Black Belt Clubs

[Shuto]

Another problem with these things is the implication that anyone who joins the club is somehow guaranteed a black belt at some point in time. I personally believe that not every schmoe who walks in the door will eventually merit the rank, regardless of how hard and long they train. For many people, for many reasons, they simply will not live up to the standard. There is no shame in that. They can still train and get a lot of value from it. But a club like this implies that it is guaranteed at some point, and I have a real problem with it.

You would have a problem with our school then. You are pretty much guaranteed a belt if you put in the time. I agree that there is no shame in not attaining that rank but some people are motivated by the belt and they seem to benefit from the training, both physically and spiritually, at least according to my observations.

I have given some thought to this promotion process and I am at peace with it.

 

[Xue Sheng]

You are pretty much guaranteed a belt if you put in the time.

ooo I missed that, ok I do have a bit of a problem with this, but if you are happy with it, who cares what I think.

 

[Shuto]

ooo I missed that, ok I do have a bit of a problem with this, but if you are happy with it, who cares what I think.

Yep, I understand. The way I view it is that people are benefiting from this training and are finding motivation in the belt color. It does belittle the belt, but not as much as I originally thought since slackers will find ways to fall out of the program. Maybe the belt is lessened, but a lot of people benefit as well which counter-balances the downside IMO.

Ultimately I view my training and level of attainment as my responsibility and I have found my instructors very supportive and responsive to my efforts and questions. I really don't need a belt system to motivate me. I am motivated by training with my peers and instructors. They are good people.

 

[Flying Crane]

ooo I missed that, ok I do have a bit of a problem with this, but if you are happy with it, who cares what I think.

I'll have to second this position. I don't agree with it, but if you are happy with the training and the arrangement then my opinion doesn't impact you.

 

[Flying Crane]

I really don't need a belt system to motivate me. I am motivated by training with my peers and instructors.

Bingo. This is really as it should be, and I think is a healthy attitude. Personally, I often wish we could dump the whole belt system altogether, but in many cases we are kind of stuck with it. Oh well.

 

[Shuto]

I'll add that I no longer consider the color belt as a mark of achievement which is what I think it originally designated. I see it more as a mark of dedication, commitment, and perhaps perseverance which equates somewhat to achievement. I certainly consider the belt color when I am practicing a take down because the more advanced belt colors have had a lot more experience with how to fall safely.

 

[IcemanSK]

I'm really amazed at the idea of a BB Clubfrom the student's point of view. I was in love at 1st sight with my art at 14 years old when I began training. But still, a million things could happen between now & BB that could have taken me away from it. How many folks leave MA after 1st test or 2?! I could just see parents saying to Jr., "We paid for you to be in the BB Club. I don't care if you don't like it anymore. You're gonna stay in until you finish."

Ugh.

 

[kidswarrior]

What the heck is a Black Belt club?

I'm a CMA guy and we don't even give out belts.

But let me see if I have this.

A kid pays extra to join a black belt club and gets extra or different training and an accelerated path to black belt because he has done this while the other hard working students, that are also paying, but not as much as those in the Black Belt Club, get squat, is that it?

You scholar, you. :ultracool

 

[Grenadier]

The way I see it, as long as the Yudansha rank is *not* guaranteed after a certain period of time, then such clubs aren't a problem.

Typically, the "black belt club" classification is nothing more than the next tier up, in terms of offering more and / or accelerated training, for those who want it. Most of the time, it will cost a bit more, but the way I see it, if the student gets that much more training and / or benefits, then it's worth it.

 

[Min]

At my school for everyone that walks in the front door we have one goal for them, Black Belt.

At my school, I offer a regular program 2 classes a week for a length going from 1 month to 6 months to one year, and then before you can get into the advanced classes you have to join the Black Belt Training Program, which provides weapon training of Long Staff (Beg), Nunchaku (Int), Kali (Adv), Sai(Adv), or Kama(Adv), depending on the semester and your rank. The Black Belt Training Program can be earned at any rank. From there you have a potential of joining the G.O.L.D (Guidence On Leadership Development) Team, this offers unlimited classes per week as well as you can assist based on your age and rank and you get a special class once every two weeks to develope your leadership skills. Finally we have the Masters Program which you can learn several different arts including Kung Fu, Wushu, Hapkido, and Karate, as well as your original TKD classes. You also have the potential of learning 18 weapons, or honing in on your favourite weapon or both.