"What does it feel like to get your black belt?"

[Earl Weiss]

Another Story. First Background for non ITF stylists. ITF uses Roman Numerals on Belts to denote rank. Now the story. A Senior once said "You ain't spit unless you have a "V" on your belt. (OK, so he didn't say "Spit" but a word that sounded like it.)

So, when I got a "V" (I think an "IV) I said "Now I am Spit because >>Name of Senior<< said so."

 

[Gwai Lo Dan]

Everybody tests every 2-3 months and everybody passes that test? Regardless of how well they know the material?

I think your question should be "regardless of how well they can perform the material". But yes, everyone who showed up would learn for example taegeuk X well enough to pass. If the technique was a kick, the kick might be done very poorly, but it's still the required kick.

Again. it's the much debated question on standards.

 

[Tiger-eye]

I was more proud of earning my second degree than my first. I was mad at myself for not breaking all the boards at my first degree test to be happy lol.

 

[Chris Parker]

I am pracitising less due to work. I'm now about 10 pounds heavier which is not too large, but it's an indication that I am doing less of all my exercises including TKD.

So, if you're practicing less, how is that a failing of your black belt ranking and school?

More the lack of a 12 month contract, since I was sure if I would be able to continue in TKD regularly once I started a new job. The thing I liked about the style was that it was "kicking, kicking, and more kicking" and I wanted to get better at kicking as opposed to poomsae or predetermined one step spar rings.

Okay… you do understand that what makes the art what it is is found more in the poomsae than the "kicking, kicking, and more kicking", yeah?

I'm training for fun and interest. I find other techniques outside TKD to be both interesting and practicial. And I'd like to see more of the problems of using tkd techniques outside of tkd rules....to understand better the pluses and minuses of the tkd techniques.

Okay.

I was referring to the Kukkiwon website, not the school website.
Poom Dan SEARCH
And yes, that ranking matters to other KKW/WTF schools.

Sure, but if you're wanting to go to other arts, why would you need to wait for your name to be on the website? Unless this is because you also want to continue your TKD at another school…?

It has nothing to do with my school. I just am not as good as I was when I practised more. I think that pride comes feeling that you did very well, and I knew in the recent months leading up to my testing that I would have done better kicks previously when I was more active in tkd.

Again, that's a failing of your rank or the school how? Because that's the way you've described it, intentionally or not.

Wanting to try other disciplines doesn't speak poorly of my school. Trying something new can sometimes be about trying something new, not leaving something old.

True, but the motivations have been what I've been trying to get to the heart of.

Perspective Chris, Perspective. Don't tell me I'm wrong and you're right. Feel free to turn it into an attack. I can handle it. Bring it on.

Honestly, Tim, you're acting like a child. I didn't tell you you were wrong, I questioned your response. It wasn't an attack, other than in your mind. I suggest you take a step back and look at things a little clearer, if you can.

 

[Tames D]

Ok Chris, I
just took a step back and unfortunately I still see you as a bully. It's not gonna work with me dude.You treat everyone like a child, an inferior.
STOP NOW.You are a Mentor. Act like one. Stop what you are doing.






stop

 

[Chris Parker]

Tim, I'm not going to continue this here. I'll look for you in the Mentor threads.

 

[elder999]

I got my black belt a few weeks ago and the KJN asked me this question after my 1st subsequent class.

Although I know he wanted to hear "great" or something similar, my honest answer was a little disappointing in that I felt that my kicking was better before, when I was working less and going to TKD more than my current 1-2 times per week.

Given that everyone who shows up at TKD for 3 years gets a BB, I have no particular pride in the belt itself, although I know KJN wants to hear that.

Nonetheless, what did it feel like for you once you got your BB?

Well, it depends......

Judo? Basically was just handed to me: it was shiai, and sensei said, "Here, put this on. I've entered you as a shodan." That was it. Really. I was 16, and it was kind of a letdown-paperwork came through later that year, and there was a "formal ceremony," but it was all so anticlimactic.

Tae kwon do? It was Duk Sung Son's World Tae Kwon DO Association. I was 16, and it felt great..It was easy and also anti-climactic, though: basically, in the WTA, we tested once a year on one form a year. After five years, I got it.

Kyokushin? Later that same summer, and pretty tough, and great-but here's the important part, and probably a big part of why I gave up on TKD and stayed with Kyokushin. After passing my grading and going through the ceremony for my belt and certificate,, I was told to take a week off, and come in for a special "shodan class." So my fellow shodan and I arrived for the class, expecting some sort of special "secret advanced indoctrination black belt level class," ( ) and were, instead, reminded that "shodan" means first step.

