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Re: Is Rank Important to You?
Take the tests….afterward you’ll feel like you can accomplish anything.
Re: Is Rank Important to You?
quote MadDogMean:Take the tests….afterward you’ll feel like you can accomplish anything.Think what a Navy SEAL must feel like after Hell Week or Graduation or a PJ or any other SF school that tells you, your elite. Truth is we’re all elite, if we want to be
Re: Is Rank Important to You?
quote unstpabl1:Think what a Navy SEAL must feel like after Hell Week or Graduation or a PJ or any other SF school that tells you, your elite. Truth is we’re all elite, if we want to beI’m reading the book “Flow: the psycology of optimal performance” and it has some interesting points that relate to this. That challenge is part of growth, else you’re just physically watching TV. That you become a deeper and stronger individual when you do something challenging; you differentiate yourself from most people but you draw closer to a select crowd.
If your classes are very seperate, so that L1 students only get L1 stuff, etc, then I really suggest you test up. Not just to learn new stuff but to become a stronger person in that learning. Use the challenge to grow.
unstpabl1, good to be back. 🙂
Leam
Re: Is Rank Important to You?
quote MadDogMean:Take the tests….afterward you’ll feel like you can accomplish anything.There is a euphoric high after coming out of a test that is hard to put into words.
It’s like a runners high x20.Re: Is Rank Important to You?
Let me first start off by saying I’ve tried to stay out of this conversation because I have some pretty strong feeling on the subject which may not be popular.
Since I just had a very spirited discussion with a few black belts on the subject it’s a little fresh on my mind.
IMHO at a certain point, rank means nothing, not a damn thing. And I don’t mean in Krav Maga I mean in general.
Initially the beginning student absolutely 100% agree needs and deserves the positive reaffirmation that testing up a level/rank gives them.
But that’s where it stops.
Positive reaffirmation and sense of accomplishment are replaced by greed and ego.
I’ve got a good friend who posts in this forum, I’ve known him close to 15 years or more, have always known he was training in this or that but never really paid attention. He’s also been doing krav since UJ days and is a FTD instructor. Anyway we got to talking with a group of guys and started counting his ranks when all tallied up he had a total of 19 black belts. That means he’s tested 19 times in various styles over 30 years of training. But heres the kicker, he’s never tested once in Krav, not one time, not level one nothing. Yet he’s been TRAINING in Krav and teaching it for over ?? years to LE. The guys a walking encyclopedia yet you’d never know it. He walks in trains and leaves.
On the flip side guys who self promote to such high ranks its ridicules. There was even a post this morning from a 10th dan in KM advertising his Krav videos (which were removed) a 10th dan in Krav? Seriously??
The reality is its not how many stripes you have on your belt it’s what can you do on the mat as in time spent training. Not walking around teaching or pontifications about your self aggrandized accolades. That just makes you an arrogant ass. An ass that we all laugh at.
I never ask anyone what rank they are, I ask them how long have they been training in.
Respect is earned.
That’s just my .02 – I could be wrong.
Re: Is Rank Important to You?
quote :This is such a well said post. You said exactly what I have been thinking. I tried to stay out of this as well, because I really wanted to see what students had to say. I believe in belt testing for the purposes of keeping goals… but really, we have all seen what CJ’sDad is talking about and its not in one MA or System, but everywhere.
I just take it with a grain of salt and consider the best accomplishment to be what people like CJ’sDad (who by the way has EXTENSIVE training and MA knowledge), Bas Rutten, Darren Levine and Jon Pascal- not to mention any cop I have trained (which no offense, means way more to me than anything) have to say about me… not the general hype.
I am not a KM black belt.. I have 3 black belts that I earned and it was just a rigorous as any KM testing I have done. I would like to finish my expert KM training and test. Darren told Oneness I we should be testing for black right after Phase C, but we wanted to go through expert training and grow. But honestly, my time is spent teaching and traveling trying to promot LE training in KM. It is more important to me that I spend my time helping others than helping myself. I train, I work hard at KM and teach… but I am not focused on myself- but on spreading KM. But- it is a goal, and that is important to have.
Train because you love it, because you are passionate about it, and because you consider it as important as air and water… not for rank. The respect comes from those that matter, not the belt.
Re: Is Rank Important to You?
Very well said but the dilemma lies in that if you do not test, you can’t go to anything but L1 classes. That’s what I always liked about boxing…you just train, train, train and you train more advanced naturally as you need to.
So what is the solution to the Krav Maga dilemma (if it’s even a dilemma)?
