For a long time I aspired to the “Dan” level of Hallows, and I got it. Actually more than a few arts.
However, belts mean nothing.
That’s right, nothing.
I don’t mean the levels, they weren’t easy, especially my first level of “Tang”, it was 8 hours and ended with a few rounds, domestic flight (no full power to the surface, so it was good?).
I don’t mean the journey, but I got my 1st Dan quickly. 3 years to be exact, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. I was able to evaluate in 2001, but during these three years I trained without myself, and before I went to university, I trained in Chun Kung Fu, Chinese Kickboxing and Shotokai Karate and Judo at the University. Suffice it to say that when I started that journey I was not new to the fight or the style itself.
When Dan got to the grade, it was the culmination of three intense years of solid training and this system. I got my black belt from the cadet level along with a lot of hard working and skilled students, from the cadet level, with better people than I’ve had in over an hour. The process was rigorous and refused to do anything wrong – it was a tough day, we were all tired but proud.
At that time, the belt represented a real opportunity – it was evidence that you did the work, learned about it, learned. But I think prioritizing opportunity over priority is a dangerous game, should you fight, educate, or develop a real skill?
After my first DAN grade, I did 1st degree, 2nd degree, 2nd and senior 2nd, and 2nd degree and 1st degree (albeit related) style, but with the same club and instructor. However, the time has come, my teacher, I moved to other styles and arts, I moved to other styles and arts, and my wings (from my teens, karate, karate, karate, kickboxing, Thai boxing, taekwondo “and lately Krav-Maga / United.
I’m not following prices anymore. Most of my training was on the branches, where it’s nothing – you turn and train and that’s it. You can estimate the price if you want. My Krav Maga “yellow belt” – 1st level – was the only major thing I did from martial arts. One of the evaluation team removed the mats for disposal. However, we have never worn a waistcoat in the classroom and we will never know who is who, they will pass through which students and no one cares and no one cares.
So what’s the point?
At first, belts were motivators. They were sent to me to assess whether I was in the training program. They set me goals and challenges to measure against. It gave me structure and a deadline. They shaped my achievements because I came to them and I received them. But that has changed.
After my first teacher left the country, I looked for another club, and I took a local school as a venue for karate. It was within walking distance of where I live, so I let it go.
Red flags went out the doors early.
The students were all young people, and I didn’t last time in the room, I found such an old guy, so I was over ten years old, and I didn’t look like me. The “instructor” looked young, but then I was in my mid-20s, when I got my black belt from him, I knew younger belts than him, but I knew smaller belts than him, but I realized that they looked “green” (the color of the belt
The biggest red flag came when we did the “self defense” thing. It was the way the instructor did it, and it wasn’t my retrospective interpretation. “Self-defense” is made of middle division and technique (you should learn “technique” defense, just “technique” because you should never “learn technique”, you drill techniques “, – wax on detiel-ran!
I can hardly stop myself from speaking.
First of all, in the “Dojo / Dojang / Kwoon” no one from the middle part outside of the sparring center has ever had to defend themselves. This doesn’t happen in the real world.
Second, reactive blocks that use massive arm movements work well. You can parry, cross, or block (think boxing), but the blocks aren’t real, and anyone who teaches self-defense will tell you they’re the same. Your average “block” isn’t a block at all – it’s usually a strike, a grab, a Brackaway, nothing but a block.
The final straw was at the end of the lesson, I quickly started talking to the club to get the background and what it was all about. They bought their instructor after six months !!! Before that, they were in training sessions and they went through an intensive course for six months.
I did not comment.
Because of this, I suspect that the exercises took fifty times longer for me than for the “instructor”. But hey, they had a belt!
Both inside and outside of the martial arts community, there is a tendency for people outside of it to see a “black belt” as a skill, knowledge, education, and ultimate qualification indicator.
This is fabric.
Journey, skill, education, knowledge, commitment, strength, time, time – these are all things, not a belt, a martial artist. I’ve studied with black belts, and I’ve split seconds away from white belts who might be embarrassed off the mats on weekdays.
A belt means nothing.
We prioritize qualification above all and turn to the purpose of the process, we open the door to all the problems described above.
Now imagine the effect this has on our school and university systems – the end goal is a paper, a certificate, a ‘grade’ and not a process.
Now add AI.
How much money do real “black belts” make and how many are being discovered?
I think that unlike martial arts, self-defense and combat sports where we have it, you’re out of luck if your skills don’t match that belt. What we get, however, is that it doesn’t give students the skills they need, it doesn’t give students the skills they need, and these gaps spill over into higher education and the workplace.
Now AI is here to speed up the process! Certificates, badges, belts and trophies at the click of a button. But this is not the fault of the students, nor is it the system that prioritizes grades over actual learning.
The difference, in combat, is that reality has a way of verifying your credentials. In education, we introduce black belts to people who have never been in real combat.
We can change and change quickly.