Recently I had a conversation
with a friend about “what makes someone a black belt” and I was shocked at the
level of education that a non-martial artist had in this respect….no I am
kidding it was the same BS that movies and Hucksters have put forwards for
years. A) we don’t have to register our hands, B) not all black belts are deadly
weapons that will poke your eyes out with chop sticks and C) we don’t all speak
Japanese or Korean. Actually, my friend
did not realize that Karate was Japanese and Tae Kwon Do was very much
different than the art I practice. Her son was now taking “Korean Karate” at a
local club and the instructor, for better or worse, had “Educated” her and the
other parents about their ranking system and how ancient it was. She then told me what he said, and I felt a
need to correct him…politely.
One of the biggest bits of
misinformation that she had seemed to be about the Black belt and its levels. I
quickly told her a bit about the black belt origins, between snickering and
gasping at the wholesale lies that she was told. First off the “Ancient” ranking
system dates back to the late 1880’s.. which to some is bloody ancient…but
honestly not as ancient as the stories that instructors tell suggest. Also, the current Kyu/Dan ranking system and
the use of belts to denote rank did not start in ancient China or Korea…and it
had little to do with the striking arts…it comes from Jigaro Kano, founder of
Judo. The use of the belt system was
used to assist practitioners know what the level of skill their training
partners had and the ranking was thought to have been inspired by a color belt that
skilled swimmers used in Japanese swimming contests….honestly I don’t think
most people really know the inspiration 100% but I digress.
Regardless, the use of the Obi
(belt)system is seen in most more modern Japanese Martial arts and those that
are greatly influenced by them. Arts like Kung Fu and kick boxing styles use
different ranking systems. Kung fu and
other styles like Silat use style specific rankings and often change sash
colors ext, some don’t use this kind of system at all. Some Kung fu systems don’t
use colors just titles like student, head student, assistant instructor and
Instructors (Sifu). Kick boxing however
is a bit different. The roots of most kick boxing schools are in Muay Thai and
other South East Asian schools and they rank fighters according to their competition
rankings. If you ever run into someone that says they have a black belt in Kickboxing
its generally because they trained in a commercial school that did not really
favor competition. They ended up using ranking to promote students and keep the
interested. Its not a tradition of the kickboxing styles or Kung Fu systems to
use Obi based ranking systems.
Other more modern system from
Russia and around the world the majority of “traditional based” Systems do not
use the same ranking system as Karate/Taekwondo/Judo. Yes, some use Dan/Kyu ranking, I am of course
referring to the display of rank in the Obi use.
So, as with all conversations
the chat I was having turned quickly to “What exactly is a black belt”. The general public think that you need to be
a killing machine who can perform exceptional feats of strength, speed and
dynamic killing moves no one else knows to get your Black belt…which is simply
not true. Point of fact, the first level black belt is called the Shodan…or
first step. No, not the first step to being a killing machine…no matter how
badly I want that to be true! No it simply means that after 3-5 years of
training you have taken your first step in knowing the basics of your art! That’s it…that’s all. You work your butt off
for 3=5 years and you get to know your basics….anyone tells you different and
they really don’t understand what Shodan means. Most “Masters” and “Sport
coaches” I know tend to put a tone of emphasis on the black belt as being the panicle
of training, they hold it out in front of students like a carrot and make them
do stupid things and think that it’s the end all be all and they really should
be completely focused on it…when it’s part of the journey…not the destination.
The Shodan and even Nidan are
basic levels in Karate, the first showing that you understand your Basics and
the second that you can use them in a fight. Most of the ranks after this were
traditionally held by instructors and those that the seniors, councils or
instructors wanted to reward for their efforts in promoting the arts. Funakoshi
Sensei himself only promoted people up to Godan…no higher…that’s the fifth
level. He established the Karate ideals for each rank and structured it only up
to Godan, and never really accepted rank himself!
For many years the only rankings
were Shodan, Nidan and Sandan…the Yondan and Godan were presented to
instructors who dedicated themselves to teaching and Funakoshi intended that
this was it…no sixth, seventh, eighth or nineth Dans let alone a Tenth. When he died however many of his students
began competing for “top dog” position and as such they would force…nicely I am
sure…their students to promote them higher and higher in ranking to help them
have some kind of “authority” of rank over others. The truth is that most of
them were great Karate people as far as technical ability, but they forgot that
its not about power over someone else, its about power over yourself! And that’s kind of the point of what makes a
black belt! Do you have control of
yourself as a person? Do you have your ego in check? Is your anger under control? Those things are all things I have seen in “Black
belts” who technically earned the rank, but did not reflect the nobility of
holding a Dan rank.
