black belts

[senseiblackbelt]

what is the difference between the first/second and third dan in black belts?
And when i mean difference i mean difference in what you learn when you go up in belts.

 

[Tez3]

About a hundred pounds in grading fees.

 

[KangTsai]

what is the difference between the first/second and third dan in black belts?
And when i mean difference i mean difference in what you learn when you go up in belts.

What martial art to you actually train in?

 

[Gerry Seymour]

what is the difference between the first/second and third dan in black belts?
And when i mean difference i mean difference in what you learn when you go up in belts.

That depends entirely upon the art and school. Even within NGA (my primary art), there's a difference from one association (and some independent schools) to the next, and between the mainline and Shojin-ryu.

 

[Dirty Dog]

It means you're further along in the curriculum for that particular school. Without being specific about the school, there's no way to give a better answer.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

what is the difference between the first/second and third dan in black belts?
And when i mean difference i mean difference in what you learn when you go up in belts.

In my system, the difference are:

1st - offense skill
2nd - tournament experience
3rd - defense and counter skill
4th and up - contributation

 

[Tames D]

In my system, the difference are:

1st - offense skill
2nd - tournament experience
3rd - defense and counter skill
4th and up - contributation

Does this mean that a student can not advance beyond 1st if they have no interest in competing in tournaments? Is your system a sport based system?

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

Does this mean that a student can not advance beyond 1st if they have no interest in competing in tournaments? Is your system a sport based system?

That's true. If a student has no interest in tournament competition, he will stay in his 1st degree for the rest of his life. It's a "sport" base system and "sport" experience is a must.

 

[Tames D]

Fair

That's true. If a student has no interest in tournament competition, he will stay in his 1st degree for the rest of his life. It's a "sport" base system and "sport" experience is a must.

Fair enough.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

In my system, the difference are:

1st - offense skill
2nd - tournament experience
3rd - defense and counter skill
4th and up - contributation

This lines up with what I've seen in other groups. In the system I came up in (NGAA), it was:

1st - Defensive skill, technical competence, instructor certification ("Instructor")
2nd - Higher competency at higher skills (blending, jumping kicks. weapons use), instructor trainer certification ("Chief Instructor")
3rd-5th - contribution to the art/association
6th - theoretically head-of-style (though he never took that rank - likely will promote his successor to it when he retires)

 

[PhotonGuy]

what is the difference between the first/second and third dan in black belts?
And when i mean difference i mean difference in what you learn when you go up in belts.

That would depend on where you're training at. Where I've trained it mostly means you would know more katas.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

1st - Defensive skill, technical competence, instructor certification ("Instructor")

Some MA systems don't like to teach "defense and counter" in the beginner training stage (for example, 3 years later). Those system want their students to act like a tiger and trying to eat their opponent alive - attack, attack, and still attack.

The long hair guy in this clip has that "tiger spirit".

 

[Buka]

First black - kind of fun. After that, not so much anymore.

 

[PhotonGuy]

First black - kind of fun. After that, not so much anymore.

Hey now, its after you get your first black belt that's when the real fun starts.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

Hey now, its after you get your first black belt that's when the real fun starts.

It's the effort to fulfill odd requirements (martial politics, tournament, writing) yo advance that is not so fun.

 

[Buka]

Hey now, its after you get your first black belt that's when the real fun starts.

True, it does. But that's when the belt doesn't really matter any more. In a rank system, we all want to get that black one....and, then, you know.

 

[PhotonGuy]

True, it does. But that's when the belt doesn't really matter any more. In a rank system, we all want to get that black one....and, then, you know.

Some people want further rank advancement after making first degree black belt and some don't but just want to keep getting better. Some people are satisfied getting to a lower rank such as brown belt and after that don't care for any further advancement. And then there are those who don't care much for rank advancement at all, they're in the martial arts for other reasons. As for me, I see getting the first black belt as a rite of passage, but that's just me.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Some people want further rank advancement after making first degree black belt and some don't but just want to keep getting better. Some people are satisfied getting to a lower rank such as brown belt and after that don't care for any further advancement. And then there are those who don't care much for rank advancement at all, they're in the martial arts for other reasons. As for me, I see getting the first black belt as a rite of passage, but that's just me.

Most folks in a ranking system will see it the same way. It's part of the culture we adopt when we stay in those systems long enough. It's actually one of the reasons I shifted instructor certification to 2nd dan, so folks not interested in being certified instructors could reach black belt (something they could not do in the system I came up through). I think most folks who have no interest in rank either learn an interest after joining a system with ranks, or they lose interest in that system and find something without ranks (or with very few).

 

[Dirty Dog]

Most folks in a ranking system will see it the same way. It's part of the culture we adopt when we stay in those systems long enough. It's actually one of the reasons I shifted instructor certification to 2nd dan, so folks not interested in being certified instructors could reach black belt (something they could not do in the system I came up through). I think most folks who have no interest in rank either learn an interest after joining a system with ranks, or they lose interest in that system and find something without ranks (or with very few).

Or, as in my case, they enjoy a system with rank, but don't really worry about progressing through the ranks. I'm told to promote, so I do. Otherwise, I just do my thing.

 

[pgsmith]

what is the difference between the first/second and third dan in black belts?
And when i mean difference i mean difference in what you learn when you go up in belts.

As has been said, it is entirely dependent upon the art and school.
The thing that most people that don't practice a martial art fail to understand, is that a "black belt" only means something within the organization that granted said rank. A black belt in a Wado ryu karate organization means absolutely nothing in BJJ or kendo or Taekwondo. It only means something within the Wado ryu organization that granted the belt. Heck it doesn't even mean anything to a different Wado ryu organization, unless they've got a reciprocal agreement in place saying that they'll recognize the other organization's ranks. (Just using Wado ryu as an example. I don't even know if there is more than one Wado ryu organization. )

I hold various dan ranks in three different sword arts and four organizations. One had a very detailed progression where you were required to know and perform certain kata and techniques to progress through the ranks. Another had only six kata for rank testing. The same six kata were performed for a panel consisting of the head of the school and the main instructors from Japan and U.S. for every rank test. Your demeanor and performance determined whether they thought you were ready for the next rank.

So, to get a definitive answer to your question it would need to be much more detailed as to which art and organization, since different schools and organizations have different ideals and different methodologies for attaining those ideals.