Rant about belts/grades/politics

Barry.Oglesby

There follows a short rant from a man who has had too much coffee today and has something stuck in his craw.

(Leaving aside the legitimate questions of what level a competitor should enter at for a moment)

It's supposed to be fun.

Whatever it is you do, BJJ, MMA Kung Fu whatever, it's your hobby. It's one of the things you do with your life that's meant to be enjoyable. For some of us, the really lucky ones (and I am very lucky) it's a huge part of our lives. We get to do what we love every single day, sometimes twice or three times a day. But it's still done because we enjoy it, not because we have to.

So it's really confusing to me why people seem to want to make it hard by creating strange and convoluted political situations about belts and inter-club jealousies. It's supposed to be fun. Now I don't know about you but there's enough crap in my life worrying about mortgage and bills and the price of petrol without concerning myself unduly about who gave what colour belt to who and did he deserve it. It's a waste of time. Why not channel that energy into something worthwhile?

I'm just ranting because when others do it, it actually spoils it for me a little. I feel like people are taking the joy out of it a little bit for me, you arseholes. I love to roll and I love to train and I would do it in Y-fronts if that was the rule. BUT, as a coach I have to try to convince my guys that the most important thing is to roll and enjoy and train... and when you get a blue belt, you get a blue belt and what happens after that is that you roll and enjoy and train... And I shouldn't really have to convince anyone, it should be obvious to anyone with their eye on the ball that the point is to have a good time doing what you're doing. Enjoy the improvements and enjoy the whole process.

Belts, grades. They're the little things. Don't sweat the little things. The big things, like how to pass guard, how to do that double leg, how to finish that clock choke, they're the big things. And they're much more fun.

I'm almost embarrassed to have written this, but there it is. I'm going for a run.

paulmclaughlin

This is answered by the question

Would you rather be a black belt or black belt level?

In the end, don't worry about everyone as long as you enjoy yourself...

smacl

Great rant, +1 to training for the joy of training.

Would you rather be a black belt or black belt level?

So at the precise moment you get awarded a black belt, you are better at what you do than you were 5 minutes previously? Great to get some recognition of your own progression, or to win a competition as a measure of your relative ability in a group at a point in time. While both of these provide a focal point that help you train harder, I reckon the level you train at is determined more by how often you train and how much you put into each session.

r_obric

sandbagging happens, you see it at EVERY tournament but the people that are doing it are only kidding themselves and not challenging their skills properly, they are not allowing their game to develop by competing against better opponents.

you learn more from loosing than you do from winning.

fightireland

I couldn't agree with Barry more - perhaps there is only one thing missing from his post the notion of "respect."

For me, the first thing I learned from martial arts was respect. The first time you get kicked in the head or tapped you learn respect. Respect for yourself and for others.The last thing thats should creep in to any martial art is arrogance and political swashbuckling.

Respect your ability, respect yourself and others will respect you.

Tim_Murphy

Belts smelts I always say.

I wouldn’t suggest that belts in BJJ are meaningless, but they definitely do vary a lot from instructor to instructor and they are a crude enough way of judging ability at the best of times. I’ve been wearing the same belt since 2006 and it still works just fine. I’ve rolled with guys wearing purples belts that I could handle pretty easy and I’ve rolled with guys wearing white belts who gave me a hard time.

One of our guys wears a yellow belt in gi sessions and I’m pretty sure he’d get the better of a lot of blue belts!

Pride Fighter

Great post and I fully agree with the OP. Martial Arts in Ireland and in general seems to have a lot of politics crap attached to it. All that is important is training and enjoying yourself. I've read extensively on the MA's and done some other ones. Regardless of whether people do TKD or BJJ or any other style as long as they are enjoying it and going on a journey in the martial arts. I've heard it said at tournaments 'he or she is in that organisation, they are not as good as us', 'my instructor said this about his', 'her instructor gave my instructor a dirty look so I set up a new organisation'.

WHO CARES.

I enjoy training, and I am on a journey in the martial arts. I did my black belt last month in Karate after over 10 years training. There is different politics in all the martial arts and people have disagreements. What is important is that at the end of the day we are all martial artists. We take the time out of our week to train or to train others. We are doing ourselves and our communities a service by training. Keeping ourselves and others fit, in turn doing society a good turn by keeping future health costs down etc.

I salute and bow to everyone on this forum. Whether they are training for themselves or training others I commend you. If you think your style is better than mine, that is your opinion and I'll respect it, and even if your style is better than mine, we are both better than the person wasting their lives in front of the TV.

Good luck in your training and instruction everyone and good luck in your martial journey.

EnjoyChoke

Tim_Murphy wrote: »

I’ve been wearing the same belt since 2006 and it still works just fine.

Sandbagger.

boxer.fan

This is an excellent rant. The OP talks a lot of sense here. Belts & grades are what they are, the important thing is that the student / instructor enjoys what they are doing.

The amount of bad politics and back stabbing in Irish martial arts would sometimes put the mafia to shame.

Personally I don't put a massive deal of value on belts & grades but one thing that does annoy me from time to time is how some instructors get fast tracked through dan grades. Not sure if this happens in BJJ, but I have noticed it in some other MA.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Mutual Respect, mutual Benefit, mutual Gain and mutual welfare, everyone's a winner! Without all of the above all or any of the above what have we got?.

paulmclaughlin

smacl wrote: »

So at the precise moment you get awarded a black belt, you are better at what you do than you were 5 minutes previously? Great to get some recognition of your own progression, or to win a competition as a measure of your relative ability in a group at a point in time. While both of these provide a focal point that help you train harder, I reckon the level you train at is determined more by how often you train and how much you put into each session.

I'm making the distinction between belt and level. Where do you see me pointing out a belt makes you better?

Gitb1

I'll probably never progress past my white belt in BJJ simply because I dont have the time to dedicate to the sport. It doesnt mean I'm going to just give up training or that I dont enjoy it. I do it purely because I enjoy it and it gives me more of an understanding of whats happening when I watch UFC's and I can appreciate it more

mr1percent

Great Post.
I also think that clubs/associations that make a lot of noise over who was awarded what by whom actually do themselves more harm than good. While knowing the history of a club can be interesting, if its rammed down your throat continually or if a part of every class is spent dissing another club, it bores people to tears, comes across as being negative and causes students to just walk away.