What it takes to pass a black belt?

[sakurakaratekai]

Hi all

I was asked by a beginner student the other day "What will it take to pass my black belt?"
My answer was in no particular order:

1. Commitment 2. Discipline 3. Enthusiasm 4. Good Instructor 5. Humility

"But." the student continued "don't you have to be good at fighting too?"
My answer was "yes, but it is important to remember that without commitment, discipline, enthusiasm, good instruction and humility you can never have good techniques just as a good quality cake needs to be made with good quality ingredients and the time and effort to bake it"

Any other suggestions on what it takes or means to be a dan grade?

Mark

[oneya]

Hi Mark,

In the first place it is essential to stop thinking of it as an exam and something to pass. It is not something we study to pass and leave behind but something we achieve. It is like a birthday anniversary but in this case iIt is the first step in a journey of exploration and understanding the process of wado ryu (life) which is what we all do.. By the time you are 5th dan you should be set for a life of more learning, a life enabled by wado ryu which is something more productive.

oneya

[shep]

I would tell him/her to to totally focus on what it takes to pass yellow first

shep

[wadoka]

Mark

if you have been lurking around long enough you should guess that you will receive the whole spectrum of "wisdom" in the responses.

I would say that they need to "submit" themselves and allow to be molded. To pass the 1st black belt, it is just about copying and showing.

In ye olde days, and maybe in many associations now, it is a feat of endurance and memory. I personally don't buy into that but I can understand the intentions.

[oneya]

Mark

if you have been lurking around long enough you should guess that you will receive the whole spectrum of "wisdom" in the responses.

I would say that they need to "submit" themselves and allow to be molded. To pass the 1st black belt, it is just about copying and showing.

In ye olde days, and maybe in many associations now, it is a feat of endurance and memory. I personally don't buy into that but I can understand the intentions.

Perhaps I am misunderstanding something here Gordon, in fact I am sure I must be - but I would think "Just copying and showing" for the first 4 - 5 years would be a terrible waste of life for a student and the teacher

[wadoka]

Words are hard without general flim-flam and a glass of wine.

I guess what I am trying to say is that from experience both as a student and someone who stands at the front of class, I don't see anyone really absorbing the kind of movement capability that I see in the seniors ahead of me. We know that "level" takes time and is a process.

To get to shodan is also a "level" and a different process. There is a struggle just to manage the sequencing and memory. You have used the phrase that training is there "to forge" both the body and spirit.

When I used the phrase "copying and showing" I meant it more about forging the body in readiness for post-shodan.

Bob has said that there should be a quicker way of getting there. Others say it is a lifetimes process.

[Tim49]

Shodan is an artificial marker; it has been objectified for such a long time now that in some circles its meaning has become confused.

Shodan is not a universal standard, it only has a value which is commensurate to the authority awarding it. For people who think it is a universal benchmark this I think is where delusion abides.

I would say, ask the person who sets the standard just exactly what those standards are. If it’s just about bigger stronger faster you are probably not doing Wado.

Really this is a huge question; a dissertation would probably not be long enough to pin it down.

Tim Shaw
Essex UK

[WadoAJ]

That would depend on the examiner.

[Gusei21]

I agree with AJ, Tim, Gordon, Reg...
I started to write but I gave up.
Tim is right. This is a dissertation.
Just be better today than you were yesterday.
There is always a better way to do things.
It is always deeper than you think.
If karate is your lifelong journey then the time spent being a non blackbelt will be so miniscule that it will not be very relevant.
For the others I don't think it matters much.
If your belt gets worn out then get a new one! It is only a belt for crying out loud.
Don't get attached to it otherwise you are proving that you are missing the important lesson...or that you are just cheap.

[oneya]

Words are hard without general flim-flam and a glass of wine.

Ah sorry Gordon, I didn't look or think deep enough, my apologies.

but Wow !!, a child asks a question and we can't give him a cohesive answer.

Tim is right of course: Shodan is an artificial marker, but then if one looks deeper so are all the rest with labels and laurels often being a matter of any structure of convenience.

Mark does usher in a fresh breeze though by inviting a few alternate thoughts, and our stuttering makes me wonder if the old adages were built on such moments: adages like this one:

‘If you have one eye on the black belt you have only one eye left for the training – so you are heading for failure.’

I wonder too if the child was also more concerned about jiyu kumite and needed more reassuring ‘meat on the bones’ than the usual dogma gives ?

oneya