By
Scott Shaw
To the non-martial artist, the
person who wears the black belt is viewed as the ultimate depiction of the
individual who has mastered all realms of mental-control and physical combat. But,
to the true martial artist, they understand the black belt to be simply a physical
representation of them moving towards a more refined understand of physical and
self-knowledge. They know that it certainly does not mean that the one who
wears the black belt is all-knowing and the perfect combat technician. In fact, the true
black belt should have learned through their years of training that a black
belt is only a symbol of an accomplishment within a school’s environment and
holds no true bearing in the combat realities that exist on the street.
Unfortunately, many of the true definitions and deeper understandings of the black
belt have been lost to this modern world.
To begin this discussion about
understanding the black belt we must first look back to the history of the black belt. The fact is, the
entire concept of the black belt is just a bit over a hundred years old. Though,
throughout history, there has always been a ranking system within the martial
arts, the modernization of the martial arts is what brought the, “Black Belt,”
into keen focus. Sadly, from this fact, much of the true essence of what the
black belt actually stands for has been lost – as it has now commonly become an
unrefined quest of all those who train in the martial arts and a method to make
money for those who teach the martial arts.
A few years ago I was speaking with
Bill Superfoot Wallace in regard to an article I was writing about him for a
magazine. In part, the article was about how he was having a problem with a
person whom he had promoted to black belt. During our discussion he said something
very profound. In essence he stated, “Back in the day if a person was a 1st
degree black belt they were impossible to touch. If they were a 2nd
degree black belt, forget about it, they would tear you apart. Now, everyone is
an 8th, 9th or 10th degree black belt and they
are terrible.”
For those of you who may not know,
black belt ranking progresses between 1st to 10th degree.
In terms of the Asian standard, and the standards accepted among the
traditional martial arts community here in the West, a person who is a 1st
through 3rd degree black belt is only considered an advanced
student. They are not yet believed to be a competent enough practitioner to formally
teach the art. It is only at the rank of 4th degree or above that
one can actually be understood to be a competent teacher. But, here is where
the problem begins. People desire rank. Teachers desire money. So, they promote
people through the ranks in order to fill the practitioner’s ego and the school
owner’s pockets. Thus, the vast skillset that was once possessed by the black belt practitioner has now been all but lost.
Again, for those of you who may not
know, it is not free to gain the rank of black belt. It costs money. And
generally, the higher up the ladder you climb, the more money it costs. Sometimes
it costs a lot of money. Thus, in many schools of self-defense the pathway to black belt has now become solely a money making opportunity.
In times gone past, particularly in
Asia, there was a very formalized structure to advance from white to black belt
and beyond. This included time and skill level requirements. The problem was
and is, once these forms of Asian combat made their way to the States, the
rules went out the window. In some cases, people made students wait much longer
than was required by the timescale set forth in Asia to rise to the level of
black belt. This was based upon the fact that the school owner hoped to keep
them as a student for as long as possible.
The adverse was and is also true. People have been pushed
through the ranks much too fast in order for the school owner to have assistant
instructors to do all the teaching for them and/or to open new schools. In
either case, as most people who train here in the West have never actually
trained in Asia, they have no true concept of what is or is not the true
essence of their art. You can call this the Westernization of the martial arts.
But, by whatever name, the true essence of the pathway to black belt has been
altered. And, it has not been altered for the better.
As someone who has been training in
the martial arts for the past fifty-one years (so-far), I have witnessed the
changing attitudes about the rank of black belt. A couple of weeks ago I was
sitting at Starbucks with one of my Hapkido brothers. He, like I, is an
old-timer who has witnessed the changing landscape of the martial arts. We each
exchanged stories about how the entire panorama of the martial arts and the
route to black belt has deteriorated. We both agreed that from this, the true
understanding of what the black belt actually means has been radically
distorted.
You see, in the early days of
martial arts, here in the United States, there was a one-on-one relationship
between the student and the teacher. The teacher personally guided their
students towards their own level of excellence. Back then, people were not
certified by large organizations. They were certified by their teacher. This
was both good and it was bad. As I have discussed in the past, back then, if
you earned the rank of black belt and you went to another school, they would,
at least for a time, make you return to white belt. For me, this was a very
enlightening and humbling experience that I went through a couple of times. It
taught me about the true meaning of rank. But, for others, if they moved away
from their original teacher or their teacher’s school went out of business,
they never recommenced training due to their ego being involved – as they
refused to be demoted. From this, many a person
opened their own school of self-defense when they were not qualified to do so. Yet,
they became a teacher and propagated their limited understanding of the martial
arts to the masses. Again, this is a sourcepoint for where many of the problems
within the path to black belt in the modern martial arts arose.
