Most Difficult Belt Rank?

[stickarts]

The two biggest problem areas I have noticed in my school (since we opened in 1993) is intermediate level where some students start to lose motivation, and the other problem area can be just before blackbelt.
Just before Blackbelt strange things can seem to happen! Some students suddenly get feelings that they do nor deserve Blackbelt and will withdraw, while other students may get overconfident.
It is important to watch students at all levels but these two time periods have taken a little more effort for us.

 

[IcemanSK]

The two biggest problem areas I have noticed in my school (since we opened in 1993) is intermediate level where some students start to lose motivation, and the other problem area can be just before blackbelt.
Just before Blackbelt strange things can seem to happen! Some students suddenly get feelings that they do nor deserve Blackbelt and will withdraw, while other students may get overconfident.
It is important to watch students at all levels but these two time periods have taken a little more effort for us.

I've noticed the same thing over the years. Something happens in that time: either "I'm not worthy (or I'm not ready for the "responsibility" of the rank) or the "it's about time that they give it to me" thought process. It's a natural condition when there's a time of change about to occur. I even noticed it when I was in grad school. Believe it or not, there was more than one person I went to school with that went into PhD programs only because "the real world" outside of school scared them more than the safety of school. A lot of folks are more comfortable with the expectations them as students than they are with the changing & uncertain expectations of an instructor or "one with knowledge." These folks, I understand. The "I deserve it" folks......not so much. Maybe someone else has an idea.

 

[matt.m]

white belt - entry point in the arts. In the cape school once purple belt is reached you are considered an upper ranking belt in hapkido. That means you have brown and red left before your dan test. Well dad has upper belt Sunday workouts. They are just absolutely insane. 1500 kick reps, 1500 calestenics, hundreds of throws. All in 3-5 hours.

Brutal, brutal. I think as far as tae kwon do is concerned I think blue....right before purple. GM Hildebrand has commented that Green is the 1st belt out of white belt stage and blue is your first advanced rank.

So white, yellow, orange: Beginner
and green, blue: Transition belts between beginner and advanced
Lastly purple, brown, red: Advanced belts

Dad and GM have said that many times the red belt test is harder than the dan test. The reason is easy. They want to see and guage where the student is at and if they "could" pass a dan test already. Of course only on the mental and physical level.

 

[Drusilla]

I'd have to go with the majority and say White as well.
Not only do you have so many new things to learn physically, but you've got all the theory to learn, and you've no idea what to expect at a grading.
For my first grading I was feeling sick all day, and that feeling continued even after I'd finished. However, for my second, although I was nervous, it wasn't a patch on how I was feeling for the first one.

 

[MBuzzy]

My opinion is the middle gup ranks. Although you are learning a lot of new material as a white belt, much less is expected of you. When you are first starting to move up in rank, you are hit with a lot of information that is at a higher level. But the most difficult part of it is the increased responsibility - mainly of having to answer questions from the lower belts. They seem to be more apt to ask questions of the people closest to them in rank who know.

 

[Drusilla]

My opinion is the middle gup ranks. Although you are learning a lot of new material as a white belt, much less is expected of you. When you are first starting to move up in rank, you are hit with a lot of information that is at a higher level. But the most difficult part of it is the increased responsibility - mainly of having to answer questions from the lower belts. They seem to be more apt to ask questions of the people closest to them in rank who know.

I can see your point there, when you're a white belt, anything wrong is pretty much overlooked, but as you move up I guess there's no excuse for errors.
Suffice to say, they're all as difficult as each other perhaps.