# Self Defense ranking: belts or ?



## TheArtofDave (Jun 12, 2013)

Okay ye who be wise. When teaching self defense how do you track progress? Do you use rank belts or some other form of progress tracking like a patch or something?


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## Blindside (Jun 12, 2013)

Reminds of Boy Scouts, for your beginning rank you need your merit badges for situational awareness, verbal judo, and "don't be an *******" for your tenderfoot.  
Seriously, I don't get the purpose of a rank structure for self-defense training.


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## pgsmith (Jun 13, 2013)

I agree with Blindside. Ranking is good for leveling competetive events. It seems totally irrelevant for self-defense training.


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## Dirty Dog (Jun 13, 2013)

Our SD is integral to our art, so rank is rank.


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## K-man (Jun 13, 2013)

Dirty Dog said:


> Our SD is integral to our art, so rank is rank.


Ditto, ditto, ditto!  I even include more and more self defence elements in the gradings as people progress.  :asian:


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## Janina (Jun 13, 2013)

In our art the Self Defence is integral part so in every ranking level you practice certain amount of SD techniques. At the same time we also practice SD techniques without ranking, cause all the practice is not just for getting the next belt, but for building Do.

I don´t personally get excited about practicing just for ranking title, so I also train techniques outside the formal art and try to keep up my lifestyle without thinking belts too much.. 

I practice five different Martial art forms myself. Two of these five have certain ranking system, but three does not. These three I practice, only show your skills by what you know, not by which color belt you have.


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## WaterGal (Jun 18, 2013)

I think, if you're training for self-defense, belts are really only useful as a way for the students to feel that they're making progress, and for the teacher to see at a glance where they're at in the curriculum.


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## CK1980 (Nov 16, 2013)

I agree...  Everyone has this image that in a martial arts school you are going to one day have the esteemed black belt.  When you try to explain to someone that the belt doesn't mean anything if the person who wears it doesn't know anything, you get the glassed over look.

If you are teaching STRICT self defense, I would say find out what system closely reflects the SD techniques you teach and mimic their rank structure.  If you are teaching a variety of techniques, break them down into easy to hard and put 2-3 techniques tied to each belt.


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## skribs (Nov 23, 2013)

My master does Taekwondo (we do forms, sparring, and self defense drills) and Hapkido (which the class is geared specifically towards self defense).  The hapkido class has specific techniques that will be tested at each belt level.  The idea is you have to master those from one step to move on to the next step, and therefore the belt is a good indicator of where you are in the curriculum, as Watergal said.


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