As time moved on, several large
Asian based organizations came to dominate the martial art landscape here in
the West. This was especially true with taekwondo. The thing was, there was
virtually no way for a Westerner to communicate with these organizations. Thus,
the practitioner was dominated by their instructor’s link to the association. This
was even true for me. For example, though I spent a lot of time in South Korea,
my instructor, who I taught the martial arts in association with for years-upon-years, kept
dodging getting me the advanced rank certificate I had earned and had paid for
from a large federation. Sure, he gave me the school certificate and I was
registered with the Kwan but I paid a lot of money for that international rank
certification. The fact was, this man was terrible with money and he always
spent our school’s income. So, he never had the money to pay the organization.
And, I have heard similar stories, time-and-time again, from many practitioners
of that era. The funny thing was, years later, another Korean-born instructor
got me that rank certificate through the large organization. He did it, so he
told me, to make things right. I appreciated that.
The reason I tell this story is that
it shows what goes on within these large martial arts organizations in relation
to individualized black belt ranking. As I worked for years in association with
my instructor and I went to Korea for him several times, I really saw the
inside workings of this global organization and, I can tell you, there was a
lot of tomfoolery going on – things that no one but someone who was on the
inside would have seen. The stories I could tell… Though I have absolute
respect for this organization and what it did for spreading taekwondo across
the globe, it was what I personally saw and experienced that caused me to move
away from them.
So, what does this tell us about the
black belt? It explains that the black
belt is not a universally defined concept. It is simply a thing that is
commonly observed to be an entity but it is not. Instead, it is simply something
that someone has assigned their own specific definition to. There is no
one-universal understanding about how a black belt is to be awarded and what should be
expected of the individual who wears it. This being said, there are factors
that are commonly understood that one must embrace if they hope to rise to the
level of a true black belt and once they are a black belt there are certain
formalities they should practice if they hope to do the black belt they wear justice.
But, it is essential to note, there is no one person and no one organization making
sure that they do so. Again, this is where the problems begin.
One of the essential elements of the
black belt ranking that needs to be understood is that, as detailed, the black
belt is a progressive ranking system. The way the various levels of the black
belt rank were formulated were done so to lay a foundation for the advancing
understanding within the martial arts. For example, in Asia, the lower ranked
black belts always pay homage to the higher ranked black belts. Just as with
age, the older and more advanced a person is in their skill development, the
more respect they should command from their subordinates. If you are going to
claim to be part of a tradition you must hold fast to that tradition. But, here
in the West, this essential level of understanding has been forgotten and
replaced by individualized ego. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard
one black belt say about another, “I don’t think he has good technique.” Or, “I
am better than him.” Maybe, “My students are better than that person.” Or some other form of directed negativity or personality based criticism. The fact is, who
is anyone, especially a black belt, to cast judgment upon anyone else, especially
if they hold a lower rank of black belt than does the person of whom they
speak? Is a person who behaves in this fashion honoring the accepted traditions of their art?
Being a black belt is not about
allowing your ego to control your actions and your conversation. If fact, it should
be just the opposite. A true black belt understands that each individual masters
the art to the best of their ability and presents it in a manner that is most appropriate
to their body type and body functionality. In other words, each practitioner progresses
to the best level that they can achieve. Judgment is no part of this equation.
But, applied understanding is.
If a person is a true black belt
they honor tradition as that tradition was set forth by the people who
established the style of the martial arts that they practice. If a person is a
true black belt they should be secure within themselves. They have no need to
cast judgment. As we all understand, casting judgment or attempting to
criticize or diminish another person’s accomplishment is simply the act of
insecurity. It is simply someone trying to make themselves look more by making
someone else look less. This is never the action of a true black belt. Yet, it
is sadly rampant within the modern martial arts as practiced in the West. And again, here is an example of a sourcepoint for where many of the problems of the modern martial arts have arisen.
As the years have progressed the
understanding of the black belt has changed and evolved. Some would say, it has
diminished. But, at the heart of any true black belt is the understanding that
a belt does not define the individual. A belt is only an item of clothing. What
is in a person’s heart, what is in their mind, and what they give back to the
world while keeping their ego in check is the true demonstration of their inner
knowledge: combat orientated or otherwise. That is what makes them a true black
belt.
It is very easy to know who is or is
not a true black belt.
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