belts?

Discussion in 'Kickboxing' started by gutshot, Aug 14, 2003.

  1. gutshot

    gutshot New Member

    whats up with belts? where im training right now no one has any belts but now i heard that some schools do rank with belts.
    is there any sanctioningbody on this or anything like that? or is it just to make people feel better about themselves when some karate guy starts talking about his belts?
     
  2. SoKKlab

    SoKKlab The Cwtch of Death!

    They hold your trousers up....
     
  3. gutshot

    gutshot New Member

    i thought the super thick stretchy elastic did that...
     
  4. Saz

    Saz Nerd Admin

    As far as I know, its not uncommon to not have a belt system in kickboxing, and many other styles don't use a belt system either. Nothing wrong with that, the belt system can cause more bother/ego than its worth.

    Any "karate guy" that starts bragging of about their belts should be slapped and ignored, they don't mean jack. Sure, you may be a brown/green/yellow/black belt, but it doesn't make you any better than any other martial artist because of it. Heck, some places give you belts just for turning up or paying extortionate grading fees. Having a belt isn't always a display of skill
     
  5. gutshot

    gutshot New Member

    i was sort of joking about the bragging thing. I just figured kickboxers might do belt rankings so that when a friend says oh yeah im a so and so belt, the kickboxer doesnt have to be like well uh i guess im a pretty decent kickboxer...

    my best friend is a tae kwan do black belt, its funny when she hits me and hurts herself, on the other hand my english teacher is a third dan taekwan do black belt and well.. he could kill every one of his 20 students in under 10 seconds, im sure of it. even me!

    so yeah... i think belt rankings are a little misleading, which is why i prefered kickboxing.

    there isnt that whole earning your belt thing going on, no kata that knida stuff... its just learning to fight which is much more fun for me.
     
  6. Saz

    Saz Nerd Admin

    By not having belts, you don't have to worry about training for gradings and paying over the top fee's for them, hence more time spent fighting :)

    Earning your belt is fine, thats how it should be. Belts should be earned, not given away, and the people with them should realise that its just a belt. I just get annoyed by snotty green/brown belts saying to me that they're "better" than I am just because they have a certain colour belt, when a lot of the time they aren't better at all. Belts are only misleading if you let them be.

    The art I practise has a belt system, so I can't complain to much about it because I have to follow it. We're made to earn them, and they aren't afraid not to grade us to the next belt if we aren't up to scratch. Its not the case in every art.
     
  7. gutshot

    gutshot New Member

    hmm i never thought about that.. i guess i also like that then.. not having to pay for testing rules, plus i dont feel like testing.. i feel like kickboxing..
     
  8. KenpoDavid

    KenpoDavid Working Title

    the only time you can realy compare belts and get an idea of how the people might stack up is with belts awarded at the same school. Even then they might only represent a comparison of how much money the person spent. Point is, you ahve to use the same yardstick to measure.

    like if asked 2 people standing enxt to each otere how far was it to Amsterdam and you said "311" and somebody else said "11,042". They could both be correct.
     
  9. TheMachine

    TheMachine Valued Member

    and another thing that is good about not having belts it does not giev a sychological disadvantage when you spar
     
  10. karatekid

    karatekid MOOOOOOOOOOOO

    theyare to showur personal achivment and to say well now i am a grade better
     
  11. Sauron9949

    Sauron9949 New Member

    I seem to think that higher belts i have trained with don't seem to be very good and have there belt on the merits of turning up and paying for the grading. Yet with some it gives them far to much confidence and makes them just more than a little arrogant at times. :)
     
  12. spartan

    spartan New Member

    I personally think that belt systems are wrong.
    I only say this cause around 80% of ppl i have met with black belts or gold sashes arnt that high in there skill level to whats been promoted around there waist.
    When i started Bac Fu Do kung fu i got to green sash.
    After that i left and started cross training in other arts like boxing & kickboxing ect,ect.
    When i used to go back to kung fu for visits and train with them the other guys they still respected me & wanted to learn what i had been studying.
    They understould that although i had not been studying kung fu and didnt have anyother belts in the other arts i had been learning(kick/boxing have no belts),
    doesnt mean that i hadnt been studying at all.
    We all exchanged our views & ways & worked well 2-gether.
    That wasnt the case with other ppl, and although this might sound wrong i had to challenge and beat the ignorence out of some try-hard highbelts for them to understand.
    I beleive belts show your attendence to the class and not your skill level.
    But dont get me wrong, i have meet ppl with high belts who are brilliant fighters & great Martial Artists.
    Its just wrong when EGO starts playing up with the whole belt system.
     
  13. estranged13

    estranged13 ex video game freak

    hmm i've sparred people with a lot higher belt rank then me, and won. Rank to me doen't mean anything.
     

Share This Page