Re: Is Rank Important to You?
I don’t think there is a dilemma… Your a student, train then test. That’s what we all do… some haul a$$ though the training and skip ahead as fast as they can like its a race to some invisible finish line, and others think the “race” is where its at. You have to have goals. Tests help you establish those goals and give you benchmarks. So I say test, but take it all with a grain of salt when you see those guys in class flaunting their “rank”. We have seen them come and go…
Re: Is Rank Important to You?
quote KMMAN:Very well said but the dilemma lies in that if you do not test, you can’t go to anything but L1 classes.That’s not the situation for every outfit.
As I said previously, as long as you have some modicum of knowledge and proficiency, you will be doing the same moves and drills as the higher levels.
Only true noobs are kept to one side and instructed on basics.
If I could only train the techniques ‘assigned’ to my level, I think I would have got bored months ago.
Re: Is Rank Important to You?
Testing is one of the challenges I have. For a long time I’ve worked for extrinsic goals, even if I didn’t like the process. Now I’m too old to waste time on a process I don’t enjoy and grow from. Goals are fine for program structure but I/you need to work at making a goal of enjoying the process.
Leam
Re: Is Rank Important to You?
Wow – some interesting comments made in this thread. Thnx people.
Veering off topic but – thanks to leam for this book mention: Flow: the psychology of optimal performance – I am going to pick this one up. Funnily was just reading about the ‘flow’ concept from (apparently) this same psychologist while doing some study on the legendary USMC (Vietnam) sniper Carlos Hathcock who summed up his mindset as the following: ‘ Hathcock once said that he survived in his work because of an ability to “get in the bubble,” to put himself into a state of “utter, complete, absolute concentration,” first with his equipment, then his environment, in which every breeze and every leaf meant something, and finally on his quarry
Re: Is Rank Important to You?
quote Kirsten:I don’t think there is a dilemma… Your a student, train then test. That’s what we all do… some haul a$$ though the training and skip ahead as fast as they can like its a race to some invisible finish line, and others think the “race” is where its at. You have to have goals. Tests help you establish those goals and give you benchmarks. So I say test, but take it all with a grain of salt when you see those guys in class flaunting their “rank”. We have seen them come and go…Oh, so those of us (like me and hubby-LOL) who took some extra years to test-that’s a cool thing? I KNEW I LIKED YOU FOR A REASONrofl2.
I also give high fives to all the instructors out there. From the little I’ve seen via my center, once you start teaching as an instructor, seems getting your next student belt takes a back seat at times.
CJ’s Dad – yes, knowing you can do it means alot. Would I like get my level 4 one day? Sure, but I’m in no friggin hurry. Heck, just spent the last week healing from wisdom tooth surgery. No training/working out for a week. I start over again, just like I’ve done so many times beforethumbsup
Re: Is Rank Important to You?
I agree with Kirsten and CJ’s Dad regarding rank. I would even go further and say that the number of years a person has trained doesn’t even guarantee a person’s skill. I’ve met people who have trained for decades and still don’t understand good concepts or good training. Rather, I do my best to evaluate (and hope I’m evaluated) on skill, knowledge, and teaching ability.
Re: Is Rank Important to You?
quote KMMAN:Very well said but the dilemma lies in that if you do not test, you can’t go to anything but L1 classes. That’s what I always liked about boxing…you just train, train, train and you train more advanced naturally as you need to.So what is the solution to the Krav Maga dilemma (if it’s even a dilemma)?
KMMAN,
Check with your school owner. Where I train a student can start taking the next higher level classes with time-in the system and approval of an instructor.
Good Luck
Re: Is Rank Important to You?
quote Chocolate Soldier:Wow – some interesting comments made in this thread. Thnx people.Veering off topic but – thanks to leam for this book mention: Flow: the psychology of optimal performance – I am going to pick this one up. Funnily was just reading about the ‘flow’ concept from (apparently) this same psychologist while doing some study on the legendary USMC (Vietnam) sniper Carlos Hathcock who summed up his mindset as the following: ‘ Hathcock once said that he survived in his work because of an ability to “get in the bubble,” to put himself into a state of “utter, complete, absolute concentration,” first with his equipment, then his environment, in which every breeze and every leaf meant something, and finally on his quarry
I read about the book years ago. I thyink i almost bought it, but got the impression that it talked about the subject but didn’t give a course of action on how to use it. Either that bor the author was too clinical. Is trhat a misrepresentation on my part? Curious because if its practical i’ll buy it today
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