Require to black belt

[shaolin23]

What does your art Require for black belt?

20 forms? How many self defense techniques?

Any bjj? Arm locks take downs ex...

History?

[Buddha_Fist]

Oversized pants that just don't want to stay in place!

[David Jamieson]

will, ability and skill.

all three.

[jdhowland]

[QUOTE=shaolin23;969449]What does your art Require for black belt?QUOTE]

It requires that you train with us. In our tradition black symbolizes humility, darkness, emptiness. That was also supposed to be its meaning in the belt ranking system devised by Professor Jigoro Kano for his Kodokan Judo. White is for purity. The black belt is supposed to remind one of the need for humility. In our system only the headmasters wear white belts.

I know this isn't what you are asking for. But it may help to remember that not only do different systems differ vastly in their requirements, but also in the relevance of their status symbols. The black belt was not intended to be a sign of rank but a sign of commitment.

jd

[GeneChing]

$4.75 + S&H.

If you subscribe, you'll even get a 10% discount off of that.

[David Jamieson]

$4.75 + S&H.

If you subscribe, you'll even get a 10% discount off of that.

sweet! lol

[Lucas]

i was going to take you up on that and be a 5 dolla black belt, but then i saw the S&H reqs...im not that commited.

[David Jamieson]

i was going to take you up on that and be a 5 dolla black belt, but then i saw the S&H reqs...im not that commited.

You're just lazy. Now work harder at getting those S&H costs together.
Start with vigorously search wallet stance and follow up with pocket search drills.
After that spend some time on checking the sofa patterns and follow that with drawer pull and search routines.

If you can't get it together after that, you don't deserve that black belt!!!!

[SIFU RON]

$4.75 + s&h.

If you subscribe, you'll even get a 10% discount off of that.

excellent program

[Lucas]

im thinking ill just take up the 'spare some change palm exchange' qigung program....

[David Jamieson]

im thinking ill just take up the 'spare some change palm exchange' qigung program....

that would be bagua and not really qigong. change palm...get it?


nevermind

[Lucas]

lol, ya i get it. i was going to say style...but then changed it to qigong hoping to play off the tendon exchange....but my wordz is not that coolz

i fail, back to no belt for me

[Shaolin]

1. My students must describe the sound of one hand clapping
2. They must run across rice paper without tearing it.
3. Get into a bar fight and jam the nasal bone of a man into his brain
4. Lift a red hot urn with your forearms, branding them with a tiger on one arm and a dragon on the other
5. They must register there hands as "lethal weapons".
Only then may they receive a black belt

The Black Belt Maze
By: Torbjorn Arntsen

It should come as no surprise that there are upsides and downsides to the martial arts. Take any supplement, action, state or belief to the extreme, and you will soon begin to experience the flip side of that shiny new coin.

The martial arts are built upon an abundance of tools, rituals, codes and beliefs - some old, some new. Quite a few may be common elsewhere, such as the sports specific methods or the military type of hierarchy. Other things are quite unique to the arts - one of them being the belt rank system.

And within that rank system, probably nothing has been more abused and misinterpreted than 'The Black Belt'.

Welcome to the yellow belt club!
Walk into any strip mall in North America and chances are you will see at least one sign shouting at you: "We are a black belt club!" Inside the karate or taekwondo school, you will likely find it displayed in prominent places as well.

"Fine", I would probably think to myself. And then I might also add "And the alternative is what ... a yellow belt club?"

Don't get me wrong, there's absolutely nothing wrong about wanting to become a black belt as per se. It was one of the goals I had some 25 odd years ago. Even though I may not have a 20/20 vision any more, I'm not really after shooting myself in the foot...

What bugs me is this tendency to place this "multicolored" belt on the very top of the food chain - something to be awed and worshiped as being akin to a 007 "license to kill" thing.

She's a martial arts master
One consequence of this hysteria is how media reports about a young boy or girl earning his or her black belt after a few years of training. "She has now reached the master level!" Yes, of course... and then you have the Slightly More Masters, and The Real Masters, and the Really Great Masters, and the Top Of The Line Great Ultimate Masters.

Who in their infinite wisdom began to see a black belt as a master level? Not that girl, her parents or teacher I'm sure. Yes, she's probably very good at what she does. Good for her I'd say without a hint of irony. Her parents and relatives are very proud and she has undoubtedly earned the belt.

But please ... even though it's a great achievement in anyones life - be that young or old - it's just a belt. And last time I checked black was a color.

What might happen if we put things on a pedestal, is that we don't see it's real purpose and true value.

The purpose of the black belt
This rank is intended to be a summary of all the basic steps. In essence it means that you should now be able to really begin to benefit from your training; it's not the end, but rather the beginning. You have learned the dance steps, now dance! All those tiny creeks have joined into a small river, which can begin to gain momentum. Hopefully one day it will grow into a larger river.

Way too many people come to this perceived peak of "black-beltness", which really is more like a crossroad. They look around and may think to themselves "I did it, now what?", or "was this all?"

It may also be that some actually believe in the hype and the mystery cloud surrounding the sudden deadliness status we all know comes with the territory. From one day to the next, you are a lethal weapon - guaranteed.

So what happens when our young "karate kid" learns that she can not walk on water, levitate or perform the Hollywood film tricks or one-fingered delayed death touch at will?

Is there an increased chance of the student dropping out at this point? At least statistics indicate this to be the fact. After all, very few continue after earning their black belt.

Could it be then, that this is at least partially because the belt is so over-hyped and then brought to you as something achievable in 3 to 4 years of training? I honestly believe so.

I don't wish to devalue anything. However, anyone with a basic concept of motivation will achieve a black belt in eight out of ten arts. It is just a matter of showing up at regular intervals and doing what you're told, you know :-)

The real value of the black belt
The real value lies in the fact that you should now have a basic understanding of the path you're currently on. You should also have learned how to learn - how to seek out and apply the correct information.

Furthermore - and this may be the most profound experience of them all - you should by now have found out a thing or two about yourself, as well as having met and hopefully befriended a number of great, inspirational people.

That is the gift of tying the black belt around your waist; now, get your butt-kicking belt back to that training hall!

[jdhowland]

1. My students must describe the sound of one hand clapping
2. They must run across rice paper without tearing it.
3. Get into a bar fight and jam the nasal bone of a man into his brain
4. Lift a red hot urn with your forearms, branding them with a tiger on one arm and a dragon on the other
5. They must register there hands as "lethal weapons".
Only then may they receive a black belt

Excellent list, but you left out the part about breaking pine boards. You can't get your black belt without breaking the boards. (Insert ad for "re-breakable" synthetic boards.

jd