We did taikyoku shodan, one of the first kata we learned as white belts.....over, and over, and over again, with our seniors (and my Kyokushin seniors were legends, like Willie Williams, who was HUGE and literally scared the **** out of me!) constantly 'correcting" us, and, by :"correcting us," I don't mean telling us what we were doing wrong.

That was a Saturday, and on Sunday, I had to be an acolyte for my dad at church....I could barely move, let alone deal with all that Episcopalian standing up/kneeling/sitting down stuff, with bells, incense and candles besides.....38 years ago, and still a day that makes me shudder.

Showed up for class on Monday evening, though...17 years old...I must have been nuts.

(Probably still am!

)

All the other belts? Except for 1st kyu in Miyama ryu,, fairly laid-back. Just another day at the dojo......

 

[Gwai Lo Dan]

The search engine KKW employs there, is quite horrible. In order for my rank to come up I have to write my full name, all four parts of it. If I don't, i.e. if I just write my first and last name, or use any combination of my four legal names, it doesn't find me at all.

For a few seconds there, I thought I was deleted from the database or something.

I've been checking regularly, and this week the KJN said he will be submitting the application to the KKW next week. The test was mid-July. He was travelling during August and he said that he had to be home to sign for the certificate, and he didn't want to have it sent back since he was away. So I have 1 more month of waiting.

 

[Kong Soo Do]

I got my black belt a few weeks ago and the KJN asked me this question after my 1st subsequent class.

Although I know he wanted to hear "great" or something similar, my honest answer was a little disappointing in that I felt that my kicking was better before, when I was working less and going to TKD more than my current 1-2 times per week.

Given that everyone who shows up at TKD for 3 years gets a BB, I have no particular pride in the belt itself, although I know KJN wants to hear that.

Nonetheless, what did it feel like for you once you got your BB?

It wasn't a big deal. Just another step along a long path. Too be honest, I can't even find my BB. I guess it's in the closet but haven't seen it in years (we don't wear belts during training). Think that last time I wore it was for a photo op back around 2005 or so.

 

[oftheherd1]

Mine was very gratifying. I had studied hard, going to the dojang usually at least 5, sometimes 6 times a week. I had taught myself to react to an attack without thinking what was easy, but what seem appropriate, or just came to mind. Even when I didn't study under my Grand Master, I studied under at least a 2nd Dan, or more likely a 3rd Dan. Then, to make things different, Black Belt tests were delayed about 3 months as they were in the process of renovating the headquarters building in Seoul, and were having problems with the contractor.

Finally Grand Masters were allowed to do their own tests. I was blessed to be personally complimented by a couple of the masters for my techniques and power. So yes, it was a big thing to me; those kind of compliments didn't come easily.

As to the question of is the Black Belt just the beginning of the journey, I would say it should be a question of perspective. When I learned TKD under Jhoon Goo Rhee (then a 6th Degree Black Belt), if you attained black belt (which wasn't done quickly, nor did I study long enough to attain), you had many abilities not known to the common man. But I am sure there was much to learn, and much to refine. The same in the Hapkido I studied, but there is a constant progression of techniques to learn as well. If you were taught, and learned, in that old way, BB was a worthy accomplishment, which should have been a source of pride. At least from my perspective.

 

[oftheherd1]

I'm looking to do some muay thai in order to improve upon 3 things:
1) fighting stance where punches to the head are allowed
2) punching, including kick/punch combinations
3) what I am exposing myself to when I throw a kick

However I want to wait until I see my name on the KKW website first.

Your life is your own. But in Korea, my understanding is that usually people wait until 3rd Dan, then are encouraged to study another MA to 1st Dan, then decide if their original art is the one they wish to concentrate on. But I also understand that few progress beyond 1st Dan in their original art, which is usually TKD.

If you do decide to progress in TKD, I sure would encourage you to find a school where you think you are learning rather than being graded on attendance.

 

[Gwai Lo Dan]

Your life is your own. But in Korea, my understanding is that usually people wait until 3rd Dan, then are encouraged to study another MA to 1st Dan, then decide if their original art is the one they wish to concentrate on. But I also understand that few progress beyond 1st Dan in their original art, which is usually TKD.

If you do decide to progress in TKD, I sure would encourage you to find a school where you think you are learning rather than being graded on attendance.

The MT school I was thinking about moved farther from my home, so that idea is gone. I may try another TKD school, but I heard the BB testing is $1000, so I'd have to ask if they are ok with me not testing beyond my current 1st dan.

 

[Tony Dismukes]

I may try another TKD school, but I heard the BB testing is $1000, so I'd have to ask if they are ok with me not testing beyond my current 1st dan.

