Wanted to leave with a Black belt?

[still learning]

Hello, In Judo, let said you are a green belt..you will need to beat a couple of other green belts (when your Sensi says to test) before you can move up. Usually in competitions and you must have a certain amount of wins. This is how my son and other test for rank here on "Big Island" of Hawaii.

Fighting others at the same rank and beating a certain numbers is one way to truely test for ranks...in the old days..fighting others was part of the testing.

Joe Lewis got his Black belt in a couple of months..because he kept beating all the other black belts in class....

Is there a fair way to test a person to see if they are consider/rated a black belt? and base on whose critera? for ever one... NEVER will happen...Aloha

 

[Hand Sword]

No, not one way, unless everything becomes standardized. Even then, you'd probably have an underground system going on.

 

[matt.m]

Cirdan said it dead on. See in Moo Sul Kwan: Hapkido or Tae Kwon Do we follow that philosophy of get help from everyone and give help to everyone.

 

[crushing]

Absolutely crushing!

What?

 

[Swordlady]

i'm frequently disappointed (used to be surprised) at how often people do quit training after they get their black belt. i mean, i'm all about being goal oriented but after so long you think they wouldn't miss the point so badly.

We don't have any ranks until shodan. Seniority prior to shodan is roughly estimated by length of training. That kind of works out, I guess. Sadly, most of our shodan had quit coming to class on a regular basis. I think that my sensei promoted about 10 to shodan over the course of ten years - and only two or three come to class most every week. At least one shodan has to be in class every week, since Sensei only teaches us on the first Saturday of the month. Since we only meet once a week (for 4 hours at a time), it is especially important to not miss too many classes, and to practice outside of the dojo.

I still may be kohai to all of these absentee shodan, but the times I saw a few of them performing kata, their lack of practice is clearly evident. Which is a shame. I wonder sometimes how seriously these people take their training.

Our soke is flying in from Japan this fall for a 4 day training seminar. Sensei is already emphasizing to the shodan who haven't been coming to class to show up to this seminar.

 

[Grenadier]

I think that my sensei promoted about 10 to shodan over the course of ten years - and only two or three come to class most every week.

That's actually not unusual at all. For your "average" dojo, maybe 1 out of every 50-150 students make it to shodan. However, if you take a look at those who go from shodan to nidan, you're probably going to get another fractional ratio, varying from 1 out of every 25 to 1 out of every 50.

 

[Swordlady]

That's actually not unusual at all. For your "average" dojo, maybe 1 out of every 50-150 students make it to shodan. However, if you take a look at those who go from shodan to nidan, you're probably going to get another fractional ratio, varying from 1 out of every 25 to 1 out of every 50.

If so many people quit after making shodan, I wonder how dedicated they really were to their art. Were they in it, just so they could get a black belt? As others have said, earning a first degree black belt shouldn't be the end of one's martial art journey. I actually feel it even more keenly as one studying a koryu. As I've learned more about my art, the tradition and history behind it, I've been feeling even a greater sense of responsibility in learning as much as I can, so that I can also help with transmitting its teachings to the next generation of students.

 

[Kacey]

If so many people quit after making shodan, I wonder how dedicated they really were to their art. Were they in it, just so they could get a black belt? As others have said, earning a first degree black belt shouldn't be the end of one's martial art journey. I actually feel it even more keenly as one studying a koryu. As I've learned more about my art, the tradition and history behind it, I've been feeling even a greater sense of responsibility in learning as much as I can, so that I can also help with transmitting its teachings to the next generation of students.

Many people see shodan as an ending - the fulfillment of their goals as a martial artist. Also, by that time, a great deal of time has (hopefully) been invested, and many people see shodan as a time to start something new, having mastered (sarcastic snicker) their art.