Thursday, May 03, 2007

Blue Belt

I was awarded a blue belt last Friday, which means that I'm officially a 6th kyu in my dojo. I don't really consider this a promotion because I was already a 6th kyu in my old dojo. All along I considered myself much better than the green (7th kyu) and blue belts. However, I'm not as good as the purple belts (5th kyu). I thought I was better because I knew more kata than they did. Green belts were just learning Saifa. I already mastered that until Sensei led me through it and taught me all of the little details. However, they know bunkai and spar better than I.

I knew that I was going to test next month. Three weeks ago, I talked to Sensei Jen that I don't know when I'm going to test and probably it won't be for a long time. Sensei overheard and said that I was going to test next month because I need to get moving along. So, I went to the testing for April because I wanted to train in the atmosphere that I'll be testing in next month. I really like testing days because it's like my old dojo. We keep doing techniques repeatedly until Sensei tells us to stop. By the end of testing, I’m tired and sweaty. I’m never like that in a normal class.

6 comments:

Mathieu said...

I don't really consider this a promotion because I was already a 6th kyu in my old dojo.

well, congrats anyways.

Steve said...

Congrats on your promotion.

John Vesia said...

Congratulations, Lizzie!

ZenHG said...

Lizzie,
To say that one is better than someone else because they know more Kata is a farce.
I have been doing Saifa for quite a few years now and I still have yet to master it.

In the old days it used to take a person fifteen years just to learn two Kata, systems usually only consisted of 3 to 4 Kata, so to learn four Kata it would take them a total of twenty years depending on their rate of progress.

At this point I have been training for sixteen years, I know the patterns for seventeen Kata, I really only have a grasp on two.
A sixth Kyu who has been training for a few months or even a year might only have a surface understanding of the basic pattern of one or more Kata, but they do not truly understand even one.

To say you are better than someone else is completely missing the point.
Solo Kata practice is only part of the equation, they might not look as good as you while performing the Kata, but they might be able to use that Kata to tear you apart.
Kata is not about looking good.

Congrats on your 6th Kyu, wear it well, delve deep into your practice and let go of any preconceived notions you may have, only then will you truly understand the depths of Karate, both 'Do' and 'Jutsu.'

Mir said...

Since you do not consider your belt rank recognition as a promotion, then I'll just say "happy to see the status quo replaced".

If I taught my 6 year old daughter how to recite the Greek alphabet, does this mean that she knows how to speak Greek? Nope.. Knowing how to do a Black belt kata as a yellow belt will not make someone a black belt.

Sorry Lizzie, but just because you knew the movements of a few more patterns than someone else did not make you a higher belt rank. However, you now CAN consider yourself a blue belt in this dojo because your Sensei has recognized you as such.

Lizzie Woolley said...

Thanks everyone. Supergroup, thanks for making me understand what David was trying to say.