Taekwondo - Black Belts too Easy?
May 18th 2009 04:23
Are black belts in martial arts too easy to achieve these days? I practise taekwondo, and became a black belt after 2 and a half years of training. I did have to work hard at this – I was among the oldest in the training group, so I always felt behind the eight-ball in terms of flexibility, and had to work hard on the fitness side too. That never bothered me greatly as it was more rewarding for me to be disciplined. I worked hard and am very proud to have earned my belt, and I definitely respect the philosophy of the art. Is 2.5 years really a long enough period to have earned the right to a black belt though? I see teenagers and young adults who do not really show enough respect to their 5th Dan instructor during classes, just to give an example. Where’s the respect for the philosophy here?
I have long been a music student, and it seems to me that piano exams were way more rigourous than my taekwondo gradings could ever be. Why? Firstly because it’s one-on-one, so if there is a gap in knowledge, it cannot be missed. The en masse nature of the gradings, where several hundred children and adults are herded cattle-class into a large hall – in catering for the entire audience, the adults are patronised in a way that isn’t conducive to performing at one’s best. It just doesn’t really do the artform justice. It only serves to line the pockets of the brains behind it all, and they really do have it all figured out – books, training DVDs – a veritable marketing machine, at the end of which, every man and his dog come out with a black belt. Yes, determination, focus, discipline, confidence….. Stop right there though – doesn’t the speed with which the black belt is achieved cheapen its very value and that of the martial art itself? I suppose I’m really asking about fundamental values here – those running the show supposedly love taekwondo – they live and breathe it, and yet they can marry this with a money-making enterprise that I would have thought runs counter to its core philosophies?
I have long been a music student, and it seems to me that piano exams were way more rigourous than my taekwondo gradings could ever be. Why? Firstly because it’s one-on-one, so if there is a gap in knowledge, it cannot be missed. The en masse nature of the gradings, where several hundred children and adults are herded cattle-class into a large hall – in catering for the entire audience, the adults are patronised in a way that isn’t conducive to performing at one’s best. It just doesn’t really do the artform justice. It only serves to line the pockets of the brains behind it all, and they really do have it all figured out – books, training DVDs – a veritable marketing machine, at the end of which, every man and his dog come out with a black belt. Yes, determination, focus, discipline, confidence….. Stop right there though – doesn’t the speed with which the black belt is achieved cheapen its very value and that of the martial art itself? I suppose I’m really asking about fundamental values here – those running the show supposedly love taekwondo – they live and breathe it, and yet they can marry this with a money-making enterprise that I would have thought runs counter to its core philosophies?
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