Black Belt

[bushido_man96]

To me, its representative of roughly 25 years of practice, work, learning, teaching, experiencing, and continuing of my time in Martial Arts.

Right now, as a 4th dan, it represents not just my time in the art, but also the time I give to other students, in teaching, training, and just sharing the experiences that I've had, in the hopes that they can have even better experiences than mine.

As a requirement to test for my 4th Dan, I had to right a brief essay, and read aloud at the HQ school in front of all the testers and the audience. I've shared it here:

4th Dan Testing Essay

[MatsuShinshii]

To all that replied I appreciate your thoughts.

To me the grade should represent more than the wearing of a belt. To me the belt means nothing by itself. It has no special powers nor does it possess great wisdom or knowledge.

This means it passes nothing on to the wearer. Unfortunately times have changed. When I started these grades meant so much more than just having a belt. Today I see the You-tube masters with skills and knowledge (or the lack there of) that do not represent the grade they wear. I have seen Dojo's open with those claiming this grade or that but would run at the slightest provocation because the person wearing the belt has no real skills or knowledge.

This is my 2 cents on this subject; I believe that the person is the grade and not the other way around. However when the grades of Yudansha and Kodansha are degraded to "just another belt" what does that person now represent.

We as instructors can degrade the art or elevate it. We can be proud of what we inherited and teach or we can sell it down the river as a commodity.

If the grades (Shodan thru Judan) are held at the same standards as the Mudansha grades then the students will continue this when they start teaching and e-rode the standards further until it's a little less than another place to get your fitness on.

The belt by itself means nothing. Take mine away and I'm still the same grade and still have the same ability and knowledge.

It does however symbolize the student. It's what it symbolizes that's important. As instructors it's up to us to decide what we want it to symbolize.

To me it means much more than just the color of a belt.

To me it is the high standards that I had to meet to be given the right to wear a specific grade. It is the carrying of the torch and my turn to maintain the same standards that my Shinshii and his and his and his had in maintaining the standards of the founder. It is the pride that I can say that anyone that obtains any of the Yudansha grades can handle themselves and not just check off a required curriculum of techniques. It is the pride I feel when I carry on the lineage and traditions that I was lucky enough to be taught. It's not a belt but a legacy. It's not a belt but a responsibility. Its not a belt but an honor and a duty to maintain high standards and maintain an art that I can be proud of.

Change the color to whatever you wish, remove the belt all together and have no belts. What then? How would we ever know when we have obtained enough knowledge to be considered advanced? Easy, like Sensei8 always says the proof is on the floor.

How many of these so called BB's that say it's just another belt would hold up as an advanced grade if there wasn't a belt to symbolize it? I'd say not as many as you'd think. Why then would you give a belt to a student that without it others would think was a lesser grade? Make any sense? At all? What then does the students of lesser grades then think about the grade? I bet their standards for themselves are lessened when they see subpar students wearing what they are attempting to earn. It's an endless spiral.

I fail to see why it's a bad thing to demand higher standards to obtain higher grades. So many get angry at the mere suggestion that the Yudansha and Kodansha grades hold a higher place or should be harder to obtain than the Mudansha grades. .

The belt does not hold value without the one that wears it. However if the one that wears it has no substance what then does the belt symbolize?

I get the concept that it's a belt. However it's what it represents rather than it's color that means something.

How many of you in their 50's and older were given anything? How many of your teachers reduced requirements so you could get to wear a black piece of material? How many of your teachers ignored the fact that you couldn't fight and still tested you to Yudansha? Why then would our standards change?

If the standard is no longer proving that you are more than just a wet noodle that learned all of the required curriculum and can regurgitate it on command then at what grade do you prove that you can hold your own? At what grade are you capable? At what grade are you more than just a curriculum. If all there is is a curriculum, where is the depth? What type of future teachers are produced? At what point do you become a black belt? If there are lowered standards I guess anyone can teach as well? What does that mean for the art in the future? Not pretty IMHO.

Oh and I also believe that the student represents the teacher and the art. This is, at least to me, a very good reason to maintain higher standards. If the student is mediocre then what do you thing others (potential students) think about you and the art? Well other than those that want a free pass.

There's my 2 cents.

[sensei8]

To all that replied I appreciate your thoughts.

To me the grade should represent more than the wearing of a belt. To me the belt means nothing by itself. It has no special powers nor does it possess great wisdom or knowledge.

