Ranking In Martial Arts: Meaning Of Blackbelt and the Pro’s vs. Con’s Of Ranking

Martial Arts Rank: Pro’s & Con’s of Ranks and what it means to be a blackbelt.

What was the rank of Morehei Ueshiba, the founder of Aikido? What about the father of Judo, Jigoro Kano? Miyomoto Musashi, the famous swordsman who won many duels? How about Bruce Lee’s in Jeet Kune Do? Helio Gracie of BJJ?

The answer is, either the highest it could possibly be or nothing at all as some are noted as being “above the ranking system”. Think about that for a minute…

Now, while reading, remember these questions:
1. Where did they get their rank from or what makes them exempt?

2. Does this mean they are the best since they are at the highest levels?

3. Do they know everything about their martial art?

4. Is a Blackbelt unbeatable or even considered an expert?

5. Are higher ranking Blackbelts better in technique or skill than a lower-level Blackbelt?

These are loaded questions and deserve analysis beyond a simple answer. We will explore the concept of rank in the martial arts as it pertains to skill, knowledge, time, dedication, and contribution. We’ll also discuss what it means to be a “Blackbelt”. Take a tour with me around the idea and validity of various ranks and finding value, purpose, and meaning within them. Discover how rank can be detrimental to one’s martial arts journey as well as very beneficial.

Now as we dive into this, keep in mind that this is the opinion of one martial artist. I’ve been dedicated to the martial arts for 20 years and consult with others as much as possible to become well-rounded in several art-forms and maintain an open mind. We will not be discussing every last detail on this matter so do not base your opinions solely off of this blog. I implore you to investigate this and any other topic on your own in addition to this read. My hope is to provide a viewpoint on which to start your base of knowledge or expand upon the concept of rank as you may know it.

Rank is both under-valued and over-valued. It is a huge part of martial arts today and should be respected, regardless of your position on a particular art or of rank itself.

Personal Ranking and Blackbelt Dilemma

For a long time, especially when beginning my own dojo, I wrestled with rank and whether or not I should incorporate it in the curriculum. At first, I was gung-ho about white belts and black belts only. It’s simple and straight forward; you’re either a black belt or you’re not. The main issue was that I was torn and feeling unsettled. I did not believe I had enough input to make an intelligent and whole-hearted decision. I do this often during major decisions; if something doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t. Like a jury judging their peers, always aim for the most informed decision before sentencing someone to death. So I consulted with other school owners, forums, blogs, books, videos, learned about the history of ranking, and came to my own conclusions. This does not make them “right” or “wrong”, but they are mine and that’s all that matters. I must be 100% dedicated and confident with my determinations as my student’s will benefit most from that mentality. As I continue my own journey, gain more experience and learn more martial arts philosophy, my outlook on ranks may or may not differ in time.

There will come a moment where you need to evaluate and decide what ranking and Blackbelt status means to you and if you agree or disagree with how they are used. This reminds me of a movie called, “A Case for Christ”, a true story where an journalist investigates the validity and evidence for God. Spoiler alert, he turns from Atheist to Priest. After gathering an abundance of evidence from scholars, believers, and even other atheists, he was still skeptical thinking he did not have enough information. His wife eventually said, “well how much evidence will be enough for you?” This can hit hard during a life-journey whether it’s martial arts, general philosophy, or searching for your faith. I personally use this often when making decisions or establishing beliefs. Search out as much data, material, and information you can before settling on a notion or belief.

This concept is vital and pertinent to training in general. Just because something did not work for you on the first day you learned it, such as a certain technique, does not mean it’s no good or you’re no good. Is one day enough time and evidence to say the technique in question is crap or that you are a horrible martial artist? Absolutely not! Do your homework, practice, and improve your knowledge and understanding before coming to conclusions about something you just learned yesterday. If you apply what I’ve discussed in these last few paragraphs, you will never run out of material to learn and will be able to analyze everything so that you’re not easily misguided. Your belief’s should truly be your own and not subliminally forced on you.

Blackbelt Status

Obtaining a “Blackbelt” in any martial art is quite the accomplishment. Most individuals who begin martial arts will never become a Blackbelt. This is just the truth. Hell, most people who join a martial arts dojo will not be there 6-months later. The Martial Arts has too many benefits to be so easily overlooked and literally beats the hell out of going to the gym. If you’ve lasted more than 1-year, you are above the average. Of all who train, 1% become a true Blackbelt.

Everyone LOVES the IDEA of becoming a Blackbelt until they realize how much effort it actually takes to get achieve it.

