Why are black belt standards so low in many traditional martial arts schools?

[SeekerOfTruth007]

Originally, there were two ranks: White belt and black belt, but it's useful to use the modern 10Kyu, 10 Dan system so instructors can better track their students supposed skill sets. Problem: Most Traditional Martial Arts schools promote by Kata and don't have a real fighting standard of promotion.

When I studied Karate and Japanese Ju Jitsu from 1992 through 2001, My instructors had a fighting requirement and fitness requirements for promotion. You had to be able to run 1.5 miles in 9min 30 seconds, which certainly isn't a good time by track star standards, but is much better than nothing, and you had to be able to do 50 pushups in one set. For fighting, every 2 belts you go up in the 10kyu through 5th Dan you are supposed to be able to beat two people 2 ranks below you in a full-contact "close to no rules" fight... and the instructor actually tested that in the dojo on your belt testing day.

So White belt was supposed to know all 15 hand techniques, 8 blocks, and 15 kicks and 2 grappling maneuvers. Yellow belt drills those things more, and knows up to around 20 Japanese Ju jitsu locks, and each belt above that knows kata bunkai and about another 20 Japanese Ju Jitsu locks. The "fuzy logic" is that kata bunkai, if mastered properly, is supposed to predict fighting skill by a +/- 2 belt rank margin, but it doesn't always work that way.

For my first degree black belt test, which I failed due to kata requirement, I was required to beat two second degree black belts, because sensei didn't have two 2nd kyu male students to test me against. I won the contest by joint locking the smaller opponent and keeping his body between myself and the second attacker, who was a 235lbs heavyweight 2nd Dan. After the first attacker was forced to tap out, I beat the heavyweight 1vs1. I was 185lbs at the time.

This is how real teaching standards for martial arts are supposed to be applied. Without contact free sparring with all grappling allowed, you deceive yourself.

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This is important to me, because I see alleged 3rd and 4th degree black belts who can't even hold standing guard, or can't hold an escrima stick correctly. It's pathetic that someone promotes these people all the way to middle black belt ranks, and they have no skill whatsoever.

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Also, my sister and I were training 15 gym hours per week back in the day, and I was training another 5 hours per week at home. A LOT of people even in my sensei's class just showed up 2 or 3 hours per week and went through motions, so of course they didn't improve as rapidly as I did. I seemed to hit no plateau, while probably 2/3rds of "regular" students in fact plateau.

[Staximus]

Every instructor and school is different, different standards, etc. I render one time I was hanging out at a BJJ gym where a few of my friends trained. The usual instructor was in vacation so they had some guest sensei but you couldn’t even call him that. He was from another school and was a brown belt that was about to get promoted to black belt. Anyways the guest instructor was a little skinny guy and was sparring against a big white belt, and having some trouble with him because the big guy was muscling him around. The guest instructor eventually got the big white belt in an arm bar and hyperextended his elbow slightly. He went way too hard on that white belt. One of my friends who was a green belt at the time says “let’s roll” to the guest instructor a few minutes later. In about 10 seconds my friend wrapped the guest instructor’s own gi around his neck and strangled the shit out of him with it, holding the choke long enough after the guy tapped for his head to turn red as a tomato. This was a Brazilian guy and his ego was dashed to pieces From some white American Greenbelt strangling the shit out of him. after he stopped coughing and recovered he promptly shut down the lesson and closed the gym for the night hahaha

[Just_Ken]

Having a black belt is not about whether you are a good fighter but more about time served and skills learned.

Its like a buddy I had in the boxing years ago. Great fitness, great at hitting the pads and the bag, always in great shape but awful in the ring. He knew everything there was to know about boxing. he's a coach, set up his own gym. He coaches young amateurs and some pros. he's very successful as a coach. For a time I was coached in my youth by a guy who had much success as an amateur and pro, terrible coach.

[strateguy632]

i like your story but now it is like the participation trophy- especially to keep parents paying for lessons.