certainly what the belt means to you depends on what you have to do to earn it. My TKD rank was based on form memorization and technical skills, not fighting ability. It was OK, but I always had that nagging suspicion that I really didn't know how to fight. My BJJ rank is based on my ability to compete effectively within the art. Basically if you can give good game to the blue belts then you must be one. It doesn't matter what you know or don't. This ranking system works well when schools compete with each other often. Then there is some equity achieved in terms of what a blue belt looks like etc. If fact I earned a blue belt in BJJ after only 1 month of training at a BJJ school. I had studied submission grappling and had been rolling with some guys for awhile, but had never formally studied BJJ. I gave good game to the blue belts so my instructor had no option but to award me the rank. What is funny is that I have no knowledge of some very basic stuff that white belts know. That doesn't matter since rank is based solely on fighting ability. It seems to simplify things. |