What should a black belt look like?

[Ironbear24]

When I picture a black belt I used to think of a very muscular guy, looks dangerous and in general a tough guy. Now that I am no longer 7 years old I learned that for many martial arts, black belt is an impressive feat, but it does not necessarily mean you are a master.

Still even though there is that fact, I see many black belts that look obese and out of shape. Is level of fitness not a requirement for most martial arts? I know in my old kenpo dojo it was to an extent, I mean you were not required to be Mr universe or something but you had to be on good shape to spar for awhile without getting too winded to continue.

What are your thoughts on this? I am very interested to learn.

 

[Tez3]

You just know I'm going to tell you it's long, black and made of material, usually cotton don't you?

Why do you assume a black belt would be a 'guy', you don't know any female black belts?

 

[Ironbear24]

The female black belts I have seen are usually in great shape, that's why I didn't mention them. The question was asked because I've seen many male black belts who at least appear to be out of shape which raised the question.

 

[PhotonGuy]

When I picture a black belt I used to think of a very muscular guy, looks dangerous and in general a tough guy. Now that I am no longer 7 years old I learned that for many martial arts, black belt is an impressive feat, but it does not necessarily mean you are a master.

Still even though there is that fact, I see many black belts that look obese and out of shape. Is level of fitness not a requirement for most martial arts? I know in my old kenpo dojo it was to an extent, I mean you were not required to be Mr universe or something but you had to be on good shape to spar for awhile without getting too winded to continue.

What are your thoughts on this? I am very interested to learn.

The definition of a "black belt" student varies from dojo to dojo. Every dojo has their own set of standards for the black belt. In some dojos they've got very high standards and you don't get a black belt until after very hard intense training and at other dojos they practically hand it to you and then there are tons of dojos that fall somewhere in between. Sure, there are some black belts that are big, muscular guys but you will find skinny people with black belts, fat and overweight people with black belts, and all different sorts of people. It varies tremendously.

 

[Tez3]

The female black belts I have seen are usually in great shape, that's why I didn't mention them. The question was asked because I've seen many male black belts who at least appear to be out of shape which raised the question.

Mmm I'm not going to pick out the sexism and prejudice in that statement as it is nearly midnight and I'm off to bed, but you may want to think about it a bit.

 

[Ironbear24]

You just know I'm going to tell you it's long, black and made of material, usually cotton don't you?

Why do you assume a black belt would be a 'guy', you don't know any female black belts?

Mmm I'm not going to pick out the sexism and prejudice in that statement as it is nearly midnight and I'm off to bed, but you may want to think about it a bit.

I don't see how anything I said was sexist or prejudices. I feel like you are reading too much into this.

The definition of a "black belt" student varies from dojo to dojo. Every dojo has their own set of standards for the black belt. In some dojos they've got very high standards and you don't get a black belt until after very hard intense training and at other dojos they practically hand it to you and then there are tons of dojos that fall somewhere in between. Sure, there are some black belts that are big, muscular guys but you will find skinny people with black belts, fat and overweight people with black belts, and all different sorts of people. It varies tremendously.

Ok different standards for different dojos. Thank you, my next question is should seeing many black belts from a dojo be out of shape be a red flag that this dojo is no good or should it not be an issue?

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Is level of fitness not a requirement for most martial arts?

No. Martial arts is about martial arts, not looking pretty in a Speedo.

I've changed a lot from this guy:

To this guy:

If you don't think I can kick major booty because I've gotten old and I've got a big gut, come on over here and show me your teeth. I'll tell you which ones you get to take home in your pocket. I don't have to have a 'level of fitness' to whip the everloving crap out of most insolent young upstarts.

All meant in good fun. As far as you know.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Thank you, my next question is should seeing many black belts from a dojo be out of shape be a red flag that this dojo is no good or should it not be an issue?

I dunno. Why don't you get on the floor with them and see how many ways they can make you bleed?

 

[Ironbear24]

No. Martial arts is about martial arts, not looking pretty in a Speedo.

I've changed a lot from this guy:

To this guy:

If you don't think I can kick major booty because I've gotten old and I've got a big gut, come on over here and show me your teeth. I'll tell you which ones you get to take home in your pocket. I don't have to have a 'level of fitness' to whip the everloving crap out of most insolent young upstarts.

All meant in good fun. As far as you know.

I would be honored to be whooped by you. I could possibly learn and better myself from the experience.

 

[Tez3]

I don't see how anything I said was sexist or prejudices. I feel like you are reading too much into this.

I feel you are judging people lol, you think the women are 'fit' and the men are obese. Stop looking for 'red flags' and start looking at people as martial artists instead.

 

[Ironbear24]

Now I have a bit of a personal question. If you do not mind me asking. How did you go from a young Caucasian man to becoming a large heavyset black man?

 

[Bill Mattocks]

I would be honored to be whooped by you. I could possibly learn and better myself from the experience.