Is that sort of pricing at all typical for TKD schools? The only way I'm paying $1000 for a belt is if it's freaking megingjörð.

 

[Kong Soo Do]

Is that sort of pricing at all typical for TKD schools? The only way I'm paying $1000 for a belt is if it's freaking megingjörð.

Unfortunately Tony, that isn't the worst I've heard. I know of someone that paid $1500 for a 1st Dan in Hapkido as well as a TKD school that offered Hapkido BB's after one weekend of training (for several hundred dollars of course). And let me clarify, the only requirement was already having a BB in TKD and taking the weekend course. And the BB in Hapkido wasn't necessarily a 1st Dan either, it could be a higher Dan depending upon whatever your TKD rank was. Again, as long as you paid for the test.

For some the martial arts is a passion and pursuit. For others it is a scam. But then it's a free market so if someone is stupid enough to pay $1000 for a piece of paper and a piece of cloth then so be it. As they say, a fool and his money is soon parted.

As far as the OP topic, how should you feel? A small sense of accomplishment and nothing more. If it is more than that...you've missed the point.

 

[EddieCyrax]

The MT school I was thinking about moved farther from my home, so that idea is gone. I may try another TKD school, but I heard the BB testing is $1000, so I'd have to ask if they are ok with me not testing beyond my current 1st dan.

$1000 ?!?!?!

Is it made of gold????

 

[Tony Dismukes]

Unfortunately Tony, that isn't the worst I've heard. I know of someone that paid $1500 for a 1st Dan in Hapkido as well as a TKD school that offered Hapkido BB's after one weekend of training (for several hundred dollars of course). And let me clarify, the only requirement was already having a BB in TKD and taking the weekend course. And the BB in Hapkido wasn't necessarily a 1st Dan either, it could be a higher Dan depending upon whatever your TKD rank was. Again, as long as you paid for the test.

For some the martial arts is a passion and pursuit. For others it is a scam. But then it's a free market so if someone is stupid enough to pay $1000 for a piece of paper and a piece of cloth then so be it. As they say, a fool and his money is soon parted.

Man, I think I've been missing out on a serious business opportunity!

Okay, special announcement! Anybody who is considering paying $1000 for a belt test - I am hereby offering a 20% discount! That's right, for only $800 I will evaluate your video performance* and send you a classy black belt certificate and a high-quality belt embroidered with your name. I'll even enter your name in a special registry available online so anyone will be able to check and see your name listed.

*(The evaluation will be based on very strict criteria like "did the check clear?")

 

[elder999]

Man, I think I've been missing out on a serious business opportunity!

Okay, special announcement! Anybody who is considering paying $1000 for a belt test - I am hereby offering a 20% discount! That's right, for only $800 I will evaluate your video performance* and send you a classy black belt certificate and a high-quality belt embroidered with your name. I'll even enter your name in a special registry available online so anyone will be able to check and see your name listed.

*(The evaluation will be based on very strict criteria like "did the check clear?")

Funnily enough, that seems to be several online "instructor's" business model....

(for the record, again, I don't think any "test" has ever cost me more than $200,most far less-and some weren't charged for at all.... "What does it feel like to get your black belt?" Not like my wallet got any lighter, that's for sure....)

 

[Kong Soo Do]

Man, I think I've been missing out on a serious business opportunity!

Okay, special announcement! Anybody who is considering paying $1000 for a belt test - I am hereby offering a 20% discount! That's right, for only $800 I will evaluate your video performance* and send you a classy black belt certificate and a high-quality belt embroidered with your name. I'll even enter your name in a special registry available online so anyone will be able to check and see your name listed.

*(The evaluation will be based on very strict criteria like "did the check clear?")

Sorry Tony, several TKD and/or HKD orgs have beat you to it.

 

[Tony Dismukes]

Sorry Tony, several TKD and/or HKD orgs have beat you to it.

Darn it!

Okay, let's get serious. Just enter the special code "MARTIALTALK" at checkout for an additional 20% discount. That's right, just $600 dollars for certificate, belt, your name in the registry, and, if you act now, a special membership card.

It's a bargain!

 

[oftheherd1]

Darn it!

Okay, let's get serious. Just enter the special code "MARTIALTALK" at checkout for an additional 20% discount. That's right, just $600 dollars for certificate, belt, your name in the registry, and, if you act now, a special membership card.

It's a bargain!

Doggone! I was going to undercut your $800 and do the same thing. Now you have dropped your fee to $700. I don't think I care to drop that far. I do have standards you know.

But if I do, I can anticipate some of my potential clients declining my generous offer of a black belt for under $700, however unlikely. But some may, no doubt thinking my fees are too low to be of value. If so, I will be happy to refer them to you (for a finder's fee of course).