# Gradings



## Master of Blades (Oct 13, 2002)

I know technically that there are no gradings for Kali, buit I was wondering if any of you guys graded your studants and how you do it? I am only asking because my teacher was unsure about it and wasnt actually graded by his teacher. So does anyone have a syllabus for Kali?


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## K Williams (Oct 13, 2002)

Modern Arnis and Doce Pares have belt ranking.


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## Rich Parsons (Oct 13, 2002)

> _Originally posted by K Williams _
> 
> *Modern Arnis and Doce Pares have belt ranking. *



Yes, both of these arts have grading and they are from the Phillipines.

Yet Modern Arnis is 'Arnis' and Doces Pares is 'Escrima/Eskrima', not Kali. I am not sure if the original question was meant for all FMA's or just for those with the name of Kali in their name or heritage?

Just FYI

Rich


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## Master of Blades (Oct 14, 2002)

Only Kali, mainly because even tho I know that Escrima and Arnis are similar Im not sure HOW similar!


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## arnisador (Oct 14, 2002)

Sayoc Kali has grades--I'm not sure that they're belts per se.


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## Master of Blades (Oct 15, 2002)

Thankyou very much.......Ill ask around elsewhere and see what I can find. :asian:


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## lhommedieu (Oct 15, 2002)

San Miguel Eskrima has a three-level curriculum and while students do not wear belts while training in their own school, they are encouraged to wear a belt (white, green, or brown) when visiting another teacher's school, in order to designate the parts of the curriculum to which they have been exposed.  This helps the instructor at the visited school to expose the visiting student to new material.

In addition, a 'black belt" in our association is someone who has learned the basic material to a certain level of proficiency but has not yet started to teach a class.  An "instructor" is a black belt who teaches the art on a consistant basis.

Given the lack of formality in the Filipino martial arts it is no surprise that the "belt issue" is treated with a tongue-in-cheek attitude:  when instructors in our association debated the issue of whether or not to issue belts, they decided that if the belt system were to be adopted, you can stop wearing a belt upon promotion to black belt.  To date, no instructor in our system has ever worn a belt.

As for tests, my opinion has always been that if you are ready to test for promotion, you should have already been performing at or above the level to which you are testing for some time.  For example, when I was promoted to brown belt in another martial arts system and was preparing for my next promotion to black belt, I was told by the instructor "to act at all times as if I already was a black belt."  In other words, it was not a question of learning new material, but doing what I already knew how to do with a different quality of movement and a heightened attitude.  When I passed the black belt test, I understood that the difference between that level and the next black belt level was, again, a question of quality, not quantity.  Again - there was no new material, you just had to do keep doing it better and better. 

It's a sobering thought that the "teaching rank" in this system is three ranks above the initial black belt rank. 

Best,

Steve Lamade
San Miguel Eskrima


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