Thought. Bruce Lee was a talented martial artist and actor. Had he not been an actor, his "greatness" would probably have been local, not national. His prowess was only legendary in film, not in the ring. Many other great martial artists are not legendary, because they were not popularized by the media. Why are professional fighters not using Bruce Lee's Jeet Kung Do style of fighting if it so much better other styles? We do not need to deify a person simply because he is dead.

Comments. Daniel says (07/18/07): Whilst I agree with you that Bruce Lee didn’t fully prove himself in the ‘Real’ Martial Arts world he has become an unofficial ambassador of Martial Arts in general and I am sure that, if questioned, a large amount of students would say that Bruce Lee was one of the key reasons they wanted to take up a Martial Art. For just this reason alone he deserves respect for his service to Martial Arts.

Thought. Some say the "belt system" used in the martial arts is antiquated and useless. Why is it that something that is supposedly useless is being used so successfully by so many? Why are there grades in schools? Why are there different college degrees? Why are there performance levels in so many sports, such as novice, amateur, expert, semi-professional, and professional? Why are there ranks in the military, police, fire departments, religious organizations, video gamers, etc? It is because people want classifications.

Classifications help people understand the positions and abilities of others. It gives people a goal to work toward. It gives people satisfaction. Those who say the "belt system" is useless, are usually rationalizing their own lack of achievement within a belt system. For some who can't reach the achievements of others, it is easier to try to chop away at the achievements of others in hopes of bringing them down a level that may be achieved by anyone.

Comments. Chris said (01/04/07)... I agree with your thoughts about the belt system. It would be nice, however, if students would train with the goal of learning an art, not with the goal of owning a belt. A friend in my school once said to me at a belt ceremony “you realize that you are really not a better martial artist today than you were yesterday, right?”. Of course his comment was meant as a joke, but there is a lot of real truth in that statement. Progress is slow and steady and takes years, and isn’t defined by large, sudden jumps in ability as the belt system might imply to some. Sometimes, I think that other students think, for example, that once they pass their green belt tests and attempt to pivot their base leg correctly that they have learned the sidekick and that it’s time to move on to other, bigger things! “Of course I have a good sidekick- I’m a blue belt! It was a requirement to pass my test.” I am currently a green belt (and need to work on my sidekick for the next 10 years) and hope that I will always keep my rank in perspective. I hope I can always evaluate my technique honestly to measure my progress and not just look down at my belt.

TKDTutor said... See email replies Email 76 for TKDTutor's comments.

Thought. What position should junior belts hold in the belt hierarchy of a school or organization? Most martial art schools seek to attract children, for that is where the money is at. If it were not for the children, most commercial schools would not make enough money to stay in business. Most schools accept 5 or 6 year old students, and some accept 4 year olds or even younger. Therefore, a child that trains regularly and gets promoted on schedule could easily be awarded a black belt by 8 or 9 years old. In junior classes, belt hierarchy is not a problem since all the other students are juniors. However, at some age, schools transfer junior students into the adult classes, usually at age 13. This is when a problem arises. Is a child color or black belt senior to an adult belt of any color? Some schools consider all belts equal in seniority regardless the age of the belt holder.

People are legally classified as children until 18 years of age. People cannot vote, join the military, or enter into a contract until 18 years of age. Fourteen year olds may have the skills to be professional race car drivers but experience has shown that they do not have the maturity required to drive on the street until at least 16 years of age. All these limitations are due to the immaturity of children. Just because a child has the physical ability to perform all that is required for a belt rank does not mean they have the maturity required of that position. There are some gifted children who have graduated from college and even have a PhD before age 16. However, they still cannot vote or enter into a contract. Who would want to hire a 16 year old account to handle their business or have a 17 year old teach their children in an academic school?

In martial art schools where all ranks are considered equal regardless of age, many children have the false impression that they are equal to or better than adults. The traditional martial arts have always stressed respect of elders, since this is a major belief of the oriental cultures from which the arts developed, and yet many school will have a child black belt hold seniority over an adult black belt. Children are children and they should always be subordinate to adults. The law considers anyone under the age of 18 a child, unless a court declares otherwise: so should martial arts schools.

