1st Dan is Enough!

[jsteczko]

If you feel great with 1st Dan, then stay there. But some people would not feel happy with only one Dan. Let's say one trains for 10 years and he is still 1st Dan while his friends go up. Maybe his skills are good but on the outside they're not. If you stay on 1st Dan you won't clearly "see" your development. This matter depends on what you feel is best for you. Right now you think like this but maybe in about two years you can feel different. We all change with time.

[Martialart]

If you feel great with 1st Dan, then stay there. But some people would not feel happy with only one Dan. Let's say one trains for 10 years and he is still 1st Dan while his friends go up. Maybe his skills are good but on the outside they're not. If you stay on 1st Dan you won't clearly "see" your development. This matter depends on what you feel is best for you. Right now you think like this but maybe in about two years you can feel different. We all change with time.

I don't know. You're probably right. Between now and a couple years from now, my mind will probably change 16 times.

[usc96]

Maybe I missed it but what rank do you hold now? I spent 5 years earning my 1st dan and can't see myself saying no when the time comes to test for my second.

[bushido_man96]

Some people like to test, and like the feeling of grading and earning new rank. In my mind, there is absolutely nothing wrong with this. I think at times it can be taken to extremes, especially in the ideas that higher ranks have of themselves, and then there are those who don't let it go to their heads at all. I think it is important to balance what it means, and how one portrays themselves after attain it.

[sensei8]

Some people like to test, and like the feeling of grading and earning new rank. In my mind, there is absolutely nothing wrong with this. I think at times it can be taken to extremes, especially in the ideas that higher ranks have of themselves, and then there are those who don't let it go to their heads at all. I think it is important to balance what it means, and how one portrays themselves after attain it.

BINGO! I'll steal a baseball expression, if I may...THAT WENT YARD!

[Soheir]

As gichin Funakoshi said: Don't pretend to be a great master and don't try to show off your strength.

How can you ever be sure that there's nothing more for you? Or think that you know EVERYTHING already?

When you get your first black belt, you can be almost sure you know the basics.

[bushido_man96]

Some people like to test, and like the feeling of grading and earning new rank. In my mind, there is absolutely nothing wrong with this. I think at times it can be taken to extremes, especially in the ideas that higher ranks have of themselves, and then there are those who don't let it go to their heads at all. I think it is important to balance what it means, and how one portrays themselves after attain it.

BINGO! I'll steal a baseball expression, if I may...THAT WENT YARD!

Thanks Bob.

[SaxonPig]

Your choice to refuse rank advancement. Rank is fairly meaningless anyway as there is no universal standard. I have seen some folks walking around with 7 or 8 stripes on their belts who were clowns. I heard of a Shotokan sandan who didn't recognize a kata required for green belt.

My first instructor was tight with rank promotions. After 17 years I was still a nidan. At the time I didn't really worry about it. I dropped out for a long time and then started with a new instructor who has a much different attitude. He is much more willing to make promotions and is much faster with them. He made me a sandan about 16 months after I joined his dojo and I believe he has no reservations about rewarding serious effort with serious rank.

Although I am mainly interested in self improvement and didn't spend much time thinking about rank, I admit that I enjoyed being promoted after so long a wait. I think that doing your best and letting the rank chips fall where they may is preferable to either straining for promotion or deliberately avoiding it.

[StrangeBacon]

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that you seem displeased with your style and the way its run anyway, i think to study and grow within a style there needs to be a certain amount of respect and love for it.

And as regards the book, try and get out there and study a few more styles and try some other schools before settling down to write.

Personally i see where you're coming from, im glad our school isnt a large organisation, money ruins a great deal of things, and if i were in your position i would probably do the same thing, getting a higher grade for promotional purposes and not to better yourself and earn the respect of your instructors i cant agree with.

Hold back on the book for a while though and make it a belter

[senseikellam]

I don't really agree with stopping at 1st dan, but that was my choice. What is right for one person may not be right for another, so if your content to stop at 1st dan, there is nothing wrong with that. You know yourself better than anyone else, so just do what is right for you, but do it for the right reason and not because somebody told you to. Simply put, "To each their own".