Why is it that many black belts have no skill?

[Fist Fighter]

The only thing a belt is good for is holding up your pants.period.

[Bursar]

i have to agree.

to be a good fighter, one must by definition fight. this is different to being able to defend yourself. in the second case you don't go out looking for trouble. you just hope your training comes out when it is needed.

as to the competance of the instructor, he can only put you on the path, it is you who is going to be in the fight.

what are we here for ?

[kungfukid]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Bursar:
i have to agree.

to be a good fighter, one must by definition fight. this is different to being able to defend yourself. in the second case you don't go out looking for trouble. you just hope your training comes out when it is needed.

as to the competance of the instructor, he can only put you on the path, it is you who is going to be in the fight.

what are we here for ?[/quote]

All of what you have said is true. But it is my exerience that many instructors have not found the path themselves.

kungfukid

[HappyPuppyF]

I still think that the belt system is useful.
I just don't like the idea of testing for it.
In some BJJ schools I've been to, belts are awarded only when the instructor thinks the the student is ready for it.
I think that's how most Martial Arts schools should be like.

------------------
GRRRRRRRRR
WOOF WOOF WOOF
RUFF RUFF RUFF
AWOOOOOOOOOOOO

[Robinf]

HappyPuppy,

Generally, or it should be (as it is in my school), the test comes when the instructor feels the student has already earned the belt. The test is to put the student under pressure, on the spot. As we go through academic school, many people hate tests, freeze on them, cram for them and then do poorly because of the stress they feel because they have to "test". This is what we try to get people through in our school. To get beyond those feelings, the nerves, etc. of being put on the spot like that. The more you practice being put on the spot, the more used to it you should become. Also, the more successful you are at passing while being put on the spot, the less stress you should feel about it next time. You learn to rely on yourself and your judgement and to improv if you have to (I did something that resembled a form, then went back and did the form. My instructor was more impressed that I went all the way through with all my conviction and power and focus doing something entirely wrong--that's what we're looking for: sprezeturra(sp?)--grace under pressure).

It's helped me considerably. I'm able to give presentations at work without losing any sleep over it.

[Gojira]

Well I have had some kind of experience in this subject. One of the first 'martial artist' that I studied under was a student of Aaron Banks by the name of Ronald Borand.
A (at the time) third degree black belt in the early eighties. We had a falling out of sorts and I left him. Years later I found out he was now a sixth degree black belt.
I found this hard to believe and rumor had it he was just giving himself ranks. Now I could be wrong but at the rate he was gaining he should be a higher rank than Banks now. Point is this gentleman, in my humble opinion his fighting technique was not worth the cotton the belt was made from.
I still to this day firmly believe than anyone in the small cliq that I know could beat this man regardless of his belt status.
Boy am I goning to get flamed on this post

[snaken]

"Belts are only made to keep the gi up"

-Jean Claude Van Damme

[TCell]

At some schools you have to earn your belt.
At some schools you have to buy your belt.

A boxer who has done 3 plus years will probaly be quite tasty & have no belt.

The thing is to get a belt is to achieve a certain standard?
To pass a driving test is to achieve a certain standard.
However this doesn't automatically make you a better driver than someone who hasn't taken the test.
Personal ability & dedication is what makes a superior fighter.
If you do MA as a hobby & not a way of life why should you care that you can't beat young
'Prince Naseem' the no/white belt?

Belts mean you know theories & patterns possibly enough to teach quite well. It doesn't mean you can beat everyone who isn't trained to your degree.
It for sure don't make you a warrior.

Maybe I should just say it this way, out of the dojo belts don't mean s***...