Up until recently the Army had two enlisted rank structures, the Non Commissioned Officer (NCO) and Specialist ranks. The NCO is the traditional combat Army enlisted rank and has leadership authority and responsibility within the chain of command. The Specialist was a solider who had a specific job field that was in demand. The Specialist got the pay and benefits of the NCO to help retain people in a special job field, but they had no military leadership authority or responsibility. Nowadays, the Specialist rank exists only at the E-4 level.

Martial art ranks should operate similar to the specialist rank structure. Until they reach the age of 18, all children should be subordinate in rank to adults. In a formal lineup, adults should line up by seniority, and then children should line up by seniority. When a child reaches the age of 18, he or she should then test for their present rank under adult requirements and their date of rank should start again at the date of their successful retesting.

Comments.

Jeff Madeira said…

I can relate quite well to your beliefs regarding Junior Students of TKD. At the school I attend, all students age six and above are ranked the same, and it is not uncommon to see a ’senior student’ who is only 8 or 9 years old! This has also been a concern of mine since my 8 yo nephew is currently a Brown Belt and I am currently a Low Green Belt. He has gotten it in his mind that he is now somehow my ’superior’ and has even commented a time or two that he could order me to do push-ups and that, technically, I would have to comply! At 41 years of age, I have great difficulty with the idea of being told what to do by an 8 year old child, and have even told him that should he ever wish to, I would be happy to have a ‘push-up contest’ with him to finally put it all in the proper perspective for him. He has yet to take me up on my offer!

My question then, is this; How could one respectfully broach this question with my instructor and ask him if he would ever consider changing the way rank is awarded to youngsters? Children are a very important part of the business side of the dojang (probably 75% of the students are under age 16) and must feel that they are part of the program, but when children start to feel that they are the superior of someone old enough to be their parent based simply upon the color of the belt they are wearing, it seems to me that something is wrong. Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for a great website!

Anonymous said…

To make the ranking of students under 18 inferior to those of older students is a bad idea. Belt level senority should have no authority attatched to it at all. It should merely be an indication of knowledge and profeciency in the art. I recieved my black belt when I was 11 years old and stopped training for 9 years. After one year of training again, I placed second in forms I made up on the spot. Are you telling me that my black belt was not valid? I was better at froms when I was 11. No, knowledge and skill in the art are what makes a black belt, not what age. If physical strength is the indication then it would be better to line up my weight class instead of rank. There are many older people in the martial arts who simply suck and rank should reflect that.

TKDTutor said… Your argument uses “should” a lot. Using “should” without any supporting evidence for its use is similar to a stating a desire or a wish, such as “there should be world peace” or “you should be able to go to school without fear of bullying.” It is easy to make such statements but it to difficult to defend them in reality.

You state, “Belt level seniority should have no authority attached to it at all.” Why not? Does this mean you think that senior students should have privileges, such as standing in the senior position during class lineup, have junior students bow to them as a sign of respect, getting to go first during drills, etc., but should not have any responsibilities or duties associated with the position? Privileges do not come without duties, responsibilities, and obligations. If you do not accept these responsibilities, then do not accept the sonority.

You state, “It [seniority] should merely be an indication of knowledge and proficiency in the art.” Who says? Nowhere else in society or business is this true. Employees will gripe about pay, overtime, etc. but they will fight to the death over seniority. Your may have a PHD in marketing but when you join a marketing firm, your will be at the bottom of the totem pole. The person in an equal job position with just a BA in marketing, but with ten years of employment with the firm, will get first choice in work schedules, the better parking slot, etc. On a professional football team, you may be the superstar making millions, but when it comes to team privileges, the players with seniority will get the better ones and they will have authority within the team hierarchy.

