# Blue Belt Blues..



## ldgman1970 (Sep 3, 2006)

Hi all,

After almost two years I finally got my blue belt and I have to say I came close to just giving up. When I first started Kenpo I was pretty gung ho and everything seemed to come easy but after I got to purple I kind of lost my momentum due to a combination of injuries and work stuff which kept me away from my studio for big chunks of time and the fact that all of the techniques seemed to be a lot more technical. Anyway my private instructor who was leaving the studio after two years suggested I test for blue because he felt I was ready. So I tested and I have to say it was my worse test. 

I am happy I am now a blue belt but I feel like I have forgot a ton of stuff and that I need to spend some serious time reviewing everything I have learned up until now. I now am pretty darn confident I will work hard and continue on to black but I now know what everybody means when they talk about the blue belt blues.


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## Danjo (Sep 3, 2006)

ldgman1970 said:


> my private instructor who was leaving the studio after two years suggested I test for blue because he felt I was ready. So I tested and I have to say it was my worse test.
> 
> I am happy I am now a blue belt but I feel like I have forgot a ton of stuff and that I need to spend some serious time reviewing everything I have learned up until now. I now am pretty darn confident I will work hard and continue on to black but I now know what everybody means when they talk about the blue belt blues.


 
Keep going man. If your instructor felt you were ready, then I'm sure that you were.


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## ldgman1970 (Sep 3, 2006)

I am definitely going to keep going. If anything I think the test has inspired me to kick my training up a notch. I think I was just a little frustrated because I don't feel I had the same command over the blue belt material that I did over the previous belts. Thanks for the reply!


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## Danjo (Sep 3, 2006)

I'm sure that your current instructor will tell you when you have gained that level. If it wasn't a struggle, it wouldn't be worth much and anyone could do it. We value that which is hard earned. At least it sounds like you're in a good place. I've talked to people that got black belts when they were children before and they are basically not interested in the martial arts anymore. They feel it was just something they did when they were kids, like little league etc. They got the rank easily and they thus failed to value it later on. Imagine how you'll feel whenyou DO get this material down and go on to the next rank. I'll tell you exactly how you'll feel: "Man, this green belt material is much tougher than the blue belt was! I feel washed up!"


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## Tames D (Sep 4, 2006)

ldgman1970 said:


> Hi all,
> 
> After almost two years I finally got my blue belt and I have to say I came close to just giving up. When I first started Kenpo I was pretty gung ho and everything seemed to come easy but after I got to purple I kind of lost my momentum due to a combination of injuries and work stuff which kept me away from my studio for big chunks of time and the fact that all of the techniques seemed to be a lot more technical. Anyway my private instructor who was leaving the studio after two years suggested I test for blue because he felt I was ready. So I tested and I have to say it was my worse test.
> 
> I am happy I am now a blue belt but I feel like I have forgot a ton of stuff and that I need to spend some serious time reviewing everything I have learned up until now. I now am pretty darn confident I will work hard and continue on to black but I now know what everybody means when they talk about the blue belt blues.


 
Just keep showing up to class. Everything will fall into place. I've been 'showing up' for 32 years now. And trust me, everything will fall into place and it will get better If you stay with it.


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## zDom (Sep 4, 2006)

QUI-GON said:


> Just keep showing up to class. Everything will fall into place. I've been 'showing up' for 32 years now. And trust me, everything will fall into place and it will get better If you stay with it.



That is so true.


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## MattJ (Sep 5, 2006)

ldgman1970 said:


> I am happy I am now a blue belt but I feel like I have forgot a ton of stuff and that I need to spend some serious time reviewing everything I have learned up until now. I now am pretty darn confident I will work hard and continue on to black but I now know what everybody means when they talk about the blue belt blues.


 
Dude, blue belt was my favorite rank. Getting into more of the circular, off-line stuff. Plus, as a blue belt, you have the best of all worlds. Increasing skill, but not the crushing responsibility of being the ALL KNOWING BLACK BELT.

Relax and enjoy.


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## John Brewer (Sep 5, 2006)

MattJ said:


> Dude, blue belt was my favorite rank. Getting into more of the circular, off-line stuff. Plus, as a blue belt, you have the best of all worlds. Increasing skill, but not the crushing responsibility of being the ALL KNOWING BLACK BELT.
> 
> Relax and enjoy.


As a Blue belt I totally agree.


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## Shotochem (Sep 5, 2006)

You may find that the longer you train the more critical you become of your own abilities.  You tend to raise your own standards.

  You have gotten better.  You just don't notice it yet. 

It's still new and exciting for me in Kempo world but after the first 4 or 5 yrs in Shotokan I was feeling the same as you do now.  