This means it passes nothing on to the wearer. Unfortunately times have changed. When I started these grades meant so much more than just having a belt. Today I see the You-tube masters with skills and knowledge (or the lack there of) that do not represent the grade they wear. I have seen Dojo's open with those claiming this grade or that but would run at the slightest provocation because the person wearing the belt has no real skills or knowledge.

This is my 2 cents on this subject; I believe that the person is the grade and not the other way around. However when the grades of Yudansha and Kodansha are degraded to "just another belt" what does that person now represent.

We as instructors can degrade the art or elevate it. We can be proud of what we inherited and teach or we can sell it down the river as a commodity.

If the grades (Shodan thru Judan) are held at the same standards as the Mudansha grades then the students will continue this when they start teaching and e-rode the standards further until it's a little less than another place to get your fitness on.

The belt by itself means nothing. Take mine away and I'm still the same grade and still have the same ability and knowledge.

It does however symbolize the student. It's what it symbolizes that's important. As instructors it's up to us to decide what we want it to symbolize.

To me it means much more than just the color of a belt.

To me it is the high standards that I had to meet to be given the right to wear a specific grade. It is the carrying of the torch and my turn to maintain the same standards that my Shinshii and his and his and his had in maintaining the standards of the founder. It is the pride that I can say that anyone that obtains any of the Yudansha grades can handle themselves and not just check off a required curriculum of techniques. It is the pride I feel when I carry on the lineage and traditions that I was lucky enough to be taught. It's not a belt but a legacy. It's not a belt but a responsibility. Its not a belt but an honor and a duty to maintain high standards and maintain an art that I can be proud of.

Change the color to whatever you wish, remove the belt all together and have no belts. What then? How would we ever know when we have obtained enough knowledge to be considered advanced? Easy, like Sensei8 always says the proof is on the floor.

How many of these so called BB's that say it's just another belt would hold up as an advanced grade if there wasn't a belt to symbolize it? I'd say not as many as you'd think. Why then would you give a belt to a student that without it others would think was a lesser grade? Make any sense? At all? What then does the students of lesser grades then think about the grade? I bet their standards for themselves are lessened when they see subpar students wearing what they are attempting to earn. It's an endless spiral.

I fail to see why it's a bad thing to demand higher standards to obtain higher grades. So many get angry at the mere suggestion that the Yudansha and Kodansha grades hold a higher place or should be harder to obtain than the Mudansha grades. .

The belt does not hold value without the one that wears it. However if the one that wears it has no substance what then does the belt symbolize?

I get the concept that it's a belt. However it's what it represents rather than it's color that means something.

How many of you in their 50's and older were given anything? How many of your teachers reduced requirements so you could get to wear a black piece of material? How many of your teachers ignored the fact that you couldn't fight and still tested you to Yudansha? Why then would our standards change?

If the standard is no longer proving that you are more than just a wet noodle that learned all of the required curriculum and can regurgitate it on command then at what grade do you prove that you can hold your own? At what grade are you capable? At what grade are you more than just a curriculum. If all there is is a curriculum, where is the depth? What type of future teachers are produced? At what point do you become a black belt? If there are lowered standards I guess anyone can teach as well? What does that mean for the art in the future? Not pretty IMHO.

Oh and I also believe that the student represents the teacher and the art. This is, at least to me, a very good reason to maintain higher standards. If the student is mediocre then what do you thing others (potential students) think about you and the art? Well other than those that want a free pass.

There's my 2 cents.

Solid post!!!!!!

Black belt should be darn near impossible to earn; the rarest of rare.

[singularity6]

With my current brain damage, minimal but there, and the potential for more, I have a different perspective.

Earning one sometime in the future would mean that I am in better physical shape and note just cardio or muscular, but in movement as well. The three plane movement helps my balance. The impact of future brain damage and recovery may be minimized.

I enjoy the socialization. I don't socialize much.

I get to learn new things. I find that with my Accounting and Finance education, I need something more philosophical in my life.

I like that my daughter and I will have something to share. We have something that we can potentially have a lifetime to bond over.

A side benefit of MS is that my brain may be so damaged that the zombies won't want it.

I also find that the goals of having upcoming tournaments and gradings helps keep me motivated to eat healthier and exercise more. I have a hard time running if my goal is just to run.

[username19853]

I’m proud to have earned my blackbelt because it took my 7 years! I walked into my first class in 2011.

I moved away before I could get my green belt but kept in touch with my Sensei. I came to visit about a year later and since I kept training on my own, I tested and passed before going back to my new home.

