What is a Dan grade and how to deal with becoming one - some personal reflections

Discussion in 'Karate' started by Llamageddon, Apr 19, 2011.

  1. tommydude2112

    tommydude2112 New Member

    :)

    :star: very good article,thanks
     
  2. tommydude2112

    tommydude2112 New Member

    that's so cool - all that time and effort and POOF! white belt again!
     
  3. shuyun3

    shuyun3 Shugyosha

    wonderful! just when I thought we were good and traditional in our town, I heard of a mcdojo that gives you your black belt in 8 months.

    Good post sir
     
  4. 47MartialMan

    47MartialMan Valued Member

    They also give you fries with that
     
  5. gorinnosho

    gorinnosho Kendo Addict

  6. Sondan Rialian

    Sondan Rialian New Member

    I could not agree more. I recently received my Sondan, and that alone brings questions, and then when I mention that I have that title in ninjutsu--you would not believe the comments i get sometimes.
     
  7. Ives

    Ives Mokuteki o motte hajimeru

    Now that I reached shodan last week, I have the idea that more than when be(come)ing brown belt I act as an example to the juniors/lower grades.
    I do hope to get some more freedom to focus more on things I like, now that I got the basics down.
     
  8. JTMS

    JTMS Valued Member

    Wow! Very nice. I don't teach Japanese martial arts, but I feel your article hit the spot with my martial art as well. I plan to share your insight with my students.
     
  9. Kwajman

    Kwajman Penguin in paradise....

    I would say the only thing getting a black belt has done for me is give me a great sense of accomplishment. It took me five years and wasn't just 'given' to me but i worked my tail off to get it. I would guess the personal sense of accomplishment has given me some well needed confidence but that's about it.
     
  10. aiem

    aiem Valued Member

    "I’m sure you’ve had people ask if you can do flying kicks or kill someone with your bare hands."

    Even at lower belts, this question gets asked. But I agree that when you reach black belt, then you can begin to learn. My sensei put it like this: "When you reach your first Dan, then you'll experience new sorts of pain that you never knew existed before." I find this post informative and fun reading at the same time. Thank you so much for sharing =)
     
  11. aiem

    aiem Valued Member

    Rereading "A Change of Pace" makes me so impatient for my black belt. Hard as I try, my training pace is anything but focused on the small stuff. It's all about looking good and avoiding to look like a fool in front of everybody. I know I'm doing it and it's not very helpful, but I get into the same mindset every time in class. There are only a few times I'm calm and not hyper enough to notice something and have an "aha!" moment. I guess when I get to that milestone the "drive" to be 'awesome' quickly will disappear? I'm learning so much from this site but I want to whack myself nevertheless looking back.
     
  12. Quiet Storm

    Quiet Storm New Member

    Very true...I just got my shodan in kenpo and I definately felt a new level of pressure standing infront of the class as a leader as opposed to just being a senior student...excellent post I'll definately take your suggestions on gauging your progress to heart... Arigato gozin mas
     
  13. andrew89

    andrew89 New Member

    Well written thread!

    A very well written article. I myself got my 'black belt' (shodan) in the bujinkan nearly 2 years ago and have just been given my Nidan, I have learnt more in the last year and a half than I did in my first few years of training, a whole world opened up to me.
     
  14. dapidmini

    dapidmini New Member

    might I say, I think you're very lucky that you have more freedom after getting your Dan grade. I can't say the same thing for myself.. I knew that Shodan is the point where I truly begin my training.. and I expected to be able to train harder than I've ever been.

    but in reality, I got much smaller portion of training and almost no freedom at all. Instead of being told to train harder to set an example, I was told to lower the intensity of my training so that the new guys don't freak out. the intensity of training I get now is much less than when I was a white or brown belt. needless to say, I'm very disappointed.. in fact, I'm considering switching to another martial arts that allow me to train as hard as I want.
     
  15. yorukage

    yorukage Valued Member

    Great article. It really is just the beginning. I like the analogy, that the white belt represents knowing nothing, and black belt represents being full of techniques. But you are so full of techniques, they are muddled all together and after that you try to lose the techniques as you learn to move past them, and as you train your black belt begins to grey, and shred, and turn white again.
     
  16. Martin L Holloway

    Martin L Holloway New Member

     
  17. Martin L Holloway

    Martin L Holloway New Member

    I dont see to much difference once you pass purple belt level. Blackbelt doesn't mean your a bad ass, just means you passed a series of test. I can say from experience that most so called blackbelt are not sharp on forms and techniques. Just seams weird to me. And then there is the grandmaster stuff from practitioners that are not even fifty years of age.
     
  18. Monkey_Magic

    Monkey_Magic Well-Known Member

    Why would you need to be over fifty years old?

    (I meant that as a serious question, because I don’t train in a Japanese art. I’ve never done karate. Hence I’m unfamiliar with what it means to be a grandmaster in a Japanese art.)
     
    Grond likes this.
  19. Grond

    Grond Valued Member

    In Japanese culture as I understand it, it's a father or father figure ideology, the idea that everything you need to know about survival came from your father, your feudal lord's fathers and sons, the Shogun, or the Emperor. Therefore I agree that in theory ranks mean seniority, not skill. If ranks meant skill, we'd have a real problem on our hands with lots of dangerous people that are thankfully, just black belts in real life. :D
     

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