Rank for life

[shinka]

Well 5 years is a long time..Depending what style you're doing.

You will lose a lot of technics etc in 5 years.

Do I think you lose your title of black belt after 5 years...maybe not but I think you would need to train hard to show that you still deserve to wear it.

If not...It would be unfair for the others.

In a way...the belt is showing what level (rank) you are.

If you're not able to do the things well..... It doesn't look super good.

[Dobbersky]

Now another way, if you have reached Shodan and you continue to train and you keep your standards and its 5, 6 or 7 years since your last grading, do you stay as Shodan or do you earn Nidan as time served?

[darksoul]

Now another way, if you have reached Shodan and you continue to train and you keep your standards and its 5, 6 or 7 years since your last grading, do you stay as Shodan or do you earn Nidan as time served?

If you have learned all the techniques required for Nidan, then you should be able to test. I don't think you should have it just given to you.

[DWx]

Personally I believe that your rank is not just for life...

1. The martial arts is not just about katas, strikes and throws. It's about self development and improvement. After a break you may not remember some things or may not be able to perform to a certain level, but would your resolve or will be any weaker than someone else who hasn't had a break?

Good points. However in saying this, couldn't we say that a lot of people have good resolve blackbelt or not. Resolve =/= blackbelt. A brown belt could have greater resolve. Just because I have good resolve doesn't mean I have the right to wear a rank.

2. If it was the case that rank was only for a certain period, why haven't we stripped all the martial artists who have passed already? Eg Funakoshi who was a 5th dan (highest rank at the time), is still regarded as that rank.

Well that's a little different I think. Their skill and knowledge didn't deteriorate over time. You could argue Funakoshi was training up to his death. Maybe not as physically as he once was but the mental training and knowledge was still there.

[DWx]

Now another way, if you have reached Shodan and you continue to train and you keep your standards and its 5, 6 or 7 years since your last grading, do you stay as Shodan or do you earn Nidan as time served?

If you have learned all the techniques required for Nidan, then you should be able to test. I don't think you should have it just given to you.

I think it depends on how the style goes about awarding rank. If the time component is all there is to it you could get the rank. But if your style requires you to go through a rigorous mental/physical test, then doesn't matter how long you have been a shodan, you haven't past the test for nidan yet so you aren't one.

Also, maybe I'm just being pedantic, but "keep(ing) your standards is not enough", your standards should raise. There should be a difference in skill level and knowledge between each grade.

[Chunmonchek]

Rank means different things to people at different times in their martial arts journey. In the best of cases, rank should define one's relationship with their teacher, and maybe then secondarily for organizational purposes.

After time in the arts, the color of one's belt should be less important.

Not to long ago, there were no ranks.

Most make way too much of the belt/rank issue.

Chris

[Harkon72]

I agree, there are no ranks in Wing Chun for example, a good teacher can tell what level you are at just by watching you. My Sensei knew I had some experience of other styles before joining him, my green belt as you say is just the color of where I have reached with him, that's all.

[ShotokanMaster]

WE just have a sensie who came back this year from way back and she is a guard of some school custodian and she just started coming back this year she teaches monday and she is good when teaching sparring and she is slowly gaining her techniques back after a long time

[cheesefrysamurai]

The rank you own is your own.

A humble student or sensei will defer teaching until he or she is polished

[IcemanSK]

Like medical doctors, lawyers, or ballet dancers, martial artists PRACTICE their Art. We can loose ability if we don't train. But, like those mentioned above, we don't loose what we've earned simply because we're out of practice. The rank we keep. The ability, we need to keep sharp. As was said above, "a humble student or sensei will defer teaching until she or he is polished.

On the question of "what if you don't test, but you keep training. Should you be given higher rank?" No. Although I trained for 19 years (under someone who was less than honest) I remained a 2nd Dan that whole time. When I moved on, I tested for 3rd Dan. I certainly learned a lot in that time, but all that gives me is a bit of wisdom (and grey hair) for my relatively low rank. I don't have time or energy to waste playing "what if" in regards to rank.