What will my rank be if I join with prior experience?

[sensei8]

Of all of the belts found in any MA, the White Belt is far above the most valued and important belt of them all. Why? Without first being a White Belt, one can't earn any other rank.

Imho!!

Permission to use this quote, Sensei8? I love this quote as it hits right to the point. We all started as beginners.

Today's fast food mentality is so eager to get the next grade that they sometimes fail to appreciate what was taught in the grade they are in.

I have a friend that is almost 20 years younger than me that will be testing for his Rokudan. He is in a different art but was a former student of mine and still trains with me on occasion. He asked me if this makes me uncomfortable that we will be the same grade and wonders why it doesn't bother me that I am not farther up the belt food chain so to speak.

Maybe it's the way I think but I feel I am exactly where I am supposed to be in my life and in my grade. I have been offered Nanadan three times in the last 7 years and can't imagine why I would accept it as I am not in my own mind ready for it. Personally I can die a Rokudan and be happy as a clown with what I have accomplished. For that matter they could bust me down to Hachikyu and it wouldn't make me loose an ounce of sleep.

The belt does not define us. This is what I think students miss today. I would rather move to Shechikyu as the best Hachikyu with nothing left to learn and nothing left to perfect than to be given the rank before I am truly ready. If the foundation is strong the Shodan will be strong. If it is weak the Shodan means little as it is weak as well.

The better the white belt is the better the black belt will be.

Permission granted, MatsuShinshii!!

While rank has its purposes for one reason or another, it still baffles me to this day that many still feel embarrassed to don a White Belt after having earned any other belt, especially if the other earned belt is a Black Belt. That, to me, is ego, and imho, ego doesn't belong in any MA, let alone in any MAist!!

Wear the White Belt proudly, and consider yourself fortunate enough to having been accepted in a new style of the MA because that which is new, is designed to increase your MA betterment.

[strangepair03]

Of all of the belts found in any MA, the White Belt is far above the most valued and important belt of them all. Why? Without first being a White Belt, one can't earn any other rank.

Imho!!

This is an outstanding quote. The proof is on the floor, not around the waist.

Nicely done Sensei8

[sensei8]

Of all of the belts found in any MA, the White Belt is far above the most valued and important belt of them all. Why? Without first being a White Belt, one can't earn any other rank.

Imho!!

This is an outstanding quote. The proof is on the floor, not around the waist.

Nicely done Sensei8

Thanks, strangepair03, thank you very much!!

[C_Maududo]

I was a black belt and took time off because of college, life, etc. Now, about 16 years later, I have started over. Although I had to start as a white belt again (which I completely understand), I can say this...it's GREAT to be back!!!

[Bulltahr]

I watched a general grading last weekend, one of the students participating in the grading was a shodan in another (Very closely related) style. He wore a white obi and graded up one kyu to 9th.

[LLLEARNER]

I would have no problem when transitioning to a new style of wearing whatever belt my Sensei deemed appropriate. It just keeps you gi from flopping around. My only thought would be, do I reuse my old belts or start a new stack.

[JR 137]

My only thought would be, do I reuse my old belts or start a new stack.

I asked myself the same thing. I went with the new ones. Why? First and foremost I wore the belts my sensei gave me. Second, new start, new belts. Leave the past in the past.

[Spartacus Maximus]

Best advice I ever got and that I can share is to just forget past experiences. It doesn't matter what belt or grade one had before starting over. Even if one is starting over in the same system/style. Especially if one is starting over the same or a similar system/style with a different instructor.

Start with a fresh and open-minded perspective. This will make it possible to see certain details and get a deeper understanding of things that might have been overlooked.

As for the belts, belts are of little importance. With or without them the skills are there or are not. Old belts are for past evaluations, put the past aside and focus on the now. If belts/grades are to be used, take the ones that represent the evaluation of whomever is teaching you now.

[The Pred]

Agreed ^ new school, new start. It will be up to the CI to determine what rank you deserve.

[aurik]

This is the type of discussion that I have pretty regularly with my 6 year old son. He has been a white belt 3 times now. His first time was with a guy who came to his day care once a week, and he eventually got promoted to yellow belt there. His second time was with ATA, and he left that school when we moved to Denver.

Now he is in a Uechi-Ryu school with an instructor I have high regard for. However, he was very upset when he found out he would have to start out as a white belt again. He did earn his yellow belt (9th kyu) very quickly, but at that point he was put into the regular testing/promotion schedule (2-3 months between stripes/grades). This frustrates him to no end, because he is always wanting to earn his next belt/stripe. What I haven't yet told him is that even if he earns his junior brown belt next May, he won't be able to test for his junior black belt until he turns 11 or 12, and his senior black belt at least 3 years past that.

So, I'm trying to teach him the value of patience, the value of doing his very best each class, and trying to learn everything he can, because I don't want him getting even more frustrated when the time in rank requirements get even higher.