What does it really mean to be a black belt?

[isshinryu5toforever]

Thank you very much.

[wouldbemaster]

I was always told that one starts to learn when you get your black belt and kind of agree, you learn from the first training session but the learning so that you can replicate technique in a controlled way - 1st Dan (bit like passing driving test) but then you need to consoldate your learning and start to understand it which takes you to 3rd dan and then you really start to understanding it when you stop thinking about and just do it automatically and catch yourself suddenly feeling different 6th dan for example.

Different schools have different criteria for black belts and different drivers. Typically 3 to 5 years for 1st dan says to me training everyday seriously and learning from it, in my club 1st dan is typically a 10 year journey.

Just to say that my sensei said you only start to learn at 1st dan, he then said when I got my 2nd dan that it was 2nd dan when you start to learn, when I got my 3rd dan he shared a moment of wisdom that it is 3rd dan when you start to learn and then again at 4th dan. I think it is safe to say that you constantly starting to learn and just when you think you know it is really when you have lost your way.

As a point to note I got my first black belt at the age of four, it was leather and it held my pants up a treat!

Keep smiling

Brian

[Kuma]

Great input guys.

I read a great quote just the other day which is very applicable to this. It was from Sensei Ihor Rymaruk, an Uechi-Ryu instructor.

"There is a difference between a black belt and a Black Belt."

[KarateOx]

To echo wouldbemaster, I always viewed the Black Belt like a driver's license. You have to learn all the basics before you get your license. Where to stop, where to yield, how many feet behind a fire engine, how to park, etc. You also have to learn all the physical aspects. Actual driving, braking, parking, 3k turn, etc. Then you have to put them all together, the theory AND the practical, before you can take your test. Then you take your test and either pass or fail. Once you pass, you get your driver's license and are now free to drive on your own. However, as anyone here who drives knows, NOW is the time where true knowledge and understanding of driving takes place. Now is when you hydroplane on a wet road. Now is when you have a child run out in front of you. Now is when you have to deal with someone suddenly cutting you off or stopping suddenly in front of you. Now is when you experience all these driving difficulties and have to put all you have learned into use. You start to develop your own diving style and your very own understanding of driving. I believe the Black belt is the same thing. From white to black is all the basics. Once you reach your Sho-dan, that is when TRUE understanding of Karate, or whatever art it is you study, takes place. Now is when you apply what you have learned, to either teach others or yourself, or to defend yourself. THIS is when the real learning takes place.

[DWx]

That's a pretty good analogy KarateOx. I may have to start using that one now

[Kempohands]

I have to agree with DWx, that was a great analogy.

Reminds me of the conclusion of my Shodan test. The last thing our Grandmaster said after we received our new ranks was "Congratulations, you've got the basics. Now you can start really learning."

I don't think any of us really understood at the time what that meant, but I know that I do now.

[Seija]

A Black Belt is merely a white belt who never quit!

[tonydee]

Many good points about the prerequisite ability, attitudes etc. and their variability. I'll chip in with another criterion that's guided me in awarding black belts...

The applicant has the ability to take responsibility for their own further learning. That is, they have the foundations to be discerning in assimilating or deducing, refining and applying new knowledge and insight across all aspects of the art. They're reasonably competent in understanding why they do what they do, and how it compares to alternatives. I'm not saying they're ready to teach anyone else yet, but they no longer constantly need an instructor to guide their progress....

Cheers, Tony

[bushido_man96]

That's a good point that you make, Tony. I think that many times MA students get caught up in needing an instructor in order for anything that they learn or do to be considered legitimate. I think that self-discovery through training without an instructor to lord over you to make sure you do this "right" or that "right" can be a very liberating experience.

[tonydee]

Yes, some instructors are unnecessarily oppressive, or have their own idiosyncratic ideas that even their own students need to understand are but one of several ways to the true core of the art, or may even be unnecessary or counter productive. The ability to be independent creates opportunities for both meaningful loyalty and honourable disassociation. I think becoming a black belt is also a point where you take on more responsibility for your involvement in a school: are you loaning your presence - and the implied endorsement - to a good institution? Are you contributing? Another aspect is that an instructor wants to know if a black belt ever has to take a break from attending classes, they're typically able to maintain their standard for an extended period and won't look out of place wearing their belt when they return.

But the flip side of the second-guessing-the-instructor thing is that too often junior students expect everything at once, when there's just too much information and skill to be absorbed. If an instructor teaches what they consider steps 1, 2 and 3 in their system, a student of a year or so might still hunt around youtube and find steps 6, 9 and 14 being taught to absolute beginners in another system, realise they make sense, and feel cheated. Yet another school might teach all the steps to beginners, but some will be overwhelmed and depressed they can't do everything mentioned. Different combinations can influence progression, and none of these is necessarily a better approach than others.

A concrete example: my first school didn't explicitly teach new students hip rotation for the first 6 to 12 months. Students were busy enough with all the kicks, arm movements, stances, patterns, step sparring etc that they rarely noticed anything missing, but if they were clever they'd pick up a little rotation from carefully watching their seniors. Then, when it was introduced, the outward form was ready to be injected with this "engine". But, you got students being told by friends other schools "huh? you think you're punching hard but your hips aren't even moving... look at this... makes sense huh? you ought to ditch that silly school". As an instructor/school, you can't really win whichever way you do it: the important thing is for instructors to demonstrate a proficiency and attitude that's self-evident and inspires some faith, until the student's ready to assess the facts of such matters. Black belt is perhaps the time when - although no master - the expectation shifts on to them.

Regards, Tony