People with bad intent quitting before 1st Dan?

[AngelaG]

First of all, if you practice Shotokan then you probably already know that your sensie cannot under any circumstances give you a black belt test.

That would be an Organisational choice.

[DWx]

We once had a guy that failed his blackbelt 1st time round and then retook it about a year later. He passed but he never came back to class... my instructor still as his belt which he paid a lot of money to get embroidered, completely crazy to me.

Now back to why they quit. Well in my opinion they quit so early because they want to still be known as the guy who got the brown belt and could of gotten the black one but just quit.

Because obviously they prefer that "definition" of them rather than the guy that failed his black belt test. And also, some of them might even find that equivalent to having the 1st Dan and just don't want to risk the chance of failing or maybe even just put so much effort into it.

This is probably true in most cases. Blackbelt is such a big deal to most people that they don't wanna risk failure.

[jaymac]

Really, who knows why some people quit. I knew a guy who quit from his training before black belt when he found out how much the cost of the exam was ----it was absurd by the way. I knew another guy who would not test for his Nidan rank because he was moving away and would not beable to continue his training. I asked him, why didn't you just take your exam? He said, I didn't want to make it seem like I was only wanting that rank and then quit. I could see his point, but thought he was very worthy of the rank. Maybe some people quit because they feel they are not ready for Shodan and are being tested anyways. Who knows. I do know that in U.S and Canada, there is no such thing as registering to the authorities when recieving a black belt. Also absurd.

[USCMAAI]

You will find people like this in all walks of life. Martial Arts doesn't get an exemption. When dealing with people like this, it is best to just stay away from them, and let them bring themselves down.

As for being "registered," as in registering your hands and feet (if I understand you right), that is really a bunch of malarky. There is no state in the U.S. (if that is where you are posting from) that requires such a thing to take place.

I have seen many students get so close to black belt, and then quit. It happens a lot. Many of them think that it is an ending point, and don't see much beyond it. It takes very special people to go beyond, and keep the fire going. If it were easy, then everyone would do it.

Amen! I have had people ask me (after learning I have advanced rank) "Did you have to register your hands and feet?" It always makes me laugh, but it is another one of those urban myths. As far as quitting before black belt, another reason people do this is that in many schools black belts are required to help instruct, and some people would rather not teach in a formal sense. Many have no problem assisting people, but would not want the responsibility of doing it formally.

[Zanshin]

Many Karate-ka give up after passing Shodan. It's almost as if they have fulfilled a "life goal" and so therefore they can move on to the next objective.

Shodan is a big test and brings about huge pressure. Some people just can't rise to it. On my Dan grade certificates there are many words about technical competence and ability etc, but to me the key words are "strength of character".

Stepping up to the plate and doing it, displays your strength of character. The technical bit is easy after that.

[Sensei Rick]

Yes.... you must registar.... just send your $49.95 to sensei Rick and I'll take care of that for you. and send me their names so I can get those guys Pre registered for $19.95.... and all you other black belts do the same.... and thank you. And now a word from our swamp land salesman.....