Then don't judge a book by its cover and all that stuff. You seem to be young. If that is true, you will be amazed at two things as you get older. The first is that your body changes whether you want it to or not (for most of us), and the second is that life, as it is kicking you square dead in the booty for fifty years or so, gives something back in exchange for the youth it robs you of. My hair is gone. My mean is meaner. My gut is large. I hit like a truck; ask anyone whom I've pasted good and proper. My life is one of prescription pills, testing my blood sugar, and trying not to get too fat for my pants; the payback is nobody, and I do mean nobody, f's with me.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Now I have a bit of a personal question. If you do not mind me asking. How did you go from a young Caucasian man to becoming a large heavyset black man?

Vitamins.

 

[yak sao]

No. Martial arts is about martial arts, not looking pretty in a Speedo.

I've changed a lot from this guy:

To this guy:

Is that you on the left or right?

 

[Ironbear24]

Vitamins.

Then I will continue to take them then. I will take your advice about the judging the book by the cover. The reason why I asked this is because I visited a dojos website and they had many heavy men with black belts in their introduction picture, and I was curious if that meant something was off with their training.

I have not trained with them yet so outside of that I have no judgements to make other than that picture i saw and the articles I read on the site.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Is that you on the left or right?

Yes.

 

[Hanzou]

 

[Spinedoc]

This is actually an interesting discussion.

I practice in physical medicine seeing spine patients all day. I frequently, at least several times daily, have to discuss a patients obesity and weight with them as part of their problem. In addition to my medical practice, I also have graduate education in sports medicine.

I have noticed black belts in multiple different arts that are heavy set or obese as well. I hypothesize that it is due to several factors.

1: Probably the biggest is conservation of motion. While most martial artists realize that a black belt does not equate to "master" of anything, and in most arts, at least in Japan, a black belt is considered to only mean you have mastered the basics, and are ready to start actually learning (IE; you've learned basic math and algebra, and are now ready to start learning higher level math-calculus, etc.)

What happens, is as you become more skilled and competent at a physical task, you become far more efficient and expend less energy doing the same task as you did when you were learning, practicing it. We see this in athletes, laborers, etc. Martial arts is no exception.

2: Teaching. Many, if not the majority of dan level practitioners teach. This is not the same as practicing. While teaching, you are focusing on the student, and watching them, instructing them, etc. You are not really working hard physically, and many instructors will simply walk the mat or floor watching and correcting students. This is a low energy effort activity.

3: Age, physiology all play a role, although not as big as genetics. IE; some older people will stay naturally thin and fit, while others will struggle.

4: Diet, you cannot eat the way you did when you were 19-25. Unfortunately, most struggle with this the most.

IOW, Black belts, especially older ones, are actually more susceptible to obesity for a variety of reasons than the average practicing martial artist.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Doc, my weight went from nearly 300 to 225 when I started martial arts at age 46. It also helped me keep my diabetes under control. I am an adult student who assist with teaching.

 

[JP3]

My 4th black belt (not 4th degree, my actual 4th one) was going gray and a bit worn and ratty around the edges, before some idiot dopehead broke the window out of my wife's car and stole both of our "workout" bags out of her back seat while we were having a muchly-earned cool-down session at Buffalow Wild Wings. Hey.. we like it!.

Mind you, my original judo black belt was in there (I'd stopped wearing the taekwondo, hapkido and aikido ones at that time), and that irritated me greatly. But, also in the bag was a pair of very smelly knee braces, a even more smelly judogi (it was time to do the wash, yes), a required small container of the hot Tiger Balm (love that stuff), my container of "Judo Candy," (read, ibuprofen) and a spare T-shirt and pair of boxers. Yes, I had come from judo class.
My wife's bag smelled even worse, if you can believe it. She had come from her "I wanna train to be a stripper" class, with all that heavy and stressful as all get out pole and core work, the hot yoga pants (Not Oh Boy! But, more like ohhh boy.... those smell...), and two pairs of special dancing shoes.

It REALLY irritated me, losing that belt. Double wrap, nothing special. Size 6 as I like it to be a bit longer than typical for the wrapping key locks. It was all way broken in after about 10 years, too. One of the 1.5" width ones, no embroidery as that is way too fancy for judoka - I had to learn to put away the tendency towards extra accourtremente which my Korean arts had trained me.....

Wait... This is what you wanted me to respond with, right?

OOh, not the belt, but the practitioner. I think you'll find that the old guys and gals all tend, just like anyone else as they age, to get a bit heavier, that's just life. Doesn't mean that they can't put the whomp on someone, it just doesn't take them as long to do it. Don't be misled by simple physical fitness. Not that staying fit is a not desireable thing, it is, for many reasons, but in the end, unless you plan on jyust sparring for hours, it doesn't mean much in a typical combat environment where everything is usually decided in less than 20 seconds.

And I've yet to meet the person who is totally blown winded after a real combat environment, trained, in shape, or not. It's the nature of the thing.