Horsham:
A Veteran Beginner's Martial Arts Notebook
"How Long Does It Take To Get A Black Belt?"
by Stuart Coupe (6th Ji)
August 2005The most common question I hear from beginners (and one that I asked my colleagues at least once when I began) is, "how long does it take to become a black belt?" I reckon that most black belts have been faced with this one and I know that mostly they answer with a certain degree of hesitation.
This hesitation is, I'm guessing, because it might be the wrong question to be asking in the first place. Whilst the question might be an indication of determination to succeed, it might also be a revelation of motive for a badge of status and I like to think that a black belt is more than this. (Equally, and poignantly, it might also be simpler than this. As my black belt friend sometimes jokes: "At the end of the day all a belt does is the job of holding your trousers up!"
Unsurprisingly nobody has ever asked me how long it took to become a green tag (!) but if they did I might reply that it doesn't matter how long it took, but what matters is what you have to do to get it. And I might go on to say that getting a green tag involves executing the most difficult manoeuvre that there is in Tang Sou Dao. This most difficult of manoeuvres can be performed by anybody of any belt and, what's more we've all done it at least once. Yet this manoeuvre requires more dedication, patience and perseverance than any low hand form or advanced breaking technique on the syllabus. The most important manoeuvre seems to me to be this; turn up for class. Now this might sound like common sense - and that's probably because it is - but think deeply about this statement because it is filled with implications and challenges especially for junior graders like myself.
Sure, I often don't feel like going to a lesson and there's always some good excuse that appears in my head during the hours preceding class; the weather is too hot, the rain is pouring too hard, the big match is on the tele', I've too much work to do and so on. Yet I know that most of these reasons are simply my lower self, trying to con my mind and body out of doing something that requires a degree of effort and which I know is inherently good for me in all sorts of ways.
Another important aspect seems to me to be to show up for class in a spirit befitting of the Ren Yi Wu Kwan. This essentially means doing your best to overcome, practise or perfect whatever physical, psychological or spiritual milestones you have set before you. Your teacher may or may not have knowledge of these milestones but no matter. You turn up for yourself and you leave knowing for yourself how much effort you have put in to whatever reasons you are there for. You can then always come away feeling that your time has been well spent and that you are a better person for having the courage and determination to better yourself.
So what of this black belt business? I occasionally think about the day when I might get a black belt as most junior graders probably do but it's not nearly the most important thing for me. The most important thing for me is showing up to the next class and trying my best. Some people around me seem to progress more quickly than I do, at least in terms of their mastery of technique, and this can be a psychological challenge. Unlike me, the younger people around seem to exude flexibility and confidence far in excess of my talents. No matter. Everybody will have their own agendas for success and their own measurement of what constitutes progress and it matters not a jot to me what they are or how long it takes to achieve them. Even if I flunk the most basic of techniques and even if my patience with myself wears thin and my self doubt seems like a mountain that I'm forever scrambling over, I almost always leave the lesson feeling successful because of the one achievement that is within my grasp and indeed the grasp of us all: I showed up for class.
Tang Sou!
Stuart Coupe
Stuart Coupe (6th Ji) from Horsham (centre of picture)
with his 1st place trophy for free-firghting
at the National Championships 2005
Coming Up: Why do we do these forms?
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