Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 68 total)
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  • #29862
    anonymous
    Member

    The School I attend has recently gone to Half Rank belts (yellow, yellow-orange, orange, orange-green etc) is this the way the NTC has set it up? I have been training over a year at yellow, am proficient at all curriculum up to green yet have to pay for a half belt and cannot advance. The instructor says,\”Its so I can keep track of everyones progress better.\” With this new ranking system, people are dropping out because it takes too long to progress and it costs more money. The paper I got from them says \”KRAV MAGA National Training Center Intermediate Curriculum\” and then lists requirments for each half belt. Again, are these half belts endorsed by the NTC? I am becoming very discouraged by how long it takes to progress and learn new techniques and am ready to quit and find something else. HELP!!!
    Thank you.
    Brian

    #52169
    jay99
    Member

    I train in Los Angeles and I have never seen the \”half-belt\” thing. It sounds like a bit of a rip-off to me and I would not blame people for dropping out.

    The U.S. Cheif Instructor – Darren Levine teaches here in L.A.. Perhaps the long distance phone call to ask them about this \”half-belt\” thing is worth it.

    Good Luck.

    #52174
    anonymous
    Member

    Thanks Jay,
    I did call and talk with a couple of people. They said there is no half belts in KM. They will be calling me back to tell me what can be done about it, what great people you guys have down there!
    I agree, I too believe it is a scam to get more money out of students. To me, this shows a lack of integrity on the part of the school.

    Does anyone elses school have the \”half rank/belt\” system?

    #52175
    bradm
    Member

    BlackBeltBrian,
    Would you be training at an ATA Taekwondo school? That sounds like the system the ATA used to (maybe still do) use for their TKD belt promotions.

    #52177
    anonymous
    Member

    Hi Brad,
    No, it’s not an ATA TKD school. They do offer other MA’s, TKD isn’t one of them. They started out using the KM NTC curriculum booklet, but switched by cutting eact pahse in half..making it like 12 phases to get to Black Belt. The part I feel is decietful, is on the top it says \”KRAV MAGA NATIONAL TRAINING CENTER INTERMEDIATE CURRICULUM\” when I called the NTC, they said that is NOT the NTC curriculum. (it has the same requirements but they are split for each belt/phase/level to make twice as many levels) and they do not have a half/belt system. I feel they are doing a disservice to KM since they are licenced as an Official KM Training Center. We’ll see how far this deception goes when I get my \”half belt\” KM Diploma.
    To those of you who work at the NTC, I can scan these documents and send them to you since they are using your name on them.
    Brian

    #52185
    anonymous
    Member

    Yes, sounds like a scam. Also, it shouldn’t take a year to get to yellow belt if you are training regularly. I think here at the NTC it’s about four months. To orange it’s another 4-5 months, then green maybe 8-9. As far as I know, at least until recently, taking the tests was not required to advance. If you know everything up to green belt, they should allow you to take some higher level classes I believe.

    _________________
    Giantkiller

    #52193
    kpalena
    Member

    My understanding is that each school can determine how they grade students within certian parameters. Most schools have a certian number of hours you need to train before you are allowed to test up. Spending a long time at a certian belt is not the school, nor the instructors fault. It is the students responsibility to train consistantly. I too am profecient in the curriculum up to the green belt, but I am not a green belt becasue I have not tested to that point…duh. Also, remember that these schools are a business. They have to make a profit. If not they have to close and no one gets to train in anything. Also, there is onl one side to the story here. How often can you test at the ntc? how much do tests cost? All that information is required before you say this is a scam. IMHO you are frusterated that you have not trained as much as you should have and have not been able to test.

    #52195
    anonymous
    Member

    kpalena,
    Actually, I HAVE trained enough to test. I’ve been around MA’s long enough and been to enough schools to know, half ranks, are about more profit, I’ve had several school owners tell me so. I don’t begrudge Schools for making a profit. But I do have a problem when that becomes the main concern and the teaching and training suffers. kpalena, you know nothing about my training schedule so your \”humble opinion\” is meaningless and wrong. The problem is, there is a serious lack of quality control when schools are allowed to do their own thing and call it Krav Maga and fly the KM Offical Training banner, while not following the KMAA curriculum. It is a disservice to the students, and to KMAA. It cheapens their product and makes it all look like Krav Maga is a McDojo type of Buisiness. I hope to hear from someone at the NTC, who can give me facts about what their licencing requires of schools.

    #52196
    vicious
    Member

    has it made the training worse? it is making students less safe from actual attack?

    IF not…. all that should matter is that you KNOW you’ve trained enough.

    i got my blue belt in Krav maga in 2002.

    for several reasons i never continued to test.

    Guess what? i KNOW i’m a black belt in krav maga. I don’t have the belt; i’d never say i was more than a blue when talking to anyone else.