Now, who can give out rank? Well promotions up to black belt are normally
given out by a regional director or regional instructor. It’s a lower level Kyu
grading and most big organizations don’t care to waste their time doing this
kind of grading. Some instructors will tell the regional clubs that they want
to do the grading, and in about 90% of those cases it’s a money thing not a
standards thing. However, the Dan ranking is a standards thing. See up to
Shodan you are really a Mukyu or Kyu level person meaning you are seen as not
holding a real ranking by the national group. You could walk in wearing a white
belt and grade for almost any Kyu in some clubs as long as you know the
required syllabus. Now, having said that
no legitimate instructor would really allow you to come to their club and just
grade….but the organizations normally don’t care! They only care about you once you start
grading for black belt levels, because now…you represent an organization!
Now we come to a issue that I am
split 50/50 on down the middle…who should grade you for your black belt. Well Part
of me (50%) thinks that your instructor should be the one giving you rank. He/she
knows you best and would be the ones that know your weak points and strong
points, if you are just naturally gifted or busted your arse to improve, if you
are dedicated or just show up around grading time. They should grade you….the
other 50% however thinks that an unaffected third party like a regional testing
instructor should grade you to maintain standards! Lets face it we all know that not all black
belts are created equal and some of us age poorly….myself included! So, should my instructor, if he were still
around, grade me and knowing I work hard…just don’t progress as fast after 45….give
me higher ranking or should a unemotional instructor who does not know me
assess my progress? In the end I feel
much more comfortable knowing that any ranks I get are assessed by an outside
source first and foremost.
Next, I think that the
organization you accept ranking from says a lot about who you are in Karate and
your level of knowledge. I have seen lots of “Sport Coaches” who are accepting
rank from non-traditional sources, including their own students! After that the
coach goes and gives out black belts or higher ranks to his students….or better
yet, the Coach is given a Dan ranking from the local sport group because of “Time
served” with out actually having to demonstrate he knows anything.
The other thing that drives me
goofy is Dan shopping. This is when someone leave and joins organizations and
suddenly gets a rank bump for their move, or they look for organizations that
will rank them even if they have not been part of them for long, or at all.
Only more frustrating for those traditionalists like myself are those that sink
to finding ONLINE ranking systems that allow you to send in your test (if at
all) and payment and you get a nice and shiny new rank certificate. Your grade
is based on whatever you want to show the grading person and you don’t have to
explain anything to them or follow any kind of syllabus….they just look at your
performance, assuming they even look at it after cashing the cheque….and Grand
master swamy MC gives you your new rank. Honestly what ever happened to hard
work in a single organization and showing dedication to the group.
Why are the traditional organization
so stringent and stuck in their ways when it comes to ranks? Well some think its due to racism or elitism
and the seniors in the organization don’t want to promote people based on these
two things. My thinking is that they don’t promote based on people not showing
dedication and they have been so badly burned in the past that they simply don’t
want to promote people they really don’t know to new ranks only to see them
leave to find a new organization! See
ranking is…to me at least…a forever thing.
If
an instructor give you a Shodan you are now…a Shodan. I would never say to a Shotokan
Shodan that they have to start at the bottom of the ranking system again, nor
would I do that to a Nikyu that showed up at my dojo. You are the rank you were last given, you may
need some rust knocked off or some updating in techniques, but I would never
ever rip rank from someone. Hell, you may not even be up to my standards, but
you are what you were last given…so the seniors in my organization (JKA) tend
to be really picky about whom they rank. The JKA tends to follow a fairly
strict syllabus and they tend to promote people through Nidan fairly open ended, meaning you show up and grade and you get a
fair shake, but higher ranking….well I have seen tones of people not pass
simply because they are new to the JKA or they have high rankings with other
groups and just jumped over. They are
welcomed with open arms…but new ranks are long term goals, not short term…meaning
they don’t tend to like people seeing them as a belt factory. So, higher ranks…higher
than Nidan…with the JKA are what I see as about as Legit as they come!
Generally,
if you join a organization and grade for higher than Nidan in less than two to
three years…it’s a belt factory! They suck
you in…wrap a new Dan grade around your waste and off you go…they love the
money you leave behind and if you choose to stay….Awesome…if not…NEXT! The thing with this kind of belt factory is
they tend to promote themselves as traditional…high standards….not a belt
factor/McDojo…but that is EXACTLY what they are. The other key factor in
knowing it’s a belt factory/money grab…they accept your rank from ANYPLACE YOU
GOT IT and will promote based on the rank you show that you have. JKA, JKS, KWF
and other traditional Budo based groups wont recognize ranking from most belt
factories and will make you retest for ranking.
I
know of a guy that said he was a 6th Dan and got it from a small
group. He moved to the JKS and wanted to rank for 7th. They tested
him and gave him a 4th Dan in JKS.