You state, “There are many older people in the martial arts who simply suck and rank should reflect that.” What if you develop a medical condition that limits your rank of motion. Should you then never get promoted again since you cannot perform at the level of others in your school? One may argue that you should not. That, even though it is sad you have the problem, you must perform at the same level as other students of the same rank. If you agree with this supposition, then you must also support the belief that everyone will reach a rank they may never exceed, due to their age, sex, physical or mental abilities or disabilities, or medical conditions. If you believe and support this standard for rank advancement, that is okay, but it does not mean older students suck and do not deserve their rank. It only means they have reached the highest level of their abilities. As the Peter Principle states, “Everyone will reach the level their incompetence.” When people are promoted due to their competence at their current position, they will eventually be promoted into a position where they have exceeded their highest level of competence, which means they are then in position of incompetence. Now that you are an adult and no longer a teenager, how would you feel about being in a class where an eleven year old is the senior student simply because of higher rank? If you had been at a job for years, how would you feel if a new hire at your same job level was given more seniority than you simply because he or she had more knowledge and proficiency than you?

Seniority is an earned position that encompasses many factors, not just knowledge and proficiency. Seniority is usually frowned upon by those without it and it is always coveted by those who have it.

Thought. Here is the resume of a well known martial arts grand master from his web site:

• 9th Degree Goju-Shorei Karate

• 9th Degree Shudokan Karate

• 8th Degree American Kenpo Karate

• 7th Degree Tae Kwon Do

• 7th Degree Jujitsu

• 6th Degree Judo

I would not want to study Taekwondo from this Taekwondo "master." It takes decades of dedicated training and instructing in an individual art, a multitude of hours of work at tournaments, camps, clinics, demonstrations, etc., and tireless work for the certifying organization to achieve master rank in an art. Lets say this person is a martial arts savant who can achieve grand master rank in an art in 20 years, then to acheive this many ranks it would mean he would be over 120 years of age, actually he is only about 60. I assume then that most of this rank is "honorary," which means it is worthless. If you needed a brain operation, would you prefer the surgeon to have 20 years experience in brain surgery or to have an honorary medical degree. I would rather have a Taekwondo instructor with some knowledge of other martial arts, but with a dedication to Taekwondo.

Taekwondo uses its own kicking and punching skills that take years to develop. Its sparring techniques and self-defense techniques are based on its particular way of kicking and punching. Its patterns are not performed as a mere sequence of movements, they are performed in a way that is consistent with Taekwondo's method of kicking and punching. Styles of karate and other martial arts have their own ways of kicking, punching, sparring, self-defense, and performing patterns that are different from Taekwondo, and from each other. It is possible to excel at two martial arts that have little in common, such as Taekwondo and Judo, or Karate and Kendo, but reaching master levels at each is near impossible due to the amount of time and effort that must be dedicated to each one to gain master rank in it. Again, if you needed a brain operation, would you prefer a surgeon who practices medicine daily, or one who also has a law degree and a law practice outside the hospital.

When it comes to acceptance of the rank qualifications of instructors, use your education, reason, and experience to evaluate their qualifications. Do not just blindly accept their certificates, notoriety, or hype.

Comments.

Anonymous said: I agree with you 100%. I took up so many different martial art like ninjutsu, kickboxing, kenpo, karate, kungfu, jiu-jitsu, hapkido, but my martial art is taekwondo. As much as I love taekwondo, I do not believe in putting down other martial art, because every one of them have something special and unique about them. It’s good that a person have so much pride in their martial art, but it’s not cool to put other martial art down. Humbleness is the key to everything. Without that, it wouldn’t be martial art. It would be a sport.

Thought. Some sites spend more time condemning other martial arts than they do explaining their own art. I don't know about you, but I tire of this "my art is better than yours" playground mentality that most of us grew out of at a young age. Do not waste our time by attacking other arts in an attempt to popularize your own art. If you don't like patterns, point sparring, kicks, hard styles, soft styles, or weapons, etc., then find an art that does not use them and keep your mouth shut.

Comments. None.