How do you get a black belt? You find a competent teacher and a good school, begin your training and work hard. Someday—who knows when—it will come. It is not easy, but it’s worth it. It may take one year; it may take ten years. You may never achieve it. When you come to realize that the black belt is not as important as the practice itself, you are probable approaching the black belt level. When you realize that no matter how long or hard you train, there is a lifetime of study and practice ahead of you until you die, you are probably getting close to a black belt.
Kensho Furuya, Kodo
We just tested our first Red Sash. Chris has been a student here at the dojo since the 2nd day we opened, so he has always been one of the highest ranked, senior students. Now, after nearly 7 years, he is our first Red Sash. When he puts his sash on while there are still kids in the lobby after their class, a collective hush and excited whisper breaks out. Most of them have never seen a Red Sash before. It’s a big deal.
I want to take this opportunity to talk about the idea of rank in Martial Arts. Most people assume that rank and colored belts or sashes has been a part of Martial Arts since the beginning. This isn’t true. Jigoro Kano, founder of Judo, was the first person to use different colored belts to denote rank. This was in the 1880’s. Kung Fu, the first Martial Art, was founded at Shaolin Temple about 1500 years ago. What in the world did they do for 1400 years to show rank?
The truth is, until fairly recently, the concept of rank as we understand it didn’t exist. There was a teacher, and there were students. Of course, people generally recognized skill and experience as a differentiating factor, but there was no monthly testing for a new belt or stripe, no new color to put around your waist. Just years of hard work. In most dojos these days, rank is used as a carrot at the end of a stick to keep students coming, even though the classes are boring or they feel like they aren’t really improving. “If I keep getting a new belt, I guess I must be getting better,” most people think. This is silly.
Rank in Martial Arts is only worth the expended effort and experience gained from the process of earning it. You can buy a black belt or sash in a store for about $10. Yet without the years of work, it’s just a piece of cloth. In our school, it takes a fairly long time to get to the next rank. This is because the curriculum is huge and quite demanding, but also because we really want it to mean something. The tests are also very difficult for the same reasons. This is why it is so important to approach practicing Martial Arts with the attitude of effortless effort. If you only practice in order to get to the next rank, or, God help you, to Black Sash, you’ll never make it. You’ll always wonder why it’s taking so long to get to your next test, and the end will seem forever away. There should be no end in your mind. There should only be practice, working as hard as you can without concern for the outcome, be it the next rank, beating someone at sparring, or even an encouraging word from a senior student.
When you see Chris, ask him how important it is to be a Red Sash, or the highest ranked student in the school, as compared to the way that practice has transformed him as a human being. He is likely to downplay his shiny new sash.
