The Belt System: a positive influence on training or does it get in the way?

Karate's belt system was adapted from the one in Judo. This was done to, essentially,  to stop karate dying out. So has the belt system kept karate alive in a modern, western context or killed it off?

A way to find an answer is to examine what role the belt system now has in training. I imagine what springs to a lot of people's minds, (and certainly mine), is that it's a source of motivation for westerners who don't have the patience of the Japanese and aren't really learning it for the same reasons as Okinawans did.

Is the belt system now just a shallow source of motivation for westerners? As a Kyu grade, belt promotions tend to happen more often than for Dan grades. So, if the belt system is just a source of motivation why are their black belts that have been black belts for more than just a few months? They don't have regular belt promotions, which suggests that next belt= being motivated  isn't always the case.

Also, if this was the case, then karate would've been killed off by now. If people just gave up at black belt before they had a chance to actually gain a decent amount of experience, there wouldn't be anyone to teach karate and it would die out.

However,  the fact is that many people stop training at brown or black belt, as belt promotions become less regular and they feel they've done it all and have nothing more to aim for. For some, the belt system is the only thing that keeps them training, the only reason they're motivated. This suggests that if the belt system is just a source of motivation depends on the karateka.

This conclusion is similar to that of my previous post. Based on what I said in my previous paragraph, what the belt system is differs from karateka to karateka, but it's important for us, as individuals, to avoid making it in to something it is not.

Not everyone gives up as brown or black belts, they continue to train for other reasons than just working towards the next belt. But if they have 'other reasons' what's the point of coloured belts and regular belt promotions to start with? The answer will be the content of my next post.

The Belt System: Gradings

What does the colour of a karateka's belt symbolise? Experience? Ability? Does it show something about them as a person and do we make assumptions that aren't always true?

I think one of the best ways to judge this is examining the nature of gradings;looking at what the criteria is for moving up to the next belt and how a karateka is assessed against it. Personally, I think that gradings asses a somewhat narrow range of aspects to someone's karate: technical accuracy in relation to dealing with pressure. Is this all a belt shows about a karateka? Their technical accuracy under pressure? So are we right to make certain assumptions about other aspects of their training?

The other side to this argument is that, although the things assessed, in terms of range, are quite narrow, other aspects of someone's karate might influence those things. For example, there might be a correlation between the level of technical accuracy an examiner sees and the level of commitment of that particular individual. Their level of commitment might then say something about them as a person, however people are complex and never in black and white. So 'commitment' isn't very informative on its own.

But there's also dealing with pressure in the equation. There might be two karateka, both technically accurate when doing karate, but while one excels under grading-type pressure, the other does the opposite. Who would pass and who would fail? The difference is how they deal with pressure.

How one deals with grading-type pressure doesn't say anything major about a their personality, I don't think. It can't help you make any broad judgement about how they deal with pressure because there are so many forms of it; I've always done well under grading-type pressure but am sometimes uncomfortable when faced with more everyday pressures.

To conclude, karate is complex, too complex for examiners to asses the whole of it. Some aspects of someone's karate are just impossible to asses. Besides, what is the 'whole' of karate? They'd have a totally impossible task! People are also complex, so in most cases, examiners can't judge them because of the small amount  they see of them in such a brief time. I remember at my black belt grading, just before the examiners gave us the results, one of them told us that it was done on what they'd just seen of our karate and not on personality. I'm not certain exactly why he said this, but it supports my conclusion that a karateka's belt colour does say some things about their karate but they shouldn't be totally judged on it and we shouldn't make the belt system in to something it is not.

My next post will look at the impact the belt system has on our training and will be less pessimistic about it!

The Difference Between Wearing a Black Belt and Being One

I know I mentioned in my last post that I'd be writing something about issues regarding the belt system. Turns out that it's quite a broad, complex subject so getting together the final draft is taking longer than anticipated. Also, it would make for one heck  of a long post so what I might do is address the issue in a series of smaller posts. In the meantime, here's something concerning settling in to the role of a black belt, apologies for the delay.

My Sensei once said that the belt a karateka wore wasn't the one they were, but the one they were trying to live up to. At the time, I didn't make  anything of it. Now, however, I see what he meant. The belt I now wear is taking some serious living up to....

The increased responsibility is definitely a significant part of it. It's up to me now to make sure my techniques are up to scratch and teach myself stuff- and it's not just a matter of learning the shape of something off a YouTube clip, there's also understanding the technical innards of it, requiring even more research. The kyu grade equivalent would be getting any technical inaccuracy corrected by whoever is teaching them.

This equivalent is as a result of kyu grades not being at the stage where they're deemed ready to take on  full responsibility for their training. Because of this, I think  that instructors, to an extent, focus more on kyu grades during the average session. Their mistakes are pointed out to them. Black belts don't get this in the same way because they have that responsibility themselves. I've learnt that I need to look out for mistakes I make, myself, when doing karate. No apparent mistakes lead to inefficient practising and lack of self-motivation, so your karate can get much worse if you're not careful, as a black belt.

For a while, post-grading, I was stuck in that trap, if I'm honest. My practice really deteriorated for a while along with my self-motivation. I felt at a very loose end with my training. I wore a black belt but I certainly wasn't one.

I'm still not a black belt and being one will take a while. I'm trying to rectify my mistakes: building my practices back up, setting myself goals(eg: gaining a better understanding of certain katas) etc.... It will take a while to develop these skills well, so becoming a black belt is definitely a work in progress. I don't think anyone ever totally settles in to the role. Being a 'black belt' ,(training  hard and  honestly), is basically, ' being the best martial artist you are capable of being'. When we can always do better, can't we?