Following is a selection from Dave Lowry’s essay collection, The Karate Way.
We have to admit that the popular image of the black belt is inextricably woven into the general perception of these arts we follow. While we may have a more comprehensive view of the belt, we need to see that in the population outside the dojo, in the world at large, it usually means something else. When a black belt is conferred upon a karateka, that has implications in the popular imagination. And we should consider some ramifications that perception and those implications have upon what people think about karate-do.
Most readers will know that the belt system (dan-i) was created entirely by judo’s founder, Jigoro Kano. If has no ancient, feudal, or samurai connections. Belts in black or any other color were not a part of martial arts practice before the twilight of the feudal period in Japan, which ended in 1867. Kano awarded the fight black belts around the turn of the last century. Karate-do and other Japanese arts adopted the system, and later on so did most Korean combat arts.
Nearly all classical martial arts of the feudal period used some variation of the menkyo ranking system, and those extant today continue to use it. A series of licenses and sometimes accompanying scrolls were given to the student at various periods in their education, and their message was usually clear: the recipient is officially recognized in some capacity by the headmaster of that school. It is relatively easy to determine what this capacity is in the wording of the document. What exactly the black belt signifies in the modern dojo is another question entirely.
The public sees a child with a black belt and they assume that training is literally kid’s stuff.
In Japan, it is not uncommon to see sixteen- or seventeen-year-old children with black belts. No one in Japan would regard them as anything like a “master,” of course, just because they were wearing a black belt. It would be nice if we had a similar understanding of what a black belt means here, but we do not.
I can remember in the 1960s when some people seriously believed that in order to get a black belt, you had to kill a person. Or that you had to open-handedly chop through a requisite number of boards successfully. The general public has become a little more sophisticated now, but that’s not to say they don’t still have some odd ideas.
This morning’s paper contains a story about a “black belt” in a local karate school. He has been training for about two years and has completed successfully in several tournaments. He was recently promoted to a black belt rank. He is nine years old.
From a Western perspective, there is nothing good that comes from awarding a black belt to a child. For better of worse, the perception of the black belt is different here than in Japan. The public sees a child with a black belt and they assume that, in this dojo at least, training is literally kid’s stuff. They expect some level of competence and skill in a black belt that they know no child that age has or could have. Since Karate is inextricably linked with personal defense, they wonder too how the kid would do against a serious threat by an adult attacker.
While you could try to explain that this is a special junior rank…it all sounds like rationalization to the public. You are giving the kid a black belt because you want to encourage more children to enroll and thus pay the bills, or because it has to do with some other profit-motivated scheme, or because you just do not take your art seriously. That is going to be the assumption.
Come on. If a child can get a black belt in your art, how much is a black belt worth? Or for that matter, how much can your art itself be worth?
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10 responses so far ↓
1
John W. Zimmer
// Jun 10, 2009
I’ve have never awarded a kid a black belt. I remember watching Chuck Norris on one of the TV shows with a kid black belt. I remembering telling myself I would not have done that no matter if the kid met every other requirement. A black belt ought to be able to handle him or herself in most situations (including fighting adults)… A kid would not rise to that benchmark in my opinion.
2
Bobby P.
// Jun 11, 2009
In my tae kwon do outfit they would not generally award a black belt until the kid reached the age of 16. Up until then you just wait. Though the masters could vote if there was someone exceptional.
At my Kung fu school they have a kids program and an adult program. In the adult program there is no belts, sashes, etc. You just move from basic to intermediate and on to advanced. To keep the kids interested they do award colored sashes though I think there are only three or four colors.
How about camouflaged belts? I kid you not. At a TKD tournament we once saw a school that had a few of their students in camouflaged belts. My instructor about came out of his skin when he saw it.
3
Scott
// Jun 11, 2009
I’ve solved this problem in my kung-fu school. I give out any color of belt the students want.
For performances some students choose blue, some yellow, some red, some black, some don’t care for belts and choose a head band or arm band instead.
The best solution to this problem is to dilute the expectations of what a black belt means.
Confucius said, “True merit is its own reward.”
4
Martial Arts Mom
// Jun 11, 2009
A friend of mine has a child who has his black belt. He earned it at 11 years old. He cried – literally cried – to his mom the other day when a kid took his hand held video game and would not give it back. I have seen his kicks & kata and although he is good for his age, he is NOT black belt material by a long shot. Needless to say, the dojo he was attending was a McDojo and the “Master” there runs a church out of the same space and encourages his students and their families to give to his church. This guy also has his own picture on the back of all their gi’s and in his yellow pages ad, posters, etc. Talk about full of himself.
5
Thomas Tan
// Jun 11, 2009
“What good is a belt? It holds your pants up.”
Although I too have some romantic notions associated with the belt system (it does seem pretty cool to say you have a black belt), I’ve just about given up on worrying about it. I figure I should focus on improving my skills, not fretting about a ranking system.
6
Urban Samurai
// Jun 11, 2009
When I see a kid with a black belt I assume it is a “junior” black belt, not the same as the belt an adult would wear. Giving a kid a full black belt is just ridiculous. What kind of understanding would a kid have of their art? Would they even be aware that they are practicing an art? Could they defend themselves against an adult? There are so many reasons not to go down this road. It smacks of commercialism to me – give them what they want and take their parents money. Lulling kids into a false sense of security like this is doing them no favors in the long run.
7
Nizzle
// Jun 11, 2009
There is no way any kid could honestly earn a blackbelt at a proper school!
blackbelts do stand for knowing lots of techniques, knowing the proper way to use them AND being able to control the technique as well as the outcome of it.
To be able to achieve these skills requires YEARS of training, thus even if you start your training as a child you’ll probably be an adult before you manage to attain blackbelt status.
I’ve heard some schools just hand out a new belt if someone wins a tournament or did a great demo (probably the case with your example), these schools are only in it for the money and do not deserve to be teaching at all in my opinion
I’ve been training Karate for over 9 years now, and I’m up to 4th kyu.. and damn proud of it
I did switch school (and style) recently and do notice that this school requires less perfection but still my opinion remains the same.
8
Colin Wee
// Jun 11, 2009
A black belt is worth as much as the effort you put in. It’s not a comparison tool. I hear stories about young children grading to 2nd and 3rd dan. I try not to let it bother me, and make sure I get back to my own training quickly. So long as these black belt children don’t come breaking into my home in the dead of the night, they’ll not need to worry about the likes of me.
Colin
9
Marc G.
// Aug 19, 2009
I would agree that the belt is only worth the effort you spent to earn it. But, when anyone can earn one somewhere (even if not in your dojo) it still can have the effect of cheapening the meaning of it for everyone who did truly EARN it. But, then again, when all is said and done…it is just a strip of cloth. What it truly means is inside you. But, like I said on a personal level I would like to see it mean something more than what it is being reduced to.
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