Don't worry about it.  It will just click.


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## bill007 (Sep 5, 2006)

ldgman1970 said:


> Hi all,
> 
> After almost two years I finally got my blue belt and I have to say I came close to just giving up. When I first started Kenpo I was pretty gung ho and everything seemed to come easy but after I got to purple I kind of lost my momentum due to a combination of injuries and work stuff which kept me away from my studio for big chunks of time and the fact that all of the techniques seemed to be a lot more technical. Anyway my private instructor who was leaving the studio after two years suggested I test for blue because he felt I was ready. So I tested and I have to say it was my worse test.
> 
> I am happy I am now a blue belt but I feel like I have forgot a ton of stuff and that I need to spend some serious time reviewing everything I have learned up until now. I now am pretty darn confident I will work hard and continue on to black but I now know what everybody means when they talk about the blue belt blues.


 
Minutes before my Blue belt test my first instructor said, it's today we gonna know if you stay with us or not... and believe me it was a 3 1/2 hours of INFERNO, it took me a week to fully recovered, I will never forget this day.

Congratulation


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## ldgman1970 (Sep 5, 2006)

Thanks for all the great replies. I actually had my first lesson learning Green Belt techniques and I am excited. I met with my new private instructor today and he seems to be exactly what I need at this rank. He is a heck of a lot more specific when it comes to technique and I can tell he wont let me get away with not giving it my all.

I think a lot of my trepidation in testing came from the fact that through purple belt everything seemed pretty straight forward and as long as I was getting the big picture of how to do things that seemed to be enough. But after purple the techniques seemed to get more complicated and my instructor started looking more and more at my specific movements and I realized that I had a lot to learn which probably made me think I wasn't ready even though I was.  Regardless, I really want to take my time at this level and go back and revisit everything I have learned. I  think now is the time for me to get good habits and get rid of all the bad ones.


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## seca2man (Sep 6, 2006)

Hello:  First of all I congratulate you on your blue belt promotion.  I'm re-entering the art after a 10 plus year absence and I'm dismayed at how much I have forgotten.  When I left the EPAK system, I was a brown belt, knowing all the forms and techniques of the Form 1s, 2s, 3s, and Form 6.  Now I can only muster up the movements of Forms 1 and 2 and part of 3.  It's going to be a long road for me, but each class that I attend, I can feel the old muscle memory reveal itself from years of neglect.  I'm not really interested in rank all that much, just trying to recapture the movement, the SNAP and thunder that I had at one time.  The most important thing is that you keep at it.  As my old instructor once said"..the best way to get good at this stuff?...You can practice, practice some more, oh and you can practice when you're done practicing!"

Full salute brother!


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## IWishToLearn (Sep 7, 2006)

Congrats on your Blue! Blue has always been my most aesthetically favorite level .


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## Sigung86 (Sep 7, 2006)

Many congratulations on your Blue Belt.  It is an amazing place to be ... Green is the entry way for people who are going for the Black.  

Good luck on your continuing journey.

Dan


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## IWishToLearn (Sep 7, 2006)

Dan did you forget Brown is before Black? Is that one of your and Doc's "Senior" moments? 


*Runs away laughing*


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## MJS (Sep 8, 2006)

ldgman1970 said:


> Hi all,
> 
> After almost two years I finally got my blue belt and I have to say I came close to just giving up. When I first started Kenpo I was pretty gung ho and everything seemed to come easy but after I got to purple I kind of lost my momentum due to a combination of injuries and work stuff which kept me away from my studio for big chunks of time and the fact that all of the techniques seemed to be a lot more technical. Anyway my private instructor who was leaving the studio after two years suggested I test for blue because he felt I was ready. So I tested and I have to say it was my worse test.
> 
> I am happy I am now a blue belt but I feel like I have forgot a ton of stuff and that I need to spend some serious time reviewing everything I have learned up until now. I now am pretty darn confident I will work hard and continue on to black but I now know what everybody means when they talk about the blue belt blues.


 
First off, congratulations on your new rank!:ultracool 

As for the blues...I think that everyone, at one point or another during our training, we have those 'blues' moments.  Work and other RL issues certainly can take a toll on us, mentally and physically.  It does sound like you have lots of motivation to continue training, so I'm sure things will go well for you.  One thing to keep in mind as far as testing goes, is to make sure that *you* really feel ready.  While our instructors can look at our material and give feedback, if we don't feel ready, we could be faced with the situation you were.  

Perhaps taking some time, talking to your instructor about any concerns you may have, would be a help.  

Good luck and keep up the hard work! 

Mike


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