Which Belt Gave You the Biggest Sense of Achievement (Except for Black Belt+)

[Yondanchris]

My Orange Belt in EPAK, I didn't think I was ready and my instructor had "tempted" me by tying my belt on a pole in the studio. Needless to say on a hot day with no air conditioning I finally earned my Orange belt, worth more to me than my 3rd Dan!

 

[Supra Vijai]

My first Green belt... I thought I could take on the world and I'd kick *** because I knew so much haha! Every step of the journey since has been about slowly realising how little I actually know and how much further I have to go, great in their own way but nothing that I get all excited about anymore.

 

[shima]

My green belt in karate. I had tested for yellow belt w/ black stripe, and he had made me do some extra material not on my test, but I didn't think anything of it. Then at our awards banquet where we received our belts, he called me up for my yellow belt w/ black stripe, and then after I got that belt and shook everyones hands, he called me right back for my green belt. I was in shock and on cloud 9, it was so exhilarating. It's the only belt I've ever skipped and Karate was my first style.

 

[kitkatninja]

Apart from the black belts, it would be:

In Shotokan it was my blue belt (10th kyu, closely followed by my 3rd Kyu/brown belt), this was my first ever grading and belt in the martial arts.
In TSD it was my orange belt (8th Gup) in TSD as I was allowed to double grade.

 

[Black/Red Block]

I wouls say my Green Belt 4th Kyu in Ashihara Karate, I'd got to Green belt in my last style and quit because he'd become a Mcdojo and wanted to put me in for a "Black Belt Instructors Course for ONLY £10,000.00. It was an achievement as that's what I was aiming for to match the level I was prior to that. I felt now I've matched it I can aim for higher.

Strange I only practice 2 of the forms from the previous school's syllabus.

Glad I left it as he became a "family martial arts Centre / Black Belt Academy

 

[Steve]

Never had a black belt. In BJJ, the belts come rarely, so both the blue belt and the purple belt promotions were pretty special.

 

[Gentle Fist]

3rd brown in kenpo was a pretty hard test... it seems like a distant memory now

 

[kitkatninja]

...wanted to put me in for a "Black Belt Instructors Course for ONLY £10,000.00...

Sound's like one of those long term franchise "opportunity" via a HP agreement.

...Glad I left it as he became a "family martial arts Centre / Black Belt Academy

Nothing wrong with being a family martial arts centre, as long as it still has high standards and does not become a black belt mill (McDojo)

I've seen both good family martial art centres and really poor "family" martial art centres.

 

[Christian Soldier]

3rd Brown in Kenpo for me. (this is the 1st level of brown after green for those not aware)

I was held back for several testings, not becuase I didn't know my material, but because I was too young (minimum age of 10 for brown at that school). So I practiced a lot and did a lot of push ups to get stronger for the test and it was one of my best and most satisfying promotions ever. It was also on my 10th birthday so It was a pretty great day for me. Now when I test as an instructor, I remeber that disapointment when I was held back, but I also remember the trenmendous satisfaction and how great that promotion went.

We used to say 'everybody quits at green' because it is harder than most and it's really a divide when after green, you are commited. I was the youngest brown belt at the school and shortly after I was bumped up to adult class a couple years early, I got hit hard often and got the wind knocked out of me almost every class but I learned a ton and progressed and improved far faster than I did in kids class. It really shaped me into the Martial artist I am today.

 

[Randy Strausbaugh]

Orange belt for me. It was the first rank above white in our school, and earning it I knew I was on my way. Black belt was kind of a letdown, as I had been a brown belt that morning, but a black belt that afternoon. Somehow, I thought I would feel different. I had to ask myself if I had been an under-ranked black belt in the AM, or was I now a brown belt with delusions of greatness? That was when I started paying less attention to belts and more attention to the person.

 

[Cirdan]

My blue belt in Karate, after that I started to understand just how little I knew
I guess red to blue felt as bigger and bigger leaps foreward, after that gradings are more like passing trough gates on a never ending journey.

 

[Zenjael]

Earning the rank of head instructor after I had transferred to the new school and style.

Misread OP. My b.

 

[Dirty Dog]

I had placed 2nd in a tournament where the first person who went was judged by both his own school's teachers, and without having calibrated the scores. When he came up to me and told me that he thought I should win, and offered me his trophy, saying he had won unfairly because of his teachers... I've never felt a need to compete again. I respect that martial artist's honor, and integrity, to this day, because he was not just being a good winner.

Because he ended up besting me in the fighting section fair and square, and we both shook hands knowing it.

That's the kind of stuff, as a MA, I live for.

I'd swear I saw this in a movie...

:bs:

 

[monk64]

I hope this doesn't sound hokey, but my yellow belt.

My instructor at the time was of the opinion that when you test for a belt, there should be no question of whether you'll pass - in the sense that by the time you were testing for a belt, you definitely had mastered the material. Walking out of the studio with my yellow belt, I had many good emotions:

- I was as good as any other yellow belt (OK, perhaps not, but that's the idea in low level belts anyway)
- I had demonstrated that I could perform something in the martial arts with proficiency
- I knew what it took to earn a belt
- I'd taken a first big step on the path

 

[RTKDCMB]

The white belt, because finally getting off my butt and starting to learn a martial art was the biggest step in my martial arts journey.

 

[Touch Of Death]

I'd swear I saw this in a movie...

:bs:

I was allowed to view the Dragon Scroll. True story.

 

[Twin Fist]

brown. back when I started, you made brown belt, you were admitted to 'the club" as in you started getting taken seriously by the senior browns and blacks...

 

[PhotonGuy]

Just out of interest, excluding black belt or anything after black belt, which belt did you feel the most achievement when you earned it? Did you get more of a buzz the higher belt you went up or was it your first ever belt?

As some people might say, rank isn't important.

 

[wimwag]

As some people might say, rank isn't important.

Agreed. Its a personal journey taken by individuals. For me, I was still a white belt but I was a regular along with the 3 black belts. One day, a senior student (3rd Dan who usually leads in senate's absence) said "small class today, just the ultra dedicated." Meant more than my black belt in TKD ever did. Learned an old school Shuri-Te kata too. Great memory!

Sent using Tapatalk 2.

 

[PhotonGuy]

Agreed. Its a personal journey taken by individuals. For me, I was still a white belt but I was a regular along with the 3 black belts. One day, a senior student (3rd Dan who usually leads in senate's absence) said "small class today, just the ultra dedicated." Meant more than my black belt in TKD ever did. Learned an old school Shuri-Te kata too. Great memory!

Sent using Tapatalk 2.

Then on the other hand, some people do choose to care about rank. Just like some people choose to care about getting good grades in school. And Im not just talking about grades on a single test but grades for entire classes and semesters. Lots of students have a goal of getting an A for a class when they sign up for it.