No You're Not!

[BDPulver]

I remember a story I was told by another while training. He asked me if I noticed sensei's belt turning white? I of course responded yes and kinda mentioned why he doesnt replace it. He told me me he had that belt since he was promoted to shodan. he is was a yon dan at this time. thats when he told me this story.

Way back, a young student approached a master to study martial arts. The master gave him a white belt and told him do not wash this belt at all or all the wisdom and experience you have learned will wash away. so every day the student trained. He noticed the belt getting darker and darker until it was so dark it looked black.

The student approached the master and asked if he was a master now. The master looked at him and said your journey just now starts. So the student starts training again, many years go by and the belt starts turning white again. The student never approaches the master bout it this time but the master approaches him.

You are now ready to show other students what you know but remember this you will always be a beginner. With that the student took the next step on the journey to master.

my sensei is a kyoshi now but displays that belt with pride cause of the long journey it took him so he could do the next journey.

[Lupin1]

I know this is a bit off topic, but I find the idea of decades old belts all covered with dirt and sweat and grime disgusting and probably dangerous.

[evergrey]

Haha, doubt it's dangerous. They dry, and nothing is going to live in there in a colony or anything for long.

[bushido_man96]

I remember a story I was told by another while training. He asked me if I noticed sensei's belt turning white? I of course responded yes and kinda mentioned why he doesnt replace it. He told me me he had that belt since he was promoted to shodan. he is was a yon dan at this time. thats when he told me this story.

Way back, a young student approached a master to study martial arts. The master gave him a white belt and told him do not wash this belt at all or all the wisdom and experience you have learned will wash away. so every day the student trained. He noticed the belt getting darker and darker until it was so dark it looked black.

The student approached the master and asked if he was a master now. The master looked at him and said your journey just now starts. So the student starts training again, many years go by and the belt starts turning white again. The student never approaches the master bout it this time but the master approaches him.

You are now ready to show other students what you know but remember this you will always be a beginner. With that the student took the next step on the journey to master.

my sensei is a kyoshi now but displays that belt with pride cause of the long journey it took him so he could do the next journey.

A nice story.

I would just put out there, though, that there are lots of people who have told a story with a meaning like this or similar to many other people. To some, it is something they carry with them forever. And to others, its just another story. Neither of them is bad. It just all depends on how you look at the world, I guess.

[bushido_man96]

i always thought beginner is a white belt.

I think the conclusion that I, at least, have come to is that it depends on your definition of the word "beginner".

I've been a member of our college Aikido club for probably going on 3 years now, but, since my schedule doesn't meet up with the Aikido schedule very well at times, I don't get to practice it as much as I want. So, I would say I'm a long term beginner there. But with TKD, I'd say its a bit different. I wouldn't say that I have amassed a huge amount of skill through TKD, but I have considerably more experience with it.

[Lupin1]

Ok. I've been thinking about it and about how my instructor talks and I think I've got it figured out for my dojo, anyway.

Pretty much white, purple and orange belts are beginner and then yellow belt is the intermediate kyu rank. Blue belt is more intermediate at the beginning but gets more advanced toward the end of the curriculum. Green and brown belts are advance kyu ranks.

Then once you get to shodan, you go back to being a beginner. It's like you're being judged on a completely different scale. You can be a beginner, intermediate and advanced kyu rank, but once you hit black belt, the expectations and the point of reference changes and all of a sudden you're considered a beginner again.

Kinda like how you can be a freshman, sophomore, junior and senior in high school and as a senior you're considered the highest and the most learned. And then you get to college and all of a sudden you're a freshman who knows nothing again, only now not only are there sophomores, juniors and seniors, but there are grad students and those with multiple PhDs and there's always more to learn-- always another degree to obtain so that you're never at the end the way you were as a high school senior, you're just moving to a different level of study.

At least that what it seems like from the way my instructor talks about the different ranks.

[BDPulver]

Yup

[sensei8]

Ok. I've been thinking about it and about how my instructor talks and I think I've got it figured out for my dojo, anyway.

Pretty much white, purple and orange belts are beginner and then yellow belt is the intermediate kyu rank. Blue belt is more intermediate at the beginning but gets more advanced toward the end of the curriculum. Green and brown belts are advance kyu ranks.

Then once you get to shodan, you go back to being a beginner. It's like you're being judged on a completely different scale. You can be a beginner, intermediate and advanced kyu rank, but once you hit black belt, the expectations and the point of reference changes and all of a sudden you're considered a beginner again.

Kinda like how you can be a freshman, sophomore, junior and senior in high school and as a senior you're considered the highest and the most learned. And then you get to college and all of a sudden you're a freshman who knows nothing again, only now not only are there sophomores, juniors and seniors, but there are grad students and those with multiple PhDs and there's always more to learn-- always another degree to obtain so that you're never at the end the way you were as a high school senior, you're just moving to a different level of study.

At least that what it seems like from the way my instructor talks about the different ranks.

Very solid, and I concur!!