Wearing your Belt ?

[JCgramt88$$]

I started practicing internal and external martial arts in 2022. I’ve been sporadic in my practice b/c of work so sometimes I can go a week or two without practice. 3 years in I’ve seen how much easier it is to relearn something versus seeing it for the first time. All that to ask about the importance of belts. In internal arts I got to a blue belt. Many weeks away made me forget steps and miss details. Do you still deserve to wear that belt if you do not know the material. Like having a degree in nursing but you have been a nurse in 5 years. I just wondered ppl’s thoughts on this

 

[isshinryuronin6 5]

Do you still deserve to wear that belt if you do not know the material.

Probably not in your case. If you forget steps and details after only a few weeks you likely have not really learned them nor have them ingrained in your muscle memory. A mid-level black belt can go years and lose very little of his skill and knowledge. Whether you deserve to wear the belt or not, your school may let you still wear it, but it's up to you to work diligently to recapture what you have lost ASAP.

 

[MadMartigan107 22]

What the belt should signify is the level of understanding you have achieved, both in how the technical principles are performed and their purpose.

If all you forgot during your time away was the order of certain prearranged steps...then yes. You haven't lost anything but memory of what step comes next. However, if you've forgotten parts of how the move works, then what Ishinryuronnin said would apply.

In my opinion, understanding and being able to apply the principles is what matters... not whether you can remember a bunch of movements in an exact order. Memorizing is useful in that it gives us a way to ensure nothing gets missed. But it's only a tool to reach mastery, not the actual mastery itself.

 

[Simfers116 23]

Ultimately, I think this might be a matter for your instructor to settle. They gave you that belt, so they felt you deserved it. They'd be the one best equiped to decide whether or not you still meet their standards and, if not, what to do about that. I'd have a conversation with them and explain your dilemma.

Quick caveat that I have NO experience with Chinese martial arts and how things are done in that realm. So sincere apologies if what I've suggested is some grievous faux pas.

 

[Stuarto76 17]

I feel that once you've earned that rank, it's yours now. As Simfers mentioned, your instructor felt you were deserving and awarded it to you. I think if you are inactive for an extended period of time you should still be allowed to wear your rank however, you may be relearning a lot before you progress any further.

 

[Buka31 5]

I think it depends on the school, the teacher and the student. I’ve had students that used to be brown belts come back after ten or fifteen years and ask if it was okay to start as a white belt again. It was usually from going off to college and/or now having a family, or into the military, or moving away and then back again.

I’d ask them why and they said “I remember everything but I’m out of shape and I suck.”

So I told them to put on a white belt and I’d tell them when they were in shape and didn’t suck anymore. And that’s what we did.

We had interactive schools, everyone communicated with each other, so everyone knew. And once you were in a gym for a year or two you could just tell “former student.”

 

[Fungus106 3]

I feel that once you've earned that rank, it's yours now.

I agree. I don't view belt ranks as a sign of (current) skill, it is a (historical) achievement of proven skill or capacity. If you passed a hard black belt test, then that is a major achievement that can't be take away from you. Even if you 10 years later are badly out of shape, forgotten the grading katas, or are in a wheel chair for example, the rank is still an achievement.

 

[Fungus106 3]

That said, I know pople that took a break in karate for years, and onece they resumed training, the started with joining the beginner classes, to refresh things. But still wearing the belt they earned. Nothing wrong with that.

 

[Stuarto76 17]

I agree. I don't view belt ranks as a sign of (current) skill, it is a (historical) achievement of proven skill or capacity. If you passed a hard black belt test, then that is a major achievement that can't be take away from you. Even if you 10 years later are badly out of shape, forgotten the grading katas, or are in a wheel chair for example, the rank is still an achievement.

Exactly, it's like earning a college degree or a DD-214. Maybe you will never use the degree you earned and chose an entirely different profession, but you still earned it by putting in the time and effort to achieve it.