De-fetishizing the black belt

[Shizentai]

First of all...

A metaphoric example. If all goes according to plan, in two more years, at the age of twenty-six, I'll complete my Ph.D. in literature from a Tier 1 American Research University. No reasonable person is going to object to me having a Ph.D.; I will have taken all the exams, written all the articles, completed a dissertation. But no reasonable person is going to think that I've reached the pinnacle of my field, or even the end of my scholarly journey; a Ph.D. really is just the beginning, at least if I want to have a career.

JEEZ! Is that true? Did you start super young or do you just have a short program? I'm not due to get mine at least till I'm 30 in 2016! Lol!

As for the actual topic, I agree with the OP that the idea of a blackbelt being some kind of magical state in the eyes of students is problematic. However, I don't think that making belts easier or harder to achieve is really solving or even addressing the main problem. I'm going to be a dork and quote something I said on the matter in 2009:

Having trained for several years now, I've seen quite a few people pass though dojos on a bad mission so to speak. In all of their actions and words and ways they present themselves to others it's clear that they are putting in effort for the sole purpose of getting something to which they feel entitled. Some people want a rank, some want to win a competition, but this type of mind is always expecting something in return. Often once such a person obtains his desired result he'll quit, and even more commonly, a karate-ka who thinks like this will fail at her mission and get very angry about injustices comitted. All I can figure is people like that must be very used to success. Perhaps one of the small advantages to being a born weakling is that I never have to worry about feeling entitled to anything.

To me karate is like a fall thunderstorm. Some days it waters my garden and brings in good weather, while other days I get pummeled with hail and flash floods that seem like they could shake the life out of my frail body. Yes, the more I think about it, the more I'm sure that I love both training and storms in the same way. I do my best to prepare for both, but regardless of how else I fair, nothing could make me more satisfied than simply surviving one day of it to experience another. When you really think about it, compared to the strength of a hurricane (or the wrath of a sensei who can count REALLY fast) we're all pretty weak.

Perhaps it's just the low iron levels in my blood, but there's nothing like reaching that hot-cold calm feeling somewhere between what I thought was my maximum and the final seiza of the evening. When training gets to that point I feel equal to anyone.

I think the strongest thing that can keep a student coming back is when they change their minds from loving achievements (of any kind) to a love of the process. That is when karate becomes karate-do.

[lit-arate]

JEEZ! Is that true? Did you start super young or do you just have a short program?

Started just before I turned 22. I figured that I had no marketable skills, so I should have some incredibly refined and specialized unmarketable skills.

I appreciate very much both the fact that you quote yourself, and what you said. You're right; if the problem is length of time to belt, then changing that length in either direction won't solve the problem. I really, really, really like your approach.

Like I said, if it doesn't mean something, why have it? Sure we can give a black belt away to make someone feel good. And we may as well let the linebackers wear tutus and try to hug the quarterback instead of tackle him.

Oh, the readings of threatened masculinity I could do on this ...

Is it wrong that I expect a black belt to be a skilled martial artist who can convey a system?

No, not wrong--just an infinite rabbit-hole of semantics. What would it mean to "convey a system"? I'm pretty sure that one could, with equal reason, argue my capacity to convey the system of American Kenpo (I can execute the full syllabus) and my instructor's incapacity to do so (he's always refining his execution of the syllabus) with nary so much as a breath between.

So, along with those lines, I think it is important to gauge skill and knowledge along with rank, so someone is representing their style and rank accordingly. Should see the differences in classes between beginner, intermediate, and advanced students. If there were 20 people in a class, doing basics and forms, but lined up in a random order, you should be able to get an idea of who is higher ranked and who is lower ranked by seeing how they move, and by the attitude they exude.

I think this post just operates on the same flawed logic that Shizentai corrected me on: why not just have 500 ranks? Why not just two? Because length-to-rank-x is the problem, it can't be the solution.

Again, thank you all for your excellent input and discussion.

[MasterPain]

Like I said, if it doesn't mean something, why have it? Sure we can give a black belt away to make someone feel good. And we may as well let the linebackers wear tutus and try to hug the quarterback instead of tackle him.

Oh, the readings of threatened masculinity I could do on this ...

Actually, all you can assume from that statement is that I'm a South Park fan who thinks a black belt should not be given lightly.

[sensei8]

Taking time or not taking time to achieve any rank isn't the context within anything that's remotely the MA. The ranking system, like the belt itself, is just a thing, but this thing possess us, instead of us possessing it. Any instructor that holds a student back for their own selfish reasons, that ill-gotten instructor doesn't deserve to be one.

The black belt, and any rank for that matter of fact, ISN'T the core essence of the MA. The way that the rank system even started was the beginning of a conflict that will endure for as long as the rank system is mismanaged by some of those that have been entrusted with it's "beauty". And that's it, the rank system is meant to be a thing of beauty within the context of the MA...

However, it's not, and I believe that we can attest this by some of the posts within this very topic.

The beginning or it not being the beginning and the like, imho, are being incorrectly misunderstood. The truth will only be found by careful interpretation of the evidence before us MAists.