[INTERNALKUNGFU]

You should forget for a second about the nice belts/sashes and coloured uniforms and think of the true traditional martial arts tai chi.
You spoke about that big guy from texas who came down to the seminar and the black belts got scared. This feeling of fear is produced by your self conscious mind.
The old chinese taoism scriptures say that if you have fear of your opponent you will be defeated instantly.
Think about it if you saw a small skinny guy you will think I can kick his ass and you probably will. But if you see some big muscleyy guy you will think I will get bashed and u probably will.
What you should try and do is to teach them to overcome their fears.
This is controlled by whats called your reptile brain. Tai Chi masters learn to control this and are never defeated in a real fight.
In order to succeed in a fight u must disregard most techniques because most techniques may work in a dojo but if someone wanted to kill you in the street with a knife your knife throws or disarms wont work. You would need to create techniques which become your attack and ddefence technique in one move not combinations for instance if you use to block the hand and at the same time the hand block is a dimmak strike to the palm where you will cause death or instant KO.
You must also realise the fact that the only way to succeed in a fight is through sudden violence without violence you will not succeed.
This can be accomplished through the internal kung fu styles such as tai chi.
For more info visit my website: http://taichicombat.homepage.com

[shawn28]

Our GrandMaster says if your
afraid to fight he will no
teach you techniques he is
into fighting big time..The
belt thing he did not want
to use the belt system because
people would think his style
was for show..He did not want his
style of Kung Fu to be known that
way...


SM

[rogue]

I wish that belt rankings could be withdrawn. I've seen alot of brown and black belts that are sloppy. They do just well enough to get the belt and then slack off. There was one guy at one of the Wing Chun schools I briefly attended that looked like he was doing the Chicken Dance when he led the class. The head instructor seemed pretty good though.

I'd love to see someone try to go up in rank and get demoted for being sloppy.

[Robinf]

rogue,

I agree with you 100% and wish to second your motion.

[rogue]

Robin, maybe we can start a movement. It really ticks me off to see a Black or Brown belt with sloppy technique or perform kata like he was sleep walking. We spar at almost every class and we have some guys that came from different schools just to spar, and that's all they pretty much do. If they aren't putting 100% into a style I wish they'd find one where they would.

[Robinf]

rogue,

I sympathize with you. We have guys like that, too. We have guys who have been coming for a long time and used to be very dedicated--now they barely show up a few times a month and obviously don't practice outside the kwoon (they've forgotten most of their curriculum). It's almost embarassing having these guys show up and try to lead (they're higher belts).

[Sithlord]

Bonjour everyone. With this being my first post, I want to weigh in on this.

I tell people this who are looking for a school, "Just because a school has 50 banners on the wall, 2000 trophies in a window, dozens of pictures of famous people, 350 advertisements on the net, 8 teddy bears in a corner, 10 grasshoppers in a box, 5 golden rings, and a partridge in a pear tree, it doesn't mean that it is the BEST school for YOU!".

On any given day a black belt can be whooped eight ways from Sunday. The problem is that when we train and spar, sometimes it is in ideal situations. Someone throws a punch and you block. Well.........I don't think that some slapnut on the street with designs on taking you woman by any means will throw a Chinese punch, ridge hand, back fist, spining roundhouse kick, or even(Very unlikely) try to do a butterfly kick.

Situations in real life are VERY different than what we learn in the school. Is what we learn in the school benifical? YES! However, will it fit the ever changing environment or the outside world? NO! I feel some black belt students don't entirely realize this.

Centuries ago in China men were trained to fight, because of war! They were trained as solders! They knew that ideal situations didn't exist in war. Just as there are no idel situations in war, ther are no ideal situations on the street. Movies have distorted the real truth about martial arts. Movies show someone countering a punch by throwing a kick and pining the attackers arm to a wall. As cool as that and other examples of such are, the realality is that nothing in life is choreographed. Going into a real situation does not require a game plan! People need to understand that it's not as simple as what they see in the movies.

Personally I don't read too much into sashes and belts. They tend to give some people a false sense of security. "**** right I'm a black belt!", some people think. LOL! If that's what some think, then I wonder what they think when they are wheeled into an emergency room with contusions, bruses, and no girl!

Just because they have obtained the rank doesn't mean that they've mastered it. They still have a lot to learn.

Anyhoo, a tout a l'heure. [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]