Several years ago I was invited by a friend,
to go see a friend of his, test for their black belt in TKD.
Over the years
I've attended quite a few black belt tests, done by different instructors, schools,
styles, organizations, etc. But on this night, I was shocked at what I saw.
Upon
arriving at the testing site I noticed people scrambling trying to set up their black
lights, strobe lights, and smoke machines. I thought maybe I'd shown up for the wrong
thing. It seemed like preparation was going on for a theatrical production.
Eventually
the lights went out, everything became pitch black, the black lights were turned
on, the smoke started, and the show began. I watched in one day, this local school
put about 30 people through their black belt test. And guess what? They all passed.
I heard this was standard for this school, and they'd do this 2-3 times per year,
with 20-30 students each time going for black. Wow 90 Black Belts created per year!
I
know several high quality TKD masters, with very active schools, and large student
bodies, who haven't created 30 black belts in the 20 years they've taught. On this
night not only were we treated to the incredible commencement of this many 1st degree
black belts, but we were also treated to some demos, sparring, self-defense, etc.,
from this schools 4th and 5th degrees. The level of proficiency I saw these 4th and
5th degrees display, wasn't equal to that of several 1st degree TKD practitioneers
I personally know from elsewhere.
What I later found interesting was that
90% of those who made it to 1st degree with this school, would quit at that point
and never go any further in their training. I asked why. I was told by an insider,
"Their goal was black, and they reached it." I don't know about you, but
I'd always heard, and had been taught, that "1st black was just the beginning".
Each persons black belt test, beginning to end, probably didn't last 15 minutes.
All each person had to do was 1 form, 2 board breaks (one hand break, and one leg
break, only one board per break required), a total of about 3 minutes sparring (5
matches, about 30 seconds per match), a dozen one-steps, and about 10 self-defense
moves. Then afterwards they got their black belt. Not only did I notice that none
of these people were sweating or breathing heavy, during or afterwards, but I saw
a couple of them, who looked very able bodied, fall down just trying to do their
kicks. In my opinion, none of the 30 looked like they were ready to test for black.
I've seen many a green belt, at other places I've trained at, that could make all
30 of these "new black belts" look like beginners, if they performed side-by-side.
This school was well known for being a "black belt mill". Meaning
they were known to be more interested in the almighty dollar, and practically giving
belts away, than turning out quality students. They would sign up people on a $2,000
"black belt" contract, and get them to black belt as quick as they could,
usually in about 1.5 years. Then they'd turn around and try to hit them with a "masters"
contract, and want $5,000 more. $7,000 per student, paid in full, in less than 19
months, hmmm, not a bad little racket. Would this qualify as a "commercial karate
school?"
The problem I saw was that the students hadn't put in enough
time to really look like a black belt. Not only was this a problem, but the test
was too easy to pass. This organization intentionally tried to keep a person on a
tight time schedule, so that they'd make their black belt test, and easily pass their
test, as close to their minimum time to rank of 1.5 years as possible. My friend
told me, "Out of 6 black belt tests like this one I've been too, with 20-30
people each time going for black, never has anyone failed, even when they mess up
on their forms, board breaks, whatever".
In my opinion, it's no wonder
they looked and performed the way they did. The standards weren't high enough and
the students hadn't put in enough time, or effort, to look as good as someone who'd
trained at a school requiring a longer "minimum time to rank". Many styles
require the average new student spend at least 3-5 years to black, but to try and
make a person truly look like black belt material in 1.5 years, with one 45 minute
class per day, 2-3 times per week, I don't think so. Yeah I know Wallace, Lewis,
and Stone did so in record time, but that's when people trained 3-4 hours a day,
everyday of the week, not 45 minutes 2-3 times per week. Again, it all comes down
to putting in the time. As a follow up to this, see my other article, "What
Does Rank Really Mean?"
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