I just passed my Gold Sash Test!

[masherdong]

I just started at the beginning of the month and I am now a gold sash!! Not bad for just two weeks of training! Sifu said that I had crisp strong form when I doing my material! Go me! :D

[Ronin BaBu]

Don't get caught up on belts. They don't mean a thing.

[monkeyfoot]

I am somewhat sure that you just committed social suicide.....

As already stated, belts are not everything so do not train with them only in mind. Kung fu also gets a lot harder very quickly, so expect anything from 6 months to a year for some things.

that being said...well done and keep up the enthusiasm.

craig

[masherdong]

Don't get caught up on belts. They don't mean a thing.


Personally, I dont really care. I have a BB already in another style of martial arts. I am just broadening my training and this is just an added perk. Belts are just 2" that cover just the waist. The rest is up to the individual to cover. :D

[yu shan]

I dont do the belt/sash thing either, but a couple of our commercial guys do. They need to make the extra money to make rent. I do like the way Wah Lum does there curriculum and testing. Well put together and everybody wears a black sash. The curriculum progressively gets more difficult as you go. If I were to ever do this sort of thing again, I would pattern it after their set-up, but I`m too old to keep track of everyone. Just learn and train...

[Ronin BaBu]

Could you elaborate on their system?

I personally favor the different group levels. Having enough instructors to take beginning students into one group, and intermediate into another group.. But still in the same class so that beginners can have a goal to look to.

[SanHeChuan]

Personally, I dont really care.

Rrriiiiighttt. :rolleyes: Thats why you brought it up. :p

[masherdong]

Rrriiiiighttt. Thats why you brought it up.

Uh yeah. I dont care. :cool:

[Mega-Foot]

Personally, I dont really care. I have a BB already in another style of martial arts. I am just broadening my training and this is just an added perk. Belts are just 2" that cover just the waist. The rest is up to the individual to cover. :D

Really, though, if you only have a 2" belt, you might want to think about starting to take proteins. This sounds extroadinarily unhealthy. I recommend a massive increase in intake and protein loading. Your black belt and gold sash won't do you any good against anyone if you're coming in at such a light weight. It's not even featherweight material.








A Daoist scholar once asked: "What weighs more, a ton of bricks, or a ton of feathers?" Grandmaster Sensei replied: "What's more powerful: the tiger or the toad? Englightenment is the tenth of wisdom, much as the worm is the macaw's midnight snack."

[beanchoy]

I just started at the beginning of the month and I am now a gold sash!! Not bad for just two weeks of training! Sifu said that I had crisp strong form when I doing my material! Go me! :D

Out of curiosity, what was the form requirement of your style? I do Wah Lum , however our gold sash test is a shaolin form.

[Yao Sing]

Out of curiosity, what was the form requirement of your style? I do Wah Lum , however our gold sash test is a shaolin form.

Wah Lum doesn't have sashes unless they added them recently. But they don't require Shaolin forms for testing either. You must be with an 'uncertified' school.

So, is the Gold Sash the first belt rank? Nobody ever fails the first test, especially with previous training. Hardly worth a pat on the back.

Was it a tough 2 weeks? :rolleyes:

[masherdong]

So, is the Gold Sash the first belt rank? Nobody ever fails the first test, especially with previous training. Hardly worth a pat on the back.

Was it a tough 2 weeks?

Yes, it is the first rank test. No, it wasnt a tough 2 weeks. ;)

[beanchoy]

Yea, we are not "legal" so as a result we do a lot of choy lay fut as well. So that would be why it seemed strange that we had sashes.

[EarthDragon]

2 weeks of training to pass a test?

perhaps this is the problem with today's watered down crap people are teaching.

[NJM]

I just started at the beginning of the month and I am now a gold sash!! Not bad for just two weeks of training! Sifu said that I had crisp strong form when I doing my material! Go me! :D

As everyone above me said, belts don't matter. But good that you feel happy.

[mantid1]

There are some traditional karate systems that may award the first belt after the students learn proper etiquette of the school and can function in the class without any assistance. This could be anywhere from two weeks to one month.

I dont have a problem with that. I would have a problem if the instructor lined up everyone with two weeks, tested them and charged them $$ for it.

Most organized styles will have a system or method of teaching a student from the beginning. If they dont....Im not sure how great of a system that would be.

If you have to have forms 1,2 and 3 along with basics 1-12 for a first level..what would be the big deal if they put a green sash on it? With all of the far fetched stories from the Chinese culture associated with the CMA I cant believe people would get so upset at colored belts.

Mantis practioners will tell the story of wang lang over and over (with different versions) with no way to prove it is true...but when someone gives a colored belt they laugh at them.

I know of many people who train in traditional okinawan styles that wear black belts could kick the crap out of the mantis practioner that has done very little fighting and only two person drills in thier training.

I do not use colored belts in my training...but if people do I dont care or laugh at them.

I do have a problem with the people who use this just to make money.

