely was, which was a motivational tool to keep training, that proves he is indeed a real black belt. A fake would lose interest and wouldn't go to such lengths to train. Even if he is a natural skilled fighter, shouldn't he be embraced for his love of martial arts, instead of cast out for doing something "out of the box"

My two cents and food for thought.

[whess]

I would say he is real, if he beat the instructor of a school, then he obvously has some skill

[RichardZ]

Real or fake will depend on what one defines as a black belt.

Beating a black belt, may not be a prime example as this depends on what the defeated black belter had learned.