Protocol for a new student with rank in another marital art

[MasterPain]

At the end of class the other night, I was picking up mats by myself while everyone was talking. I didn't really care, but Groinstrike pointed out the the high rank was putting things away while everyone blabbed. I made a rather blasphemous comment about washing feet. But that story makes a good point about humility. Either call and ask first or put on your white belt. Or, in my case borrow one, cause the white belt is 20 years old and too small.

[DWx]

I'd go with the white belt too unless its the same style. Why presume that a rank in one thing means you are automatically of the same standard at the another style.

Not wanting to hijack this thread, but do you guys insist that people wear their current grade when they come to you from a similar style? I've only really trained at one school where this was the case for me (my university club). It was a TKD club that roughly did the same style as I'd trained before but there were enough differences that I didn't feel comfortable using my current grade so I wanted to stand at the back with the rest of the white belts. Did so until the instructor realized I'd had prior training and then he insisted that I wear my current grade. This then made me senior student! Knowing the forms & techniques wasn't a problem but I didn't have a clue about his class protocol and it resulted in a ton of embarrassment when I kept doing his bowing-in procedure, warm-ups etc. "wrong".

[sensei8]

Imho, the only rank that's of the same general standard is the white belt. After that, the differences are as wide as the sky is.

I don't allow anyone to wear their current rank if they're not Shindokan, UNLESS, they're just visiting and they've cleared it with me first. I've extra white belts of differing sizes for them to wear if they want to join my dojo to learn Shindokan.

[JusticeZero]

I mostly only care about senior/not senior, with seniors knowing the routine and how to do the movements. People from somewhere else are welcome, but they don't know the routine, so they aren't 'senior' unless they're guest teaching for some reason. The usual procedure i've experienced seems to be to take a quick bit of one on one to highlight where the differences are, ask that they do the movements we're doing (not "movements with the same name and a similar purpose that are nonetheless constructed completely differently", but minor stylistic differences can be ignored once they've been noted) and generally leave them to their own devices to follow along.

[ninjanurse]

I always bring a white belt and put it on with no questions asked whenever I train at another dojo. If the instructor wants me to wear my original rank he can tell me - if not, the problem has solved itself. I do this even when I'm visiting clubs in my style outside of my organization. If someone isn't willing to put on a white belt and train hard it probably says something more about their attitude as a student than their rank does.

This goes at my dojo too. If your cup is empty when you walk in the door we can talk about where you fit into the grand scheme of things later.

[Ozpunker]

In our style, if you already have a black belt you aren't asked to removed it. My instructor's philosophy is that by taking off your Black belt you are saying that you are forgetting all of your previous training (or something along those lines). That person gets to stand in rank with the black belts but they train under the same syllabus as whatever their current level is in our style.

Students who have any other high level (but below black) in another style can grade for purple belt (half way to black) as long as they can demonstrate all the appropriate techniques.

I agree with the advanced gradings but I don't entirely agree with my instructor on his black belt rule.

If you are a guest or doing once off training at another dojo, then I think you should wear your full normal uniform. If you are actually training the other style as a student then you start at white belt just like everyone else. (Perhaps with advanced gradings).

I like to think of a black belt as having a trade qualification, with different MA styles being different trades. If you get a fully qualified plumber you can't have him walk in to another company and automatically become a fully paid qualified electrician. Just as you can't have a Black Belt TKD walk in to a BJJ club and expect to receive the same recognition.

[WolverineGuy]

I generally just go with that dojo's wishes. I don't make a big deal about my background (but being a black belt, its fairly obvious that I'm not a beginner). The only time I've ever had an issue was when I moved a few years ago, and the closest school to me was a Tang Soo Do school. They asked me my rank, and I told them. I asked what their protocol was and they seemed insulted that I'd even ask (I had assumed that's where the conversation was going, I wasn't insisting to wear my black belt, but my bad). Anyway, the master instructor wanted to see my certification, which I brought in, and then he informed me that they wouldn't recognize it (no big deal). The problem arose during point sparring. They were REALLY pushing me to go into tournaments, to which I responded that I'd go in, but I wasn't wearing a white belt for that, as I had done a ton of tournaments at the black belt level all over Michigan. I was then fed some line about how I was a white belt in TSD, so it was ok for me to do that. I looked at him straight in the face and said "or its cheating." Walked out at that point.

[AlwaysInTraining]

I dont know if this helps but when i switched styles from GKR to kyokushin i asked the instructor whether i would be able keep my rank because i already had a lot of experience and we came to the agreement that i could keep the belt on but i would have to re-grade to the level i was in my previous style (3rd kyu). He also made the point that i couldnt do one grading straight to 3rd kyu and that the most he would grade me to was 5th kyu in one go. This worked out better for me because i worked hard to get my 5th kyu again and 6 months later i went for 4th kyu and a further 6 months late i got back to my 3rd kyu again. This put me in a much better situation and everyone who was already in the class respected me more because of it.

[Liver Punch]

do you guys insist that people wear their current grade when they come to you from a similar style? .

Outside of a Test or "formal training session" we don't require that people from our rank wear the proper belt. As long as the visitors are working with responsible partners, it shouldn't be a problem. I think at my home school, we all understand that skill level is much more important than belt color. Visitors can wear a rope or extension cord as long as they're responsible, courteous, and exhibit self control.

[Sainthood]

I would say start them off at a white belt, just because they may have a lot of experience in one style doesn`t mean they will be at the same level in this style. If they have taken time away from MA they might also be a little rusty.

That being said they will still preform much better are learn much faster than a normal white belt student and you should judge them accordingly. If for example after a few months are preforming at a higher level then students at higher ranking belts then perhaps they should skip a belt level.