I enrolled in a new school a couple of weeks ago and, much to my surprise, have already been promoted to the next belt level. On one level this makes sense; I've 5 years worth of study in a couple systems, so I'm not really a beginner. But at the same time it seems a little bit indecent; I mean, I'm still waiting for the gi I ordered to come in.
The testing and promotion process at this particular studio is no where near as rigorous (in a physical sense) as in other places I've studied. All I had to do was demonstrate sufficient mastery of the first-level material; the whole test took about 20 minutes. That contrasts strongly with another system I've studied where the test for promotion from first to second rank was a grueling, several hour ordeal.
This speaks, I think, to the whole notion that a particular rank has any meaning outside of a specific system. It took me 3.5-ish years to reach brown belt at a previous studio, and probably would have taken me another year or so to reach black. In my new school, however, people get to black in under 2 years. At the same time, however, there are clearly much different expectations for what it means to have a black belt in both systems: in my old school you were qualified (more or less) to run your own studio under the guidance of a more-senior instructor, whereas in the new school you've just gotten the preliminaries out of the way.
I do hope, however, that the testing becomes more rigorous/vigorous at some point. Any schmoe can memorize a bunch of forms, but there's more to it than just that. Good martial artists carry themselves a certain way and have a certain demeanour... they've internalized the mental and physical aspects of their art. I want the people above me to be better than I am if for no other reason than to serve as a goad for my own development.
I was initially concerned about all of this but, on reflection, I don't think it matters how hard it is to get to the next belt. Students and instructors can serve as exemplars, but improvement is ultimately a dialogue with yourself. You get out of it what you put into it. If you know what you need to do to improve the belt is largely immaterial at that point.
1 comment:
You shouldn't be too disappointed if the first few belts seem too easy. They probably only seem that way because you've already done the work to get to brown in another school. Perhaps they can see you have the basics down and don't want you to feel that they're wasting your time.
I never got to my 3rd belt (orange) in Lau Gar Kung Fu, but got to the 4th (green) fairly easily in IAKSA kick-boxing, which is based on it, but with much less emphasis on the forms and technical rigour. I became a little bored, and didn't bother with it for a few years.
But then I came back to it, and green to blue was pretty difficult (I barely passed). Blue to purple is where they really start putting the funky kung-fu moves back in. So currently it's a lot of fun and a proper challenge.
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