Posts Tagged ‘Curriculum’
Just want to say how proud I am of all our students that tested this last weekend. You guys did a outstanding job congrats to all of you. I look forward to see you all gain more knowledge as you learn your
new curriculum.
Trade A Legacy For A Lexus? Not Me…
In my schools (where we teach a curriculum that is old school martial arts combined with modern self-defense) the average time is 4.5 years to 1st dan black belt.
For kids, it can take longer depending on at what age they enrolled. Younger kids just move slower through the junior ranks. Older kids sometimes move faster. And, we don’t give kids black belts – they get a half-black “junior black belt” in my schools.
Of course, teens and adults can do it in three years, if they’re dedicated. It’s only happened once so far, though. And, I’ll be honest – I simply don’t turn out a whole lot of black belts.
That’s for good reason. You see, I have a philosophy that not everyone is meant to be a black belt. That doesn’t preclude anyone from achieving it in my schools – far from it. However, few people will stick around and pay the price for earning a Massie black belt, because my standards are so high.
Sure, I could lower my standards and probably make a lot more money. But it’s an integrity issue for me, because I’m not going to be the type of instructor who stands on the shoulders of giants, only to walk all over their legacy.
A Quick History Lesson
I have more training and rank in Korean systems than any of the other “traditional” systems I’ve studied, and I was fortunate enough to come from a line of really hard core Korean-style instructors. Also, I am very well read and knowledgeable regarding the history of martial arts in America.
Historically, the trend surrounding taking people to black belt rapidly started with a certain large chain of Korean martial art schools, who built an empire on selling instant gratification to their students.
No, they weren’t the only ones doing it…
However, they were perhaps the most successful. Due to their success, many other school owners (including those from other styles) started seeing how much money they were making by selling belts, and it caught on.
A Few Bad Apples… Can Look Like The Whole Bushel
The sad thing is, lots of Korean and Korean-style instructors kept their standards high and refused to follow the practice. But unfortunately, the practice became so widespread among Korean-style schools that it eventually damaged the reputation of the Korean martial arts overall.
What a crying shame. Personally, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to show people how serious I am about martial arts to get respect from them, simply because of my background in Korean martial arts.
Never mind the fact that plenty of great martial artists have backgrounds in Korean systems. But, let me assure you there are still quality instructors turning out quality black belts from Korean-style schools.
But I digress… I only brought this up so you’d know how the practice of lowering belt rank promotion standards came about, and to illustrate to you younger instructors that it wasn’t always as easy as it is today to get a black belt.