The ground floor up: Coming up thru the ranks.

The ground floor up: Coming up thru the ranks.

As the assistant to the Chief instructor I get a lot of questions when I travel around and teach. One of the most interesting ones I get has to do with rank. Now I have been part of hundreds of testing’s over the years and I can tell you that no two people are built alike and no two people look the same for testing. Any instructor who says that every student they test must look the same at for the ranking as the next guy is full of beans. For instance, a lady in her 60s who is testing for purple belt will look yards different than her granddaughter testing for the same rank! And again anyone that says that you need to look like the next person when testing…full of beans!

So, are their key components that we look at that you have to meet…..well Yes! And there are specific attitudes as well! Some of the best advice I can give each student is to train as hard as you can and try to learn the best you can, and we will judge and teach you what you need to be at a specific level at a specific time. But if you are looking for some road markers for yourself….well here are my thoughts on each rank and important mile stone up to black belt!

First off let me say that I am not going to say the Kata and type of Kumite you need to know, that is not what this is about. Its attitude and learning that you need to do to be at that level. Each level represents an attitude in training and an level of mastery that you need to understand to be able to move on from that level to the next. And to be frank….often a person’s rank in Karate exceeds the level that they SHOULD Be at…in other words… I know of a few people that have attained rank that might not suit their current knowledge base!

9 Kyu: White belt

Come in the door, know nothing and remember that. The worst thing that a person can do is come into a Dojo and bring with them their old baggage with them. I have seen so many TKD guys try and take a class in Karate and forget that they are not in TKD anymore. The skills may be similar but if you are not open to learning…you generally will do a poor job of it…even if the instructor tries really hard! No nothing and be proud of it!!

6 Kyu: Green Belt

You just passed three tests and you are now an intermediate beginner in Karate. The most important thing you can do is practice hard and listen a lot. This is still a beginners rank, you however now understand some of the basic components of Karate but you still have so very long to go! Remember that at Green belt your understanding of basics is getting better and you are now learning how to use your body properly for Karate.

It is at Green belt that most students drop out because they feel they should know more than they do. Do not panic, at Green belt the amount you don’t know will seem over whelming and black belt will seem so far away. Its time to buckle down and really focus on just repetitions to hard wire your body to do the movements correctly and to build on your ability to use your body correctly. Also, some very hard theories are introduced thru your Kata. Start taking time to work on your own and truly get inside your own body.

4 Kyu: Purple belt

At purple belt you are now mastering a different set of ideas and transitioning into the Tekki Katas to learn even more about training. You should start to realize that much of what you are learning is all about how to train, not so much how to apply the techniques. There is a large difference between learning how to throw a kick and how to use a hand strike and when to use it and how to apply it. Purple belt is the last two levels of training on basic theory…From here on out you are done with the theory and you are into the application of basic principles.

3 Kyu: Brown belt

At third Kyu you start to learn a fighting Kata. Bassai dai and the senior level Kata are very different from the theory building Katas in that they should be done as if you are applying movements that are based on how to move in a fight. You still break down the basic movements and learn the moves and your kumite is now starting to get real. At this level you are starting to learn how to apply power to your techniques and you are beginning to learn how to “DO” Karate and not just learning the how to “Learn” Karate.

At 3^rd kyu you are jumping light years ahead and it is often like learning a whole new art form, the physical aspect starts to scare off those that don’t realize that Karate is a physical art and really weed out those that want to pose as a Karate black belt and those that want to live as one. So many people physically stop testing themselves at this point and unfortunately many end up getting black belts who have not gotten past this level in real application.

Start to train for the first time, strapping on that brown belt know that it is really time to physically look at what you are doing and learn how to apply it to your training, not just figure out the theory behind a move, learn to do that technique in real application. Don’t be scared of what your Karate has become, embrace the real world application of Karate and begin to train in Karate application at the most basic level.

1 Kyu: Brown Belt

By this time a student should understand how to apply the movements of Kata and you should be all about power and application of techniques. Physically the style is not very controlled, its about power and to be honest, its were we expect people to get hurt the most in training. Brown belts getting ready for testing should be all about intent and spirit in training. I absolutely hate sparring with Brown belts at this level and also white belts. The one thing they share in common is the lack of control and the all or nothing of their techniques. But it is exactly what it should be. An overly controlled 1^st kyu with little spirit shows that they don’t understand the process and are not ready for the next step.

A first kyu test should be exciting for instructors to watch. The brown belt should be in good shape and it should not be all about form and beauty, the testing is normally ugly and students that are testing for this level and who are testing for Shodan should be CRAZY in their spirited approach to Kumite. One of the best tests that I saw for Shodan had three major injuries (All noses) and the participants had to be dragged off of each other at one point because they were “Fighting” for their rank! It was controlled but it was a bit chaotic in the spirit and the power was not held back!

1 Dan: Black belt

So now you have your black belt…now what. Well If you are like 65% of the people out their you quit. That’s right, you take all that hard work and fold up your tent and throw it away as you leave. Its really actually very sad, you have trained for three to five years and now you think you are done….but wait, what about the other 45% of the people…well you get to realize that your training for the last five years has opened up a big vault of knowledge that you can now swim around in like Scrooge McDuck in his gold vault! You get to work with new concepts and dig deeper into your own knowledge and start to form your own Karate. Before this you were just getting ready mentally and physically to take that first step…but now you are there on the first step of the true journey!

You will begin to bridal that passion and power and learn true control, distance and application of techniques. You will recognize your weaknesses and spend a life time learning how to over come them. And more importantly you will be able to really focus on building up your true knowledge of Karate by exploring different advanced Kata and pushing to find new hidden lessons in them.

This is not a time to throw in the towel, you are just starting to understand Kumite and at this level you will get to focus on it as you build up your knowledge base and begin to train in communication Karate style…Kumite! Your body will begin to make more sense to you and you will be over the little hick ups called coordination!

Unlike what many people think, and what a lot of senior instructors in the world try and make people think…black belt does not mean you have mastered anything other than knowing your basics. A black belt is simply the first step in a long road of discovery and practice and unfortunately many people start this journey with an end in mind…that is the wrong way to start this venture. Look not at the destination but at the process itself. Don’t be focused so much on the end, because the effort is what you need to be watching. If you manage to stay around long enough and get your black belt, all that effort that you ended up putting in to get that belt would be a loss if you stopped training now.

For me to vote for a person to be eligible to test for black belt, the previous hard work must be there and also I must see that they understand that this is only the beginning of the true training.

Anyways, I hope this helped if not to just remind those that are training, to train hard…don’t give in…don’t give up and remember that when you get to the end…its only the beginning with a twist!