But, dont fool yourselves....the traditional Chinese instructor may very well be soaking money out of thier students as much as the colored belt guys...he may be using a different method.

[Ronin BaBu]

When I was 12 and first looking for a martial arts school, the place I ended up had an intructor who told me "If you don't come here, be wary of schools that charge students for belt tests." I ended up studying there for a long while. Whats ironic is that he no longer teaches Mantis there, he switched to Krap Maga, and now charges for belt tests.
There are a few original students still around there that teach mantis, including me every once in a while.

I hate going in the school and seeing these grown men sporting red/brown/pink/purple belts on thinking they are tough ****. It's giving overconfidence to fat americans.
The main thought on belts seems to be it is for the american consumer who needs something to show from paying for training.

When I first got my own black sash, I was 16. I am nowhere near where I am now, and if I saw my sixteen year old self now, I would slap him upside the head.

The only system of belts that I've seen that I ever liked was in Brazillian Jiu Jitsu schools. The way they promote students to the next belt is when they can effectively roll or spar with members of that belt. If they do good, they get the belt, if they don't they stay at their current belt. In this way a universal standard is created. This makes belts useful as an effective skill assesment system.

However, there are far too many styles and schools to have a universal ranking system with belts. Some styles don't even have sparring.. so how do they assess skill level? By how good you can do a technique on a pad? COFF COFF KRAV MAGA.

[masherdong]

2 weeks of training to pass a test?

perhaps this is the problem with today's watered down crap people are teaching.

No it isnt watered down. I have training in a previous art so most of the basics I already knew. It usually takes about a month and a half to learn the gold sash material for new people.

I do not think he is trying to take people's money. He always said that if you are not ready, DONT TEST. He wants us all to test well and know the material well. He is not a belt giver. He has failed quite a few students before and he is not ashamed to admit it.

[woliveri]

Hey guys,

just a shout out to Yu Shan, Earth Dragon, and Yao Sing.

How are you'z guyz doing?

I've been in the Bagua world lately so no recent visits to the Mantis world...

[EarthDragon]

woliveri!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How r u my brother? good to see you on the board.

Ronin, you know you are always welcome to train mantis with us, if the
Tim Maga doesnt soot you.................. my door is always open.


Masherdong.
I didnt mean or say that you style was crap or water down. i just question when things like this happen. my friend is tqaking twe kwon do and its so commercialized he has a master chong magnet on his 52,000.00 infinity. I just roll my eyes because, 10 months and hes almost a black belt and it only costs him 175.00 a month for tution plus his school fees, uniforms and 300.00 for patches.

I just dont want the same thing to happen to kung fu

[masherdong]

Masherdong.
I didnt mean or say that you style was crap or water down. i just question when things like this happen. my friend is tqaking twe kwon do and its so commercialized he has a master chong magnet on his 52,000.00 infinity. I just roll my eyes because, 10 months and hes almost a black belt and it only costs him 175.00 a month for tution plus his school fees, uniforms and 300.00 for patches.

I just dont want the same thing to happen to kung fu

Well, he is the best one as far as that goes. He charges $150 a month but no testing fees. When you first start, he gives you a full set of sparring gear and a uniform which is included in your monthly fee.

I hear what you are saying about TKD. There is a TKD school almost on every corner here in Katy. They would charge $50-$80 a month but every other month you would test and pay $75 for testing.

Just by seeing the advanced levels in the system, I see that it will take much longer to advance when I am in the intermediate levels, purple and up.

[MasterKiller]

Well, he is the best one as far as that goes. He charges $150 a month but no testing fees.

WTF?! $150/month?

That's more than a Gracie Academy!

[yu shan]

holy sh*t! A buck fifty a month? That is double what I ask for, guess times they are a changing.

Woli, doing good my man. Do you know a gentleman in Los Angeles named Mr. Kao?

[masherdong]

WTF?! $150/month?

I should also say that includes the jiu jitsu class, tai chi, kickboxing, weapons, sparring, and you come as much as 6 times a week.

[yu shan]

That is a lot to offer, plus it boils down to $6.25 a visit if you take advantage of all the times offered. The best part of this is Mr. Masher you have a compassionate and caring Shifu. Give him my best.

With the economy the way it is, how do you guys get schools full of peeps paying this amount of money? I know I have this theory of sacrifice and commitment, but for the most part kf is just a hobby for folks. And with all the neighborhood gyms charging $29 a month with all these great offers, it is hard to compete. I am just a small club though, with almost no overhead so there is no stress to make rent. I put half of what I make back into the training by means of travel and the red envelope.

Enjoy kung fu masher.

[masherdong]

That is a lot to offer, plus it boils down to $6.25 a visit if you take advantage of all the times offered. The best part of this is Mr. Masher you have a compassionate and caring Shifu. Give him my best.

Yeah, I did the calculations as well and found that this is the best school in my area for the money. I have told Sifu that I ran into you on here and he told me to say hello to you. So, I already have given your regards to him Mr. Smyer. :D