what does your black belt mean to you?

[jdinca]

I really don't understand this because I have never been in a school that did these things. For those of you who train in a system that embodies the belt as a symbol of excellence to be revered, why do you perform the "belting" rituals you do? Do you know where these rituals come from? I am curious about them as I haven't been exposed to them.

Colored belts is a modern thing. There are many parts of the world, China comes to mind, where the only belts recognized are white, brown and black. Anything else is superfluous. Colored belts answer the need for more immediate gratification. I think they can be useful, especially to the beginner/newer student who's not quite sure what to expect and would like to know where they stand. In a larger school, it helps to know what rank a student is when helping them with their material. You know what their techniques are just by the belt color.

I definitely agree with your point of view on schools that consider belt rank to be all important. I think they miss the point.

Don't have a BB yet but I do know what it will mean to me, the culmination of years of really hard work and personal growth and, at the same time, the beginning of the real journey.

 

[kroh]

My opinion has always been that any belt rank is more for the institution's sake than the sake of the student (sure it gives the student an attainable goal to reach for, but even in that it can be seen as an incentive to retention). It is more important to be viable in the martial art that you are doing than it is to think about your standing in the school. After all, the belt is nothing but a measure of your training and standing in that organization. Leave the group and the rank and its associated colored waiste trophy is meaningless. The TRAINING however is something that goes with you no matter what and is with you regardless of your where you go and what group you belong to. Some organizations will acknowledge your prior ranks and allow you to cross train in. They forgoe the inevitable, "This is a such and such stance and this is the proper way to throw a straight punch," training and allow you to start in on the basics. These are schools less concerned with your dollar and more concerned with you getting "it."

Good stuff...
Regards,
Walt

 

[arnisador]

Colored belts is a modern thing. There are many parts of the world, China comes to mind, where the only belts recognized are white, brown and black. Anything else is superfluous.

Yes, reflecting the basic system of student/advanced student (adept or disciple)/instructor.

 

[jdinca]

My opinion has always been that any belt rank is more for the institution's sake than the sake of the student (sure it gives the student an attainable goal to reach for, but even in that it can be seen as an incentive to retention). It is more important to be viable in the martial art that you are doing than it is to think about your standing in the school. After all, the belt is nothing but a measure of your training and standing in that organization. Leave the group and the rank and its associated colored waiste trophy is meaningless. The TRAINING however is something that goes with you no matter what and is with you regardless of your where you go and what group you belong to. Some organizations will acknowledge your prior ranks and allow you to cross train in. They forgoe the inevitable, "This is a such and such stance and this is the proper way to throw a straight punch," training and allow you to start in on the basics. These are schools less concerned with your dollar and more concerned with you getting "it."

It's interesting how tied up a students ego can get in belt rank, depending on their school. We get a lot of transfers every year from other schools. There've been several that really wanted to wear their ranked belt from the other school, instead of starting over as a white belt. Typically, we let them do it and help them realize the difference between where they are and where they were. By the time they test for their yellow belt, they've typically switched over.

 

[Ray]

Every since the day I became a black belt, I have always felt it means: I should be better at this stuff than I am; I should know more than I do. Consequently, I'm trying to learn more and trying to practice what I learn.

Each colored belt level in a school is an easy identifier of what a person "should" know based on the cirriculum and maybe an indicator of relative skill. And it helps you know what material they're working on.

 

[Danny T]

I agree with Walt. Rank is for the school’s sake. Unfortunately, many schools make a major deal about it therefore, it becomes overly important to the students. More about taking the next test and ranking than about knowledge, skill, and ability to apply the principles for creating techniques at the proper time. What rank are you? How long to BB? I'm better than other's because I'm a BB.

My BB was excatly that, a Belt that was Black. As a part of my BB review I was required to write a paper on what my martial art journey and the attainment of my BB meant to me. I wrote about my many experiences within the journey and how those experiences helped shape me as a person as well as a martial artist but when getting to what the BB meant I left the page blank. For the BB itself means nothing to me. I know for many it is a milestone. For me it was just another day, another review of the material I have previously been through many times before. I was the same person I was that morning prior to testing. I was no different once I had passed the test. I wasn’t suddenly bigger, or stronger, or better looking or a better person or a better martial artist. It was the journey previous to that. It was all the training and experiences prior that brought me to this point. And what was that point. I had trained, developed and practiced many skills. I had already reached what was considered a Black belt in our school. The BB test only confirmed it through the formality of the test. My instructor already knew it. All of the previous BB’s and senior students knew it as well as most of the lower level students. It wasn’t the test, nor was it the belt. It was everything prior. So what does my black mean to me? Nothing, but the experiences I had along the journey the many more I have had since mean the world to me.
Forever a student.


Danny Terrell

 

[Henderson]

All that earning a black belt (1st dan) really means is that the student is now ready to BEGIN learning. Kinda like graduating from high school...you might have picked up a few things along the way, but you're still pretty ignorant.

Just my $.02

Respects,
Frank

 

[Henderson]

I agree with Walt. Rank is for the school’s sake. Unfortunately, many schools make a major deal about it therefore, it becomes overly important to the students. More about taking the next test and ranking than about knowledge, skill, and ability to apply the principles for creating techniques at the proper time. What rank are you? How long to BB? I'm better than other's because I'm a BB.

My BB was excatly that, a Belt that was Black. As a part of my BB review I was required to write a paper on what my martial art journey and the attainment of my BB meant to me. I wrote about my many experiences within the journey and how those experiences helped shape me as a person as well as a martial artist but when getting to what the BB meant I left the page blank. For the BB itself means nothing to me. I know for many it is a milestone. For me it was just another day, another review of the material I have previously been through many times before. I was the same person I was that morning prior to testing. I was no different once I had passed the test. I wasn’t suddenly bigger, or stronger, or better looking or a better person or a better martial artist. It was the journey previous to that. It was all the training and experiences prior that brought me to this point. And what was that point. I had trained, developed and practiced many skills. I had already reached what was considered a Black belt in our school. The BB test only confirmed it through the formality of the test. My instructor already knew it. All of the previous BB’s and senior students knew it as well as most of the lower level students. It wasn’t the test, nor was it the belt. It was everything prior. So what does my black mean to me? Nothing, but the experiences I had along the journey the many more I have had since mean the world to me.
Forever a student.

Helluva post, Danny!