What you will be exposed to in the martial arts community is that Blackbelt is viewed differently by many and can be very subjective! I will start by defining Blackbelt my idea of what Blackbelt means for a baseline.

A Blackbelt is a direct representative and is able to physically demonstrate and articulate the characteristics of their martial art. At this caliber, they must be proficient, overall, in their art with terminology, forms, technique, basic principles, and fundamentals as well as be able to flow smoothly with control of power. Blackbelts are also dedicated individuals who have discovered themselves and how to proactively learn or “figure things out” instead of relying solely on an instructor. Lastly, Blackbelts are leaders within their dojo’s. They encourage, assist, and develop strong character in others. Respect is key.

A Blackbelt does not have to “know everything” and does not need to be “perfect”, but they do need to prove competency and efficiency in various aspects of their martial art, especially the basics. To relate it, a Brain Surgeon are simply average Doctors with years of advanced specialty training. A Blackbelt is NOT a Brain Surgeon; they are the average Doctor who knows the basics well enough to save lives. Nobody leaves college knowing everything. They get their high level proficiency from on the job training, experience, teaching, mentorship, consulting other experienced players, etc. Even though they are very educated, there is always more to learn! Stay Humble!

The Subjective Nature of Blackbelt Promotion

Blackbelt promotion is based on two things, the martial art that is being trained and the instructor who is promoting. With the absence of legitimate governing bodies, standardization of curriculum and promotion go out the door. Therefore, the meaning, validity, and value of Blackbelt is going to vary everywhere. More on this as we discuss ranking, in general.

First, Martial Arts can be very different from one another. Some are softer in style such as Iaido while others are very rough such as competitive Sambo. Then there is the in-between arts which can be practical yet elegant such as BJJ and Aikido. All with completely different curriculums or mindsets. Therefore, when we talk about what a Blackbelt is, we must be conscientious of other arts and their purposes. We should never criticize or critique an art in a negative manner, or Blackbelt of said art, that we’ve never personally studied. This is called ignorance and it’s sad to witness.

Secondly, every promoting instructor is different. How an instructor promotes someone to Blackbelt is greatly influenced by factors such as their own testing experience, life and personal experience, observation of the student’s journey and progress and philosophy. They will promote you based on what they deem “adequate” for Blackbelt status.

This is exactly why standardization, even if monitored by a governing body, is practically non-existent today. Almost any two people will view a Blackbelt differently. The curriculum could be the same but the way it is performed may cause one person to fail and another to pass. One major example is my witness to several Blackbelt promotions under tutelage of my previous instructor. Again, while I have my own standards and definition of Blackbelt, they were definitely not on par with his, apparently. It was very concerning to see people promoted to Blackbelt that were CONSIDERABLY less skilled and proficient than I was at that level. But maybe my standards got way too high since then. I don’t know. I’m not even boasting, it was very clear to more than just myself that these promotions happened to satisfy another agenda. Have you ever seen a Blackbelt perform or speak and wonder, “how the…?”. I mean, these are the people chosen to represent not only your martial art, but YOU as an instructor!

With every dojo having specific criteria and instructor bias for Blackbelt status, it’s no wonder we have so many varying levels of skill amongst Blackbelts. While we do not want ill-suited Blackbelts misrepresenting our arts, it is unfortunately inevitable. Therefore, it’s incredibly important to uphold high-standards to each other and never gifting a Blackbelt based on time or pity.

I’m going to compare this with playing a musical instrument. It all depends on who you’re playing in front of. If you’re performing in front of a professional musician who’s been playing the guitar and studying music for years, they will hold you to a different standard than somebody who only listens to music or just started the guitar more recently. So if you learn a few chord riffs, notes, and even songs, you can appear really good to somebody who doesn’t “know” music but appear as an amateur to a professional. Whether you are an absolute god with the guitar or just an amateur playing for fun, what other people think of your skills will always be dependent on their bias.

Legitimacy of a Blackbelt

Once again, if someone is promoted to Blackbelt in their school or art, we must respect that…. to an extent. The more knowledge and experience we get, individually, the more critical of others we become. This is normal human behavior. All we can really do, without knowing the training history is accept their status. We do not have to agree with it, but we must accept it as there is always more to learn anyway. But how do you know someone is legit if you don’t know them?