I joined the military, kept training on my own and linked up with a branch of our organization once I got out. Didn’t test there but kept training which was all I cared about. Eventually I moved back to my original dojo and after some more time, finally earned my blackbelt in January of 2018!

I’m now happily continuing on my martial arts journey at my home dojo, exactly where I want to be.

[Shizentai]

What does it mean to you?

It's a fair question. I think to each their own on this, but I got my black belt my first year of college, so in many ways it marks the separation between childhood and adulthood for me. It also was kind of like a passport for me. The meaning of colored belts vary a lot across schools, but once I got good enough to make shodan, I was handed a piece of fabric akin to a "high school diploma" in that it is fairly universally accepted. As around age 19 I started moving a lot (long story), my black belt along with a smile and a good bow gained me entry to advanced classes in a variety of dojos and organizations here in the US and abroad.

[JR 137]

The belt doesn’t make the person, the person makes the belt.

I earned shodan in early 1999. It was a lot of things to me. Most importantly, it was an outward sign of all the work I put into my training. The days of having no clue how I’d ever be able to do the things my seniors were doing. The days when I looked at lower ranks struggling and forgot how hard what they were doing was when I first learned it, then getting reminded when I learned something new. The days when I thought I was really good, only to line up across from a senior a few minutes later who’d soundly remind me I wasn’t as good as I thought I was. The days when I thought I was absolutely horrible and I’d never get better, then remember where I started and how far I’ve come along.

The most important thing I felt was that I was now taken seriously as s student by my sensei. Don’t get me wrong, he took every student seriously, regardless of rank; but being a black belt was I guess proof that I was a serious student and not someone who was there just to pass time. Being a black also meant that I was officially a person who the lower ranks were supposed to look at and copy when they forgot or didn’t quite know what they were supposed to do, technique-wise and etiquette-wise.

I’m fortunate enough where I’ve started over again. During my first time around I saw black belts and put them on a pedestal of sorts. I thought they were super-human in a way. Earning my black belt, I realized how human and flawed their technique was. How in this sense they were still just like kyu ranks - struggling to learn the new material, and trying their best to perfect and maintain their previous stuff. Earning shodan was like being a white belt all over again - there was this whole new way of looking at things and doing things. I wasn’t expected to be a robot who was supposed to do everything I was taught to do the exact way I was taught; rather, I was expected to take the material, learn it, and make it my own rather than a be carbon copy of my teacher.

Now that I’m a kyu rank again, I have the luxury of seeing those things that I didn’t see as a kyu rank before. I also have a deeper respect for the senior ranks who are getting older and their bodies aren’t doing what their brain is telling it to do. Some people from the outside or even the inside might look at them and ask themselves why would someone give them a black belt. They might walk around thinking they’re better than them, they’re more skilled, etc. They have no idea how hard it is to advance through the ranks because they haven’t yet. They’ve got no idea how grueling the test itself is because they haven’t gone through it yet. They think they know, yet they truly don’t have a clue. It’s kind of like people who don’t have kids thinking how hard it’ll be, how happy they’ll be when it happens, etc. They’ve truly got no clue until they go through it.

If all goes well, I’ll test for shodan again in a year and a half to two years. I’m pretty sure I have a good idea what the test will be like. But I’m also sure I’ll be surprised by how far I was off in my thinking.

[bushido_man96]

Great post, JR.

[mazzybear]

My black belt means everything to me right now. It's a symbol of 5 years of hard work, of grit and determination and of blood sweat and tears that went into achieving it. I had to make sacrifices to earn it (like all of you would have done too) it's time away from my family, it's travel time to other clubs in other areas from mine, it's time spent in the house or gym practicing and practicing and then a little more practicing. It's only just realising that others in the club now look up to me and ask for help and direction. It's about knowing that there's more to being a black belt than just simply wearing it round your waist.

So yeah, I right now I love being a black belt!

Mo.

[MatsuShinshii]

My black belt means everything to me right now. It's a symbol of 5 years of hard work, of grit and determination and of blood sweat and tears that went into achieving it. I had to make sacrifices to earn it (like all of you would have done too) it's time away from my family, it's travel time to other clubs in other areas from mine, it's time spent in the house or gym practicing and practicing and then a little more practicing. It's only just realising that others in the club now look up to me and ask for help and direction. It's about knowing that there's more to being a black belt than just simply wearing it round your waist.

So yeah, I right now I love being a black belt!

Mo.

Could not have said it better. You capture some of what goes into earning the belt outside of the dojo and of the hardships endured to achieve the goal. Excellent description.