[bushido_man96]

So, along with those lines, I think it is important to gauge skill and knowledge along with rank, so someone is representing their style and rank accordingly. Should see the differences in classes between beginner, intermediate, and advanced students. If there were 20 people in a class, doing basics and forms, but lined up in a random order, you should be able to get an idea of who is higher ranked and who is lower ranked by seeing how they move, and by the attitude they exude.

I think this post just operates on the same flawed logic that Shizentai corrected me on: why not just have 500 ranks? Why not just two? Because length-to-rank-x is the problem, it can't be the solution.

Again, thank you all for your excellent input and discussion.

I don't think having 500 ranks fixes anything. What and how would you evaluate the difference between a 500th kyu and a 499th kyu? Award a rank after learning to bow? That doesn't fix anything in regards to the rank system. Learn a front kick, and earn a new rank? Why?

What makes Martial Arts with rank systems different from those without, in my opinion, is the ability to judge the person achieving their rank in regards to their own past performances, seeing how they have improved within the system, and how they can transmit the system. The rank systems breaks the curriculum down into workable segments, learning blocks, if you will, that each student learns and tests on. Its achieving goals (ranks) through objectives (curriculum). Styles like Wrestling and Boxing don't have rank systems, because they are competition based, and the good ones that succeed in competition go on to do more competition, at higher levels. Other Martial Arts focus more on the development of the person through the system, thus preparing the person to pass on the system. Competition may or may not be a component part of the system, but the important thing is perpetuating the system through those who learn it. Therefore, in my opinion, its important to pay close attention to the ranks the students are learning, and to make sure they are displaying the skills and knowledge appropriate to those ranks, so the system doesn't get filtered into meaninglessness.

[JohnASE]

I always thought that earning a black belt was more like completing high school than a PhD program. For most students, mastering the basics is enough, and they quit. Some go on to higher education and more advanced study while also learning how to teach.

As far as ranking goes, I see nothing wrong with manipulating things if you think it's necessary. I see no advantage to trivializing the black belt or awarding it earlier in a program, but I can see how adding intermediate ranks could help keep some students excited about their training, and breaking up a task into subtasks could make a long-term goal less daunting.

[Lupin1]

I always thought that earning a black belt was more like completing high school than a PhD program. For most students, mastering the basics is enough, and they quit. Some go on to higher education and more advanced study while also learning how to teach.

I was sort of thinking that the other day. Like in the beginning before you get your gi (for us about a month and half) is like kindergarten and then white belt through like 5th kyu is like elementary school-- just working on the basic building blocks. Then 5th and 4th is kinda like middle school-- developing your building blocks further and starting to get a little more complicated stuff. Then 3rd-1st (usually brown belt) is like high school-- tying up the loose ends of the basics, starting to learn to take charge of yourself and organizing your own learning, getting a little bit of that advanced stuff, and getting you what you need to start your college/career training/wherever you plan to go once you graduate. And when you graduate (or get your black belt), it's up to you where you go with it. You stand at that school gate armed with the basic skills needed and now you're ready to really begin. Do you learn a trade? Get an education degree and teach? Go for a PhD? It's up to you.

I like to think in analogies.

[sensei8]

We don't have to like and/or respect the who, what, when, where, why, and how governing bodies dispatch their ranking system; just manage said ranking system to the best of ones abilities. Not to give into whatever another governing body might or might not say because those governing bodies don't possess a position of authority outside of their own charter.

Do what one can do to the best of their abilities first for their student body, and then secondly, for their governing body. If one does their very best, what else can one expect outside the realm of civility? Worrying about what another governing body does and/or doesn't do, imho, is wholeheartedly a waste of time that can be used more constructively for ones student body and the like.

As Kaicho, I've not the time and/or the inclination to worry about what other governing bodies think we should and/or shouldn't do, especially concerning our ranking system and the like. No. Our ranking system is what it is, and in that, it works for us, just as our Soke and Dai-Soke intended it to do right from the start.

If it's not broken, then don't fix it. Our ranking system isn't broken as far as we're concerned.

[pdbnb]

I always thought that earning a black belt was more like completing high school than a PhD program. For most students, mastering the basics is enough, and they quit. Some go on to higher education and more advanced study while also learning how to teach.

I was sort of thinking that the other day. Like in the beginning before you get your gi (for us about a month and half) is like kindergarten and then white belt through like 5th kyu is like elementary school-- just working on the basic building blocks. Then 5th and 4th is kinda like middle school-- developing your building blocks further and starting to get a little more complicated stuff. Then 3rd-1st (usually brown belt) is like high school-- tying up the loose ends of the basics, starting to learn to take charge of yourself and organizing your own learning, getting a little bit of that advanced stuff, and getting you what you need to start your college/career training/wherever you plan to go once you graduate. And when you graduate (or get your black belt), it's up to you where you go with it. You stand at that school gate armed with the basic skills needed and now you're ready to really begin. Do you learn a trade? Get an education degree and teach? Go for a PhD? It's up to you.

I like to think in analogies.

This is a really good analogy, actually. Solid post!