Black Belts Like Candy?

[KC1996]

Is it me, or does it seem more and more like black belts and higher ranks are being given out like candy?

It used to be that getting a black belt and achieving an advanced rank was something you had to work for and you actually had to have some level of physical ability to achieve....now it seems like any anyone and everyone can get a 4th, 5th and 6th dan.

Have standards gone completely out the window?

[sensei8]

Yes, the standards have, as you've said, gone out the window!!

The fortunate thing about that is that NOT all schools of the MA give out rank like candy. There are certain factions that do, i.e., McDojo's and the like, for example, and these school types seem to be a dime-A-Dozen.

That's why I can breath a deep sigh of gratitude that Shindokan ranks aren't handed out like candy. We fail more students, of differing ranks, than we pass!! On an average, for example, Shodan, in Shindokan takes at least 6 years to earn. Whereas, the higher the rank, the longer it takes one to earn, as it should be.

[Spartacus Maximus]

Find an instructor who values effort and personal skill development over and above anything else. If that instructor's opinion can be trusted, follow what is taught and forget about rank or other superficial rewards.

Knowledge and skills are in one's head, not around the hips or in a coloured strip of cloth. Shodan, godan or no dan everything falls into three categories: what one doesn't know, what is learning and what needs to improve.

[KC1996]

Thanks Spartacus Maximus, but I'm not looking for an instructor as I am an instructor.

I've just been reflecting on my advancement through the ranks and how things seem to have changed a lot since I started karate a couple of decades ago. It's disappointing to see the ranks that you busted your butt to achieve being given away like candy. When I tested for my Godan there were over a dozen other people testing for that rank....only four of us passed. Now it seems like no one is allowed to fail. My own past instructor (who can now give examinations) to my knowledge has never failed anyone who has tested for any black belt rank. I watched someone stumble and fumble through their Nidan test and still passed. Why would an instructor never fail someone? Are they afraid of hurting peoples feelings, having people drop out and potentially lose a revenue stream?

I'm not suggesting that achieving a rank should be impossible, but where have the standards gone?

[LLLEARNER]

I used to be a SCUBA instructor. We saw the same thing. In the 1970's, earning your certification took effort and strong swimming ability. Now it can be done in a weekend. When I first got certified I had to go to a classroom and then confined and open water work. Now the classroom portion can be done online, but you still have to show up for confined and open water. Oh, and not so strong swimming ability.

The watering down of curriculum is through all society now, especially recreational activities. I bet in the 1970s there were a segment of people who trained in the 1930s and 1940s lamenting the watering down of curriculum even then. "You have it easy. My Sensei made us ..."

[JR 137]

When I was a black belt, I liked candy. I'm not a black belt anymore, but I still like candy.

Wait? Never mind.

[Spartacus Maximus]

To give a very simplistic answer, one could say that "standards" do not get along with "mass teaching and profiting". Standards will inevitably be brought down when something which is meant to be hard is re-structured to be made accessible and palatable to the average person who cannot invest into more than causal commitment.

To limit examples to karate alone, if it were taught the same way it was just 50 years ago with the same standards, one can be certain that the number of people involved would not be nearly as high as it is now.

[MatsuShinshii]

Don't get me started.

I have been preaching this for a long time that it was not an easy task to attain your Shodan. It took many more years than it takes today in most schools and once you achieved that grade everyone knew you earned it.

Today we have one or two year black belts. Kids with higher rank than most adults with three times the years into the art.

It boils down to the all mighty dollar. If you pay enough you get your grade. If you pay more for seminars, buy videos and books from the school then you get your grading faster. But as so many here have stated every instructor has the right to do as they please if they own their school.

Belts for bucks, McDojo's and the like. For me they are a joke.

[Alan Armstrong]

Standards should be higher now than in the past, as most academic subjects have advanced.

Martial arts is only devaluating itself, if giving out black belts like candy.

Eventually the black system will fade itself out, might take a hundred years more or less to happen; I know this due to being a time traveler.

[sensei8]

Standards, and the lowering of it, imho, are the sweet candy!!

Knowing that the standards aren't as strict as they use to be, and this is motivated by the greed of money. There was a time when, no matter where you were learning the MA, the standards across the board were very strict, and no apologies were given for those very extreme standards.

You want it...EARN IT!! If you don't want to earn it under MY expectations, then I insist that you just get off my floor immediately.

The greed of money has lowered standards to an all low around the world. I don't think that this problem is found in Japan and Okinawa...but I could be wrong. After all, for every time that I've traveled to either location in the past, and I've been fortunate enough to have visited and trained in either, I never saw any evidence of it.

Please let that be the one place where that's the furthest thing from realty!!