Although martial arts can be a fountain of youth, ironically it can also shorten your lifespan if you're not careful, so be careful if you want to live to be 108 plus.Looking forward to it, I'll be 108 and am excited to attend.
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Although martial arts can be a fountain of youth, ironically it can also shorten your lifespan if you're not careful, so be careful if you want to live to be 108 plus.Looking forward to it, I'll be 108 and am excited to attend.
High dan ranks don't have any financial value,
I have no idea how old you are but I know you have been on the forum for a while. I get what you are saying but as you get older your perspective may change.Knowing I did it is acknowledgement enough for me. When you get to the point where rank is no longer awarded by an instructor because of your skill but rather by your peers for your commitment and contribution to the art, at that point its just not something I have a burning desire for. Knowing that I've put in the commitment and made the contributions to the art is enough, but that's just me. Other people might still want to pursue rank at this point and that's fine, its just not something I particularly care for.
One big difference, pensions and retirement plans have got financial value, you get money to live off of. High dan ranks don't have any financial value, not that Im in the martial arts primarily for money in the first place.
That only applies if you teach the style you've got your two stripes or eight stripes in.You couldn't be more wrong.
Say you and I both open schools down the street from each other, both teaching the same style. You've got two stripes on your belt. I have eight. All other things being equal, who do you think the average Joe is more likely to sign up with?
Say the schools are far enough apart not to really directly compete. But, ooops, you've still only got two stripes, and the Big World Strangling Org we're both part of requires someone higher than you to sign off on promotions. Or one of your students is ready for their own second stripe.
Ah 108. That is an auspicious number.Looking forward to it, I'll be 108 and am excited to attend.
Nobody should pursue rank. Rank should just happen along the way.Knowing I did it is acknowledgement enough for me. When you get to the point where rank is no longer awarded by an instructor because of your skill but rather by your peers for your commitment and contribution to the art, at that point its just not something I have a burning desire for. Knowing that I've put in the commitment and made the contributions to the art is enough, but that's just me. Other people might still want to pursue rank at this point and that's fine, its just not something I particularly care for.
One big difference, pensions and retirement plans have got financial value, you get money to live off of. High dan ranks don't have any financial value, not that Im in the martial arts primarily for money in the first place.
Good catch. Didn't notice it when I first read his post.Ah 108. That is an auspicious number.
You are pursuing rank if you're pursuing the standards for rank.Nobody should pursue rank. Rank should just happen along the way.
No, I just train to the best of my ability. If my Sifu ever decides that I merit a rank, then he makes that decision. Thankfully our school does not dwell on those things though. Life is better without it, in my opinion.You are pursuing rank if you're pursuing the standards for rank.
Not really concerned about it. If I make it great! If not, I've had a good life for the most part. I mostly do what I do in whatever manner I do it to the best of my abilities...a sort of 'hang on because the ride is going to be bumpy but it will be interesting!Although martial arts can be a fountain of youth, ironically it can also shorten your lifespan if you're not careful, so be careful if you want to live to be 108 plus.
You mention a Sifu, a Sifu is the equivalent of a Sensei in many of the Chinese martial arts which traditionally and generally do not use formal ranking systems although many of the modern schools that teach such arts have adopted various ranking systems to their art.No, I just train to the best of my ability. If my Sifu ever decides that I merit a rank, then he makes that decision. Thankfully our school does not dwell on those things though. Life is better without it, in my opinion.
I used to train in a school that followed a rank structure. One of the reasons I drifted away from that school was because I realized I did not want nidan. I had no interest in what was coming next in the curriculum of that system.
Yes, I currently train in a Chinese/Tibetan method. Technically there is a belt system, but exactly when it was developed, and by whom, I do not know. As long as I have been involved, it has been barely mentioned. I have never been given rank, I have not seen anyone promoted nor given rank, but I do know that my senior classmates were given rank in the past. However, Sifu has told me that I am allowed to teach, if I choose to, so rank is not at all connected to teaching, etc. So the ranks are pretty irrelevant and it seems to me that he is just letting them fade away.You mention a Sifu, a Sifu is the equivalent of a Sensei in many of the Chinese martial arts which traditionally and generally do not use formal ranking systems although many of the modern schools that teach such arts have adopted various ranking systems to their art.
I take it that you must've trained in some Japanese martial art in the school you used to go to since you mention the rank of Nidan which is Second Dan in such arts. You said you didn't want it and you didn't want what was coming next, did you not want to learn the material?
Depending on the style, Imo all the material you need can be taught by black belt (I'd argue all the important stuff is taught by green belt/3-4th kyu or so in a lot of styles), and you would be better off practicing that than learning the "fluff" stuff afterwards.You mention a Sifu, a Sifu is the equivalent of a Sensei in many of the Chinese martial arts which traditionally and generally do not use formal ranking systems although many of the modern schools that teach such arts have adopted various ranking systems to their art.
I take it that you must've trained in some Japanese martial art in the school you used to go to since you mention the rank of Nidan which is Second Dan in such arts. You said you didn't want it and you didn't want what was coming next, did you not want to learn the material?
So with the Kenpo it sounds like you had learned what you wanted to learn from it and had moved on, that sometimes happens.Yes, I currently train in a Chinese/Tibetan method. Technically there is a belt system, but exactly when it was developed, and by whom, I do not know. As long as I have been involved, it has been barely mentioned. I have never been given rank, I have not seen anyone promoted nor given rank, but I do know that my senior classmates were given rank in the past. However, Sifu has told me that I am allowed to teach, if I choose to, so rank is not at all connected to teaching, etc. So the ranks are pretty irrelevant and it seems to me that he is just letting them fade away.
I used to train in a kenpo lineage, and I found the curriculum to be oddly structured in a way that didn’t seem to work well for me. I honestly felt that to continue learning more of the curriculum would simply do me no good and my efforts were better spent on other things. So yes, I decided I didn’t want to learn more of the curriculum, and that leads to the obvious next conclusion: I had no interest in gaining the rank that would come with learning more of the curriculum.
Another thing you could do, as you suggested before, is to buy a belt of whatever color and stripes you want to use when you're running your school. That way you can have just as many, or more stripes than the other guy. From what I remember you've even mentioned businesses in some of your past posts that custom make belts of whatever color, stripes, and designs you want.You couldn't be more wrong.
Say you and I both open schools down the street from each other, both teaching the same style. You've got two stripes on your belt. I have eight. All other things being equal, who do you think the average Joe is more likely to sign up with?
Say the schools are far enough apart not to really directly compete. But, ooops, you've still only got two stripes, and the Big World Strangling Org we're both part of requires someone higher than you to sign off on promotions. Or one of your students is ready for their own second stripe.
Another thing you could do, as you suggested before, is to buy a belt of whatever color and stripes you want to use when you're running your school. That way you can have just as many, or more stripes than the other guy. From what I remember you've even mentioned businesses in some of your past posts that custom make belts of whatever color, stripes, and designs you want.
Well you see that's the thing, if you're a fake sooner or later it will bite you in the butt. That's why I would not want to hold a fictitious rank. Even if I could for awhile fool other people I would not be fooling myself. I would know that Im a fake.And now you're changing the subject from the financial benefits of high rank to fictitious rank. Do you not see the difference?