With all of this blackbelt talk...

[ninjanurse]

Black belt should indicate a level of competency! Our consumer society has ruined this aspect of ma. Students who will quit because they are paying and expect to see "results" expecting belts they don't deserve to wear.

The key word there is "should." Maybe there was a time when BB was a guarantee of ability. It was probably before my time

I propose, that schools with heavy emphasis on a belt system, are encouraging the concept of "Belt Mania" (heh, I just coined a phrase). Our nation (USA) tends to turn everything into a competition; who has the fastest car, who makes more money.....who can get the highest rank in MA, etc. If the belt / rank concept disappears, what then? Maybe students efforts will become more focused on the real task at hand -- executing technique better than the next guy.

As a student myself, I expect to see results for my efforts. Actual results, not some stupid belt. I'm surely an exception. I've used this analogy before: people don't spend time in a gym to get belts. They go to see improvements in cardio, strength, definition and ultimately, health. No belts handed out at any gym I've ever heard of. Yet people still go......

My primary dojo these days has three non-black-belts in its system: white, green, brown; and is 95% adults. Other than where in line we stand and which kata we're each practicing, there is no mention, emphasis or even much talk about belts. Belts are there as a nod to tradition, but that's it. We all show up to train.

My alternate school has ten colored belts, and is ~93% kids, and as you can guess..... "When can I test? Huh, huh? When do I get my next belt?!?" is the central topic of discussion.

So my theory here is: if a school emphasizes belts, then its students will prioritize accordingly.

While unfortunate this is true in many schools. Children especially struggle with this but in my opinion it is because the parents do. They are so busy focusing on the next belt their child wears that they miss the real progress the child is making! When a new student asks me when they can test for a stripe or a belt I say "When you ask for something you will not get it....when you earn it you will know." and then I use it as an opportunity to reiterate some philosophy on the whole class.

[bushido_man96]

To me, its shows that I have met the requirements of each rank before my current one, in the performance of basics, forms, one-steps, board breaking, and sparring in the testing atmosphere and in class. I've also shown that I can maintain what I have learned before, and can pass on what I know to others.