He dropped 2 Dan ranks…and funny thing is he took it. He was prouder of
the honest assessment than the paid for rank he had on his wall. Now at first, Yah
he was PIIIIISSSSED off but after he calmed down he told me (via the web) that
he actually had his eyes opened and told his students it was not a demotion, it
was an actual promotion! From a “Fake
belt factory” 6th Dan to a real and worthy 4th Dan.
Most
traditional rankings use a traditional syllabus that you can view and that the
grading instructor, who is specifically licensed to grade you, will follow. You
can use it as a study tool in what you need to work on, so you are not as
nervous. The syllabus is specific and while some modifications may occur the
idea is 100% stuck to. Now some belt
factories will use a syllabus, most times it “borrowed” from a traditional organizations
system and often the syllabus is a “Suggestion” as to what is about to happen
in the test. The Grading instructor may or may not have a lot of time at the
grading table and the key element is that most are not licensed to perform the
test at all. This last one is not a rule as the McOrganizations often look for
new ways to drain funds from their members and a licensing expense suits them
just fine.
So,
after all this my friend was really confused and said “well how do you know
when it’s a fake black belt or not”…….Great questions! And a tough one to
answer. See I am a firm believer that the term “Fake” is not accurate at all,
and its mostly in the eye of the beholder! I know dozens if not hundreds of
black belt holders and while some have ranked in what I would call ‘questionable’
ways or means I have to say that most earned their belts with lots of hard work….well
the lower rankings that is. Some went on to gain ranking based on politics and “time
in” as well, but they started and trained in Karate for a long time and gained
ranking.
I
don’t care what color belt you have holding your Keiko gi top closed, I don’t care
what kind of paper you are preserving in those glass frames on your wall…I want
to know what you can offer when you teach, if you know your stuff. Lots of people cant DO what they KNOW because
of age or injury, but they can still help me grow and work on myself. I respect
some Nidans and Shodans more than I do some Rokudans, but I honestly don’t see
any one as Fake that I know. Granted I don’t
really associate with people who got their ranking from strangers or graded in
belt factories. I don’t know any mail order black belts or any made up style
black belts….which are all things!
So,
how do you know when it’s a fake? If the person is not directly aligned with
the lineage of the person granting rank…it’s a fake (meaning they jumped to a
new organization simply to rank). When the person has spent less time in a dojo
than most of my brown belts…it’s a fake! When the person really does not know
the basics of Karate but has been “Granted” a high level Dan ranking…it’s a fake.
When the owner of the new paper cant teach what they know..probably a fake….if
they sent a video…fake….wrote a letter…fake….paid money via the
mail/paypal/e-transfer and never sat in a room with the grading instructor…all
fake. If the person in question can not back up their claims…and makes a ton of
claims…fake. Generally real black belts don’t
brag about rank. I told my friend the best way to know if the person is a fake
black belt or not…is to listen to them and watch them. If they cant teach they
must may be crap teachers, but still legit Dan holders, but if they cant teach
a basic subject like how to Mae Geri…..and have little to no knowledge to offer…does
it even matter if they are fake?
Now
all black belts are going to move, look and be different. Some of us know
different arts and this has affected how we move, what we do when we teach and
lots of us have injuries, “modified” Movements and such. We are all different
ages, gender, experiences and you cannot look at a group of ten black belts and
say “Wow, carbon copies”, we vary a great deal but we will all have similarities
One
other major way to actually see if a Black belt came from a belt factory is
their certificates. We used to call them
suffrage licenses! If it says on the certificate
something along the lines of “you are now a **Dan and have more responsibility
and you have to keep pushing and growing” then you probably are in a good
organization….unless it’s a total rip off of another clubs/organizations
certificate. The JKA Certificates I have say “The aforementioned person is
hereby licensed in the rank of ________ class. This is in recognition of the
great progress that he/she has reached in the study of the art of Karate do, we
expect him/her to endeavor further in the progress on both skill and character
building in the future”. Now I have seen basic ones that say the persons name
and the rank they achieved, but the JKA is very unique in that they actually
focus on character and progress in skill. Most of the McDojo types tend to
focus on the rank and extoling how great the person is that accepted rank from
them…and more than 9/10 they don’t even know the guy/gal who tested.
In
the end it does basically boil down to what your experience is, what your
expectations are and if you value the work you are putting in. A black belt is easy to buy, its easy to send
away for a certificate and a cotton or satin black belt…but did you honestly
put the time in, are you learning a traditional Koryu style martial arts system
or a sport based knock off? Keeping in mind plenty of traditional styles and
groups do sport style Karate (Shiai) but their focus of training is on solid, bedrock
style traditional karate, character development and improving peoples lives….that
my friend is what a black belt instructor does!
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