One way students can potentially prove their status is via paper documentation or certificates. Let me keep this as simple as possible… paper credentials are pointless. Yes, they offer some validity but a 10 year old can Google a certificate and replicate it quite easily. Aside from that, you then have to contact the issuers of said certificate and obtain proper verification. What if the issuer is deceased? What if you cannot get a hold of them? What if the organization has disbanded? Basically, with organizations, dojos, and instructors passing away, verification can be difficult.

The banning or separation of students from dojos also makes it difficult to verify legitimacy. There are an alarming amount of independent instructors among us who spent decades with their organizations, dojos, and instructors only to leave for various reasons. These reasons may be personal, political, legal, moral, or ethical. Whether or not the status with a previous entity is maintained or verifiable does not necessarily mean someone is not at that level of competency. When I left my previous instructor’s organization and dojo, it was expected that I return not only my belts, but all credentials as well. This is only telling that they want to rid me of any paper trail and affiliation. You can take back credentials and refuse to acknowledge my achievements during my 17 years with the organization, but you cannot take away all that I have learned and the level of competency I’ve attained.

So how do we know if someone is “legitimate”? Short answer, you can’t UNLESS they are making blatant claims that are verifiable via the organization from which they claim to have credentials. Otherwise, what you can do is train with them and get to know them. This is the best way to find out their competency and level of skill. Then, based on your experience and knowledge, develop your own opinion. One simple question people often fail to ask is, “How long have you been training?”.

Length of training is much more important than rank or title as consistent training over a specific length of time will help you easily gauge their proficiency.

How long it takes to earn a Blackbelt will be dependent on the art’s complexity, instructor, and determination of the student. On average, 5-7 years is not uncommon across martial arts.

Blackbelt Myths and Misconceptions

1. Blackbelts know everything — So much more to learn in time
2. Being promoted to Blackbelt means you are good at fighting and self-defense — Just… No.
3. Blackbelt is the end goal of training — There is so much to improve on after black belt
4. All Blackbelts are good teachers — Teaching and patience is an acquired skillset
5. All good teachers are Blackbelts — Some people are naturally great teachers
6. All Blackbelts in the same martial art are equal in skill & technique — It’s Subjective
7. In competition, a Blackbelt can’t get beat by a color-belt — It happens frequently

Ranking Below Blackbelt

Ranking in the martial arts is NOT standardized. Although many institutions attempt standardizations via written curriculum, it often fails. My experience with standardization is one of disappointment during my time with my previous organization. For example, many years after learning a very detailed curriculum and focusing on the requirements, it was all stripped away and replaced with a much, MUCH simpler and less comprehensive one. Luckily, I already had everything I needed to test for Blackbelt, per the curriculum, and had I’d been stuck with it earlier, I would’ve missed out on A LOT OF INFORMATION. The lack of standardization was non-existent in my own dojo, let alone between various other schools or organizations. I’ve looked up other rank requirements and they are all very different. This is why we cannot compare ranks. This will be more apparent as we continue this discussion.

Why Color Belts?

Color belt ranking systems are actually more modern than you may believe. You may read about this in more detail at your leisure. In essence, Jigoro Kano, developed the color belt “Menkyo” system as a way to separate people into fair categories for Judo competition. Other martial arts have since adapted this concept for both competitive and achievement purposes.

Color belts help instructors, especially those with a lot of students, easily identify the competency level of each student based on belt color. It is also a milestone achievement students can use to gauge their progress. It gives students material and techniques to focus on for each level. This is why it is crucial that instructors promote individuals based on more qualifications than just merit. Individual color belts do not offer many con’s as long as the curriculum is comprehensive enough for students to learn the fundamentals aside from individual techniques. Meaning, as long as you follow the curriculum, you will learn the necessary, expected fundamentals simultaneous to technique.

Structure of Color Belt Ranks

Depending on your dojo, you may encounter a variety of both belt colors and number of belts up to Blackbelt. I cannot speak to other schools but will give you insight into how my curriculum is structured. The first level of each art incorporates the most fundamental movements, terms, and techniques. Simply learning the first rank will expose you to principles that can be easily applied to everything thereafter, making the remaining ranks much easier to comprehend. The first level should never be too complex. It should also not be held to a standard of perfection. The first rank promotion, in my honest opinion, should not have a high standard as this is all brand new for most students. I expect an honest effort in remembering terminology, performing the techniques, and general understanding of principles. Passing this means you are ready to handle the more intricate details about that level as well as learning new material. For competitive martial arts, technique and skill is critiqued in a way that assures the student is able to perform well against a similarly ranked student. Typically, they are regularly defeated by higher ranks but can regularly defeat those below them. Regularly does NOT mean all the time. It’s acceptable to lose to someone below your rank, sometimes.

