R
rattlerbrat
Guest
Oh, you mean the black belts with stripes, hearts, stars and clovers on their belts? 
I just get a little irritated at the thought that we Kenpoists shouldn't be proud of what we've accomplished. I understand we're supposed to be humble, and it's not the belt, it's the (wo)man who wears it and all. But I've noticed that a lot of people who shun the stripes (not here, just in general) tend to bring up 'the old way'. "Well, when IIIIIII was a young student - back when Jesus and I were buddies - we never wore stripes! And we ran seven miles! Uphill! Both ways! In the SNOW! With no shoes on! And we had to get flexible by having our legs ripped at both sides! And..." It's like hearing bad war stories. Okay, I get it. You're old school studying in the new school. But you know what? In the OLD, old days, people didn't even wear gis, women couldn't train and the injury level was astronomically high. So let's give a loud kiai! for a little bit of updating of the system, okay?
Yes, I'll display my belts...in my home. And I'll proudly wear my belt...at the dojo. I don't see anything wrong with that, as long as you carry yourself in a humble manner. (Our dojo is across the street from the mall, and any time we run across the street for lunch, the belts come off!) Not to mention the fact that the difference between a shodan, a nidan and a sandan tend to be very, very vast - and I'm sure our high-ranking black belts here will probably agree! We need some sort of way to show the seperation, in my opinion.
I just get a little irritated at the thought that we Kenpoists shouldn't be proud of what we've accomplished. I understand we're supposed to be humble, and it's not the belt, it's the (wo)man who wears it and all. But I've noticed that a lot of people who shun the stripes (not here, just in general) tend to bring up 'the old way'. "Well, when IIIIIII was a young student - back when Jesus and I were buddies - we never wore stripes! And we ran seven miles! Uphill! Both ways! In the SNOW! With no shoes on! And we had to get flexible by having our legs ripped at both sides! And..." It's like hearing bad war stories. Okay, I get it. You're old school studying in the new school. But you know what? In the OLD, old days, people didn't even wear gis, women couldn't train and the injury level was astronomically high. So let's give a loud kiai! for a little bit of updating of the system, okay?
Yes, I'll display my belts...in my home. And I'll proudly wear my belt...at the dojo. I don't see anything wrong with that, as long as you carry yourself in a humble manner. (Our dojo is across the street from the mall, and any time we run across the street for lunch, the belts come off!) Not to mention the fact that the difference between a shodan, a nidan and a sandan tend to be very, very vast - and I'm sure our high-ranking black belts here will probably agree! We need some sort of way to show the seperation, in my opinion.
