Tested for black sash today !

[woodendumby]

Sounds cool to say it...( but black is the first color in our school :) )

Nevertheless, a milestone passed.

By the way...the sequence is black, silver, blue, green, red, gold; with 3 tests in each color. Is this similar to other WC schools aswell ? Sifu says the colors reflect the Qing Dynasty . ?

[southernkf]

Cool. Congradulations. I thought it cool when I received my black belt in hung gar, though to be fair, everyone got one when they got their uniform. Infact, it was the only belt you got. It was used to hold up your pants. LOL literally.

As for wing chun, some people use belts, but it is pretty uncommon. Belts are pretty much a US pheonomeon. They were based on the Japanese system that only typically containted White, Brown, and Black. US service members brought the arts back and later the other colors were added. Chinese styles didn't really use the belt system. But more and more today do. Most traditional kung fu schools use a family relationship. Who ever arrived first is the senior. Senority isn't based on skill but the length of time you have been with the school.

Yip Man didn't use belts, so you wont find many others that do. But there are several schools that do. Some people are put off by the belt system, but it doesn't matter as long as your learning good stuff.

[OdderMensch]

"Testing has always been a part of kung fu. You do not test to prove that you are ready. You test to put closure on one phase of your training in order to move on to the next."

-Sifu, Paraphrased before every test

Colored Sash or Belt Systems seem to be an modern invention or *******ization of Japanese training methods. My favorite story is that in old Karate schools, you knew who the older students were, their clean white belts had become black with use.

In our school we sometime joke that you can tell the old students by the color of their pants, and the skilled by the wear in their shoes.

The Chinese did not wear Japanese Gi, hence no belts, so we got sashes! We don't wear them to class, class time is for training not showing off.

Congratulation's on your Test. As I recall your Little Idea looked pretty good.


Most traditional kung fu schools use a family relationship. Who ever arrived first is the senior. Seniority isn't based on skill but the length of time you have been with the school.

Si Hing (Older Brothers) and Si Dai (Younger Brothers) (as well as Si Jay and Si Mu) and the Teaching Family are in play at the school as well. But in modern life time and skill are not always the same. I have a number of Si Dai that have surpassed be in skill, and have Sin Hing without time to train that I teach new skills when I see them. Yet Si Hing without some specialized bits of technical knowledge can hammer me with with simple, well practiced, well trained punches and kicks. AH! Sometimes the old ways are still the best.

[woodendumby]

Ah, cool. I did't know I had a fellow member of the school here :) .

You know,... after taking some WC/JKD concept classes, along with TKD and Kenpo prior to signing with Authentic Kung Fu; and having never trained in traditional KF before... I had my own preconcieved notions on what MA training "should" be like. ( silly of me, eh ? ) Perhaps a little impatience coupled with the awkwardness of initial WC training caused me to second guess my decision to go with AKF. But, I'm glad I did and feel lucky to be a part of it. Sifu Cotrell is great, to say the least.