About Aikido of Champlain Valley
On Testing for Shodanby Heidi AlbrightAh, to have a black belt... since childhood the desire has been pulsing inside me. But sometimes I wonder how much of that desire was tied up in the American conception of a black belt in the martial arts. In order to get a sense of popular conceptions of yudansha rank, I asked some undergraduate students at the university what they thought having a black belt in the martial arts means. The responses were varied, and I was pleasantly surprised at some of their responses. Of course, I did get the expected that one has achieved the highest level of skill or mastery of the art, but I also received some more insightful answers. One student said that it means a person is not only knowledgeable of the art, but of humanity as well. Overwhelmingly, the most common response was that a black belt implied a level of discipline and dedication to learning: it means having focus and commitment over a long period of time. I began studying Kokorodo karate at the age of nine. I was one of several children in a large class of adults taught by Sensei Lance Shader. He impressed me with his command of the class, his sense of humor and his knowledge of the art. Most significantly, his black belt contrasted sharply with his white keikogi and spoke of some distant and absolute power. I immediately wanted to achieve that same level, and to become yudansha. My motivations were based on a limited understanding of what it means to have a black belt: no one can mess with you, you know all there is to know about the martial art. Needless to say, like many young martial art neophytes, my dedication wavered. I became interested in other things (though I continued to try to beat up boys in school) and I never made it past the rank of yonk |