Earning a black belt doesn’t mean you’ve reached the end. It means you’ve seen how far the path leads and you’re willing to keep walking.

 

Posted by ADAM CARTER on NOV 27, 2023

Earning a black belt doesn’t mean you’ve reached the end. It means you’ve seen how far the path leads and you’re willing to keep walking.

 

Someone said to me recently; “I’m getting my black belt at the weekend.”

This may strike a chord with many instructors, and it raises an important question: Can you simply just "get" a black belt? (It’s a rhetorical question by the way)

The black belt, a symbol of dedication and skill, earned through rigorous training and proficiency….. or simply a product that can be purchased with a fee?

The idea of receiving a black belt as if it were an automatic right is a notion that can and should raise concerns.

Earning a black belt is not merely a matter of completing a set of requirements or attending a certain number of classes and taking a test.

As individuals progress through the ranks, additionally to the techniques of karate itself, you learn life skills such as self-discipline, patience, perseverance, and humility.

Practitioners discover their own limits and capabilities, and they should develop a profound understanding of their martial art's techniques and philosophy and these lessons should extend beyond the training mat.

The martial arts should demand unwavering discipline and dedication from practitioners. Earning a black belt requires consistent effort, regular training, and a strong sense of commitment. It is through these qualities that practitioners develop the skills, techniques, and mental fortitude necessary to progress on their journey.

The path to a black belt should challenge individuals to push their limits, overcome obstacles, and embrace failures as opportunities for improvement.

Automatic bestowal of a black belt would undermine the respect for the art's origins and the wisdom of experienced instructors, eroding its cultural and historical significance.

The attainment of a black belt should not be viewed as the ultimate goal, but rather as a significant milestone in a lifelong journey. And I know many people who have over the years, quit on receiving their black belt, as this was their primary goal.

While achieving a black belt demonstrates a basic understanding of fundamental techniques and principles, it is crucial to understand that the black belt symbolizes not the end of a journey, but the beginning of the next stage of learning.

Just paying fees and knowing someone is “getting” a black belt, fundamentally undermines the core principles of the martial arts. There should be an absolute possibility that a practitioner will fail. The martial arts are not a commodity that can be purchased; they are a discipline that demands understanding, commitment, self-discipline, and hard work.

And of course, no individual genuinely transforms into a higher grade instantaneously upon taking a test (one's proficiency doesn't skyrocket in a day). Should they succeed, they would have already embodied the attributes of that grade - encompassing skill, knowledge, and capability - for an extended period, and the grading merely serves as affirmation of this status.

When individuals believe they can simply buy their way to a black belt and expect to pass the test regardless of their skills and knowledge, they cheapen the value of the achievement and disregard the years of training, discipline, and personal growth that true martial artists undergo.

It is essential to recognize that the true essence of a black belt lies in the effort, the discernible skills in your chosen discipline and the unwavering dedication to self-improvement, rather than in the mere act of paying fees and expecting an automatic reward.

Earning a black belt doesn't mean you've reached the end. It means you've seen how far the path leads and you're willing to keep walking.

“The biggest problem in karate is the belt system. What once started as a logical way to divide students based on level of progress, turned into a commercial money-making scheme - where the color of a belt is more important than the person behind it.” - Jesse Enkamp