On belt ranks

As uncool as this may sound to some, I understand how a good ranking system would be important to you. I think what Chris is getting at is, make sure the skill levels correspond appropriately to the ranks.

I actually agree very strongly with this sentiment.

I have been striving for years to establish a system where belt grades designate actual levels of skill and knowledge development. Not everyone salutes me for this standard. It is not at all controversial to say that we all know of martial arts ranking systems in which even high master-level belt degrees are awarded with little or no real testing in skill or knowledge.

When I was a new student of the martial arts back in the 1960s, I counted on my teachers to give me belt grades that reflected my actual skill level as judged by those who had much more experience than I. I remember failing my test for 7th kyu because I was "too confident," and my teacher needed to warn me that there was more to learning how to not die in a fight than being the best in the class in mechanical skill.

One difference between martial arts expertise and tennis expertise or fly fishing expertise is that in the latter two categories, there are regular opportunities to test out your skills through generating actual results. We know without a doubt the better tennis player or fisher by the number of their victories.

In the self-protection martial arts, however, success is living a happy and peaceful life and not having to fight anyone. I would hate to be interpreted as urging my students into street fights to check out their skills of not getting hurt in fights. So then, how are we as students going to know whether or not our training is taking us where we want to go, if we can not count on our teacher's appraisal and rating of our skill (i.e. belt rank given)?

Is it possible to study the martial arts with a teacher who is trusted to be teaching authentic "battle tested" self-defense and yet is in reality teaching things that have little or no relevance to actual street or field survival? What if such a teacher awards us a belt rank that gives us confidence in skills that we do not in fact possess?

- Stephen K. Hayes