Rank Above Blackbelt

What comes after Blackbelt? This is where all the fun begins!!! We are not just talking about fun in regards to training, but politically as well. The bullshit typically starts flying after this grand milestone.

Getting to Blackbelt should be nothing less than exhilarating and gratifying. Hard work, dedication, and years of being humbled. This part of the journey is the most beneficial for the student because this is when they should have the MOST focus in all of their training. Even though Blackbelt is not the end, many will subconsciously believe it is and their quality of training will decline afterwards. Egos can develop and cause these individuals to lose focus on how much they have yet to learn. By the time someone gets to Blackbelt, however, they tend to be more invested than the average student and will continue their training well beyond. But to what ends?

Again, curriculum dependent, you may or may not have specific material to train in order to test for 2nd degree Blackbelt or beyond. The MAIN purpose of training beyond Blackbelt is to perfect and improve all of the already well understood and performed principles and techniques. By doing this, you will naturally develop your own philosophies, techniques, or insights. New material or not, this should be the only goal knowing it’s an uphill battle and perfection is near impossible. If you do have new material per the curriculum, learn and develop those new skills as well. If no curriculum for your next rank, concentrate on seeking out knowledge from new instructors or arts to gain new perspectives, ideas, techniques, or variations to add to your skillset. Always keep improving. Teaching

Teaching is one of the best ways to master & enhance your understanding of technique…

Ranking & Titles

Throughout the martial arts arena, we come across many titles and “high-ranking” individuals. To quickly describe, Titles are given by organizations to indicate authority within the ranking structure. Depending on the art or organization, the terms will vary. Here is a list of different terms used:

There are many other terms but these refer to those in the Instructor or Blackbelt levels in many arts. It is incredibly easy to get lost in the world of rank and title as it can be very distracting to a high-level martial artist. Unfortunately, also, many of these titles are very deceiving as they have absolutely nothing to do with skill. Again, no standardization.

Rank vs. Value

Question: Is a 7th Dan more knowledgeable or skilled than a 4th Dan? The answer might SHOCK you. Click >>>HERE<<< to find out why! Psych.

The answer is no. At first glance, it would be safe to say yes due to the nature of grading systems. But as we discussed, that 4th Dan might have been graded to a higher standard than the 7th Dan. Also, you never asked how long they both trained for… what if they trained the same period of time at different dojos? All of this matters. Maybe one chose to stay within the organization to level up while the 4th went independent to teach and learn from other instructors. The point I’m making here is, at face value, the 7th Dan rank seems more valuable, but it is hardly the case. Do not let the titles and rank numbers distract you from what’s important. Remember this when searching for new instructors to learn from. Whether they are a middle ranked color belt, lower rank black belt, or higher rank than you, anyone can be a valuable source of information. I’d rather be instructed by an awesome 1st Dan than a 6th Dan who weaseled their way through the ranks by merely satisfying requirements and not actually improving. Like cramming for a test and not actually learning the material.

In my old school, we had a Soke, founder / head of the system, overseeing almost everything. He was in his early 40’s. His coinciding rank was 10th Dan. By his late 40’s, early 50’s, he was 12th Dan. For perspective, Kendo, does not allow anyone under 46 to be considered for 8th Dan. And in most arts, you need to be practicing for 50 years before reaching 10th Dan. If you have your own system, you are automatically 10th Dan, apparently. Why am I bringing this up? Because these ranks and titles are just numbers and words. They do not accurately reflect length of time, skill, or contribution to the art. They are merely placeholders and formalities. Although this gentleman was skilled and passionate, his ranking and title demeans martial arts standards and expectations. Sure, my instructor was “9th Dan” by the time we parted ways, and he was knowledgeable, but trust me, he was far from impressive, honorable, and respectable.

Receiving these high titles and ranks can be very distracting from a true martial artist goals of attaining knowledge and skill. After getting to Blackbelt, training regularly and improving to justify your rank is your responsibility. It’s important to ask ourselves if we truly earned what we received or did we finagle them. Honor and respect is what martial arts is about, especially to ourselves. If I can learn from you, I’ll take it. I’ve been to seminars with high-ranking people and very disappointed with their skill, lack of knowledge, or closed-mindedness. Comparing this to college degrees, having a Master’s Degree doesn’t make you automatically a better candidate than the person with no degree and 10 years experience.

Rank / Title does NOT equal skill or knowledge.

Train Hard. Train Honestly. Train Often. Build your character. Rank will happen when you do these simple things.