    But ANYONE who’s trained with me recently can allow MY training to speak for itself. One day i’ll actually test…

    #52199
    anonymous
    Member

    Okay…now I remember why I quit posting on this forum…
    Thanks for the replies people. I think I will just keep this kind of thing private from now on and just be a lurker in these forums.
    Have a groovy day…

    #52200
    bradm
    Member

    BlackBeltBrian,

    Sorry to hear you have decided to kept your opinions private and just be a lurker. Personaly, I think your comments/questions regarding half belt testing was valid. It deserved a valid answer instead of ridicule. Unfortunatley some people seem to get off on flexing their mucles, so to speak, and diss or slam someone for no reason. Sometimes, some comments may deserve it, but yours regarding half belt testing did not.

    I agree that schools need to make a profit to stay in business. But, some schools do go too far. I’ve experienced it my self.

    Good luck, keep trainig, and I hope we hear from you again.

    #52207
    kpalena
    Member

    😯

    No riducule intended. Wow this place got sensitive. 🙄 There are two sides to every story. I just wanted the whole story. I think some testing procedures can be misguided and profit oriented, but to call it \”deception\” requires more information.

    Remember, training in MAs is not about the art, it’s about the school. If you and the school don’t click, find a school that you like. I thought I kept things respectful, but if I hurt your feelings Brian, I’m sorry. Disagreeing doesn’t always have to be confrontational.

    I did not diss, slam, or flex, nor did anyone else. How can we attempt to provide a quality answer with only half the information?

    #52208
    vicious
    Member

    yeah… like everyone else i’d hope you’d still post, but if your offended by people asking questions to better understand the situation…

    i truly wanted to know if it affected the intensity of the training. I STILL take yellow and orange belt classes at my school. Why? Because they are extremely intense. If there is no intensity, if you’re not learning to transition from passive to kill in the shortest period of time possible…

    i will apologize if i came off apathetic to your situation. i simply felt i didn’t know enough.

    i don’t care about belts, but even i NEED to continue my education. It’s possible to take yellow belt material and keep it interesting for years if the instructor knows what he’s doing. At the same time I’M not everyone.

    Though even you have to admit… if there is a SERIOUS problem with a KM school… calling/e-mail/PMing John Whitman or the national training will get something done…. this forum can simply discuss your situation… which i feel i didn’t have enough information about.

    BTW, i just read kpalena and saw he/she wrote the same thing as i… lol wasn’t intended.

    #52209
    anonymous
    Member

    BBB,

    I agree, belts aren’t everything. It would mostly become an issue if there are higher level classes that you know you are ready for, but are not allowed to train in, because you haven’t passed your test. I don’t like the idea of half belts, because that’s not what the NTC is doing and as a KMAA school I believe they should follow their curriculum.

    Yes, continue posting! 🙂

    _________________
    Giantkiller

    #52219
    anonymous
    Member

    Let me revisit some of my points that probably only someone from the NTC can answer:
    Are half belts endorsed by the NTC?
    Are schools allowed to deviate from the prescibed KMWW/KMAA curriculum, break it apart, water it down etc?

    Now, why am I such a sniviling bitch about these \”half ranks?\”
    Half belts serve NO PURPOSE other then to add more profit, ie take more money from students. I don’t care what an instructor says, it’s all about $$$. NOT quality of service to the customer (student). It’s \”how can we make a bigger profit without increasing the quality of our service?\”
    Like I said before, I’ve been around MA’s a long time and know, half belts are as many of you have said, a scam. And, again, I have been told as much by several school owners. There is even a MMA school close by that says in their about us section:

    \”Q: What makes (School name removed for privacy) academy different? A: We are not a commercial belt factory. Meaning, you will earn the belt and not pay a ton of money for it. WARNING: other clubs charge big promotion fee’s. \”

    I have trained at schools who have zero testing fees. Thats right ZERO, yet they still remain to be profitable, and their dues were no higher than anyone elses.
    Viscios asked, \”i truly wanted to know if it affected the intensity of the training?\” The intensity, I don’t think so, the quality tho suffers. When you are held to a level for almost twice as long as prescribed by the NTC (the people who researched and developed how long it should take to advance) whats the point? I agree with you Vicious, one should continue to review the basics reguarly, they are the foundation. But to hold a person back from learning when they are ready to advance is wrong, it shows a lack of interest or caring about the student. And I agree again with you Vicious, I dont give a shit about belts, I care about training and learning new techniques (probably couldnt tell by my screen name tho) Fuck belts, Fuck pieces of paper saying you have this or that rank. They are meaningless.

    Main point being, my training is suffering because I am not learning anything new because of a system of ranking motivated by profiteering and greed…not a system set in place to benifit students and help them reach goals and advance in their training.

    Again, thank everyone for your input, I have yet to hear from anyone from the NTC even tho I have put in two calls. This may be a more sticky situation then I had thought. And if anyone has a viable defense for the half rank/belt/phase system please let me know!

Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 68 total)
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