Are there any ranks/training periods you would want to relive?

[Spartacus Maximus]

What helped was that the instructor had trained with and was well acquainted with most of the other Kobayashi Shorin ryu instructors on Okinawa(the island is small), and mainland Japan. Also, the previous instructor and himself were taught by the same teacher(successor of Chibana). 
 

In addition to that, most of the other students had significant experience and background in all kinds of martial arts. He was very well accustomed to teaching these types of people and for some reason, those with no prior knowledge of any martial art were a minority.

[ashworth]

On 11/27/2024 at 5:37 PM, sensei8 said:

I despise rank chasing because rank, imho, is not why anyone should be on the floor. Seeking knowledge and experience through improving one’s MA betterment and integrity is far more noble than chasing rank, and that’s exactly what I did…I chased rank; it consumed me!!

I chased rank like some obsessed fiend.

Yet, right after I earned my Sandan, I completely surrendered my worthless mind set of chasing rank. 

I was only 20 years old when I earned my Sandan. I chased after earning my Sandan because I believed that once I earned my Sandan, I could open my own dojo…which is exactly what I did despite anything else.

 

 

We were very similar in this regard! and it's an aspect of my training journey that I regret. I chased that Sandan hard! I was already teaching at this point and felt like I needed that grade to ratify myself in the instructor world... I achieved my Sandan at the age of 21, faster than I should have done. But like yourself I completely gave up on chasing ranks. and the more time passed the more I realised there was no need to chase. 10 years later was the next time I graded when I got my Yondan. 

To be honest for me, my current training period is the one I want to relive... After covid and becoming a father, I have had to take a step back on the teaching side of things. for the past 18 months I have been training at a friends dojo, it's a different style but they have accepted my grade. I'm just happy being there and training as a visiting black belt, occasionally I help with the teaching, most of the times its a black belt group and the main instructor likes me to teach them something from my style to give them something a bit different to work on. But at the moment it's just nice to be focusing on my training just for the sake of training. One day I'll look into kick starting my club up again, but when the time is right  

[Spartacus Maximus]

A lot of people have a chasing rank phase at one time or another, especially teenagers and younger adults. In that respect my case was an exception. I tested/graded because my instructor insisted and I didn’t/don’t doubt his evaluation. Otherwise I’m perfectly confident and content to keep training rank or no rank

[KarateKen]

Interesting question.  I wouldn't say rank so much but more the time in which I trained. My view of the golden years of my martial arts journey was when I trained in college.  I did TKD, Hapkido, a semester of Tai Chi, and took two semesters of Japanese Jujitsu.  Held different ranks in all of them but what made that so much fun was the students, I became close with several people who were all in my age group and going through the same thing, moving up in the ranks, single, living the college life.  I was trying to consume as much MA knowledge as I could, and I loved the journey during those few years.  As I got older and people graduated, many of them moved away or left the arts because of other responsibilities, and while I enjoyed many of other people I trained with after that, it just was never the same.  We would train together, hang out together, get drunk together, all the things college friends do.  Then something bad happened, we had to grow up! Took a lot of the fun away.  Sometimes I still look back and miss those days.  

[KarateKen]

On 12/9/2024 at 11:19 AM, Spartacus Maximus said:

A lot of people have a chasing rank phase at one time or another, especially teenagers and younger adults. In that respect my case was an exception. I tested/graded because my instructor insisted and I didn’t/don’t doubt his evaluation. Otherwise I’m perfectly confident and content to keep training rank or no rank

I understand this and that has been mostly my approach, not to chase rank just test when I am told I am ready.  I got to red stripe in TKD, about a year away from testing for black belt, and then left.  At the time I was moving more toward an interest in self-defense martial arts and not tournament training for points, so I went and took up Hapkido full time.  Looking back I somewhat regret not doing one more year and getting my black belt, assuming things would have worked out as planned. it would have been a great achievement, but at the time I decided it was more important to me to focus on a self-defense art exclusively.  You make decisions in life and ya live with them! 

[Spartacus Maximus]

If one really wants to do so, there isn’t much stopping a martial artist to re-do or re-train any part of what was done before. It’s a great way to go back and perhaps take a new look from a different perspective 

[KorroddyDude]

12 minutes ago, Spartacus Maximus said:

If one really wants to do so, there isn’t much stopping a martial artist to re-do or re-train any part of what was done before. It’s a great way to go back and perhaps take a new look from a different perspective 

Correct.  As with anything, there are always high and low moments.  But I don't think that there's a moment that I ever want to relieve.  There is nothing that we've done at a lower belt rank that we can't do now.  I do Heian Shodan every single day, just like I did when I was a white belt.  That's why I found this to be a difficult question to answer.

Edited December 11 by KorroddyDude

[bushido_man96]

On 12/11/2024 at 12:08 AM, KarateKen said:

Interesting question.  I wouldn't say rank so much but more the time in which I trained. My view of the golden years of my martial arts journey was when I trained in college.  I did TKD, Hapkido, a semester of Tai Chi, and took two semesters of Japanese Jujitsu.  Held different ranks in all of them but what made that so much fun was the students, I became close with several people who were all in my age group and going through the same thing, moving up in the ranks, single, living the college life.  I was trying to consume as much MA knowledge as I could, and I loved the journey during those few years.  As I got older and people graduated, many of them moved away or left the arts because of other responsibilities, and while I enjoyed many of other people I trained with after that, it just was never the same.  We would train together, hang out together, get drunk together, all the things college friends do.  Then something bad happened, we had to grow up! Took a lot of the fun away.  Sometimes I still look back and miss those days.  

To echo this somewhat, I remember when I first started TKD and was testing, there was a pretty good group of us that were training and testing together.  I remember the kid that convinced me to start coming to class with him; he eventually fell away from it and I stayed.  I remember when I finally tested for my 1st degree, there were two other guys that tested with me; three of us from the large group that was going through the ranks together made it to the black belt testing.  Now, as far as I know, I'm the only one of us that is still active in the martial arts.  I've heard it said that of the people who start the martial arts journey, 10% maybe make it to black belt.  Then, it's another 10% die-off that make it to 2nd dan, and so on.  I don't know if the 10% number is accurate, but the fact that the ratio keeps decreasing is true; I've seen it, as I'm sure everyone else here has.  It's kind of saddening, to know those colleagues I had fell away, and they were way more talented than I ever was.  But on the flip side, I'm proud to have persevered.

[Patrick]

I've really enjoyed reading the replies on this thread. Thanks for starting it, @ryanryu.

[KarateKen]

On 11/27/2024 at 9:37 AM, sensei8 said:

 

I despise rank chasing because rank, imho, is not why anyone should be on the floor. Seeking knowledge and experience through improving one’s MA betterment and integrity is far more noble than chasing rank, and that’s exactly what I did…I chased rank; it consumed me!!

I chased rank like some obsessed fiend.

Yet, right after I earned my Sandan, I completely surrendered my worthless mind set of chasing rank. 

 

 

"Karate here, karate here, karate never here." - Mr. Miyagi