Belt Stayed Home

It seems to be a truism that the belts in martial arts are meaningless.

I call BS on that idea.

Today I was training at a sister school, and my 2-stripe Purple belt seems to have decided to stay home. No matter. I peeked into their store room to find something to hold my uniform tied in place. No purple-coloured belts in there, so I borrowed a no-stripe Blue Belt. It even fit.

Before the first class I was approached by a real no-stripe Blue Belt to see if I wanted to warm up with him. He wanted to review something they’d done recently, and he proceeded to try and teach it to me. Soon, he got stuck, so I showed him how to finish the moves he was “teaching” to me. After a bit of this, I asked if I could try something.

I dumped him 3 different related ways in rapid succession. They were moves I like to keep fresh, and haven’t had a chance to do at all for at least a month. My new friend then asked me if I could show him something to counter twisting arm control. Seems he gets caught there a lot.

So what was different about me wearing the wrong belt? First off, it is rare that anybody wants to just train with me before class. They might have questions that they’ll ask. They certainly don’t try and teach me, just as I wouldn’t try and teach a Brown Belt.

As we had plenty of time, it didn’t matter, but would have been different if we’d only had 5 or 10 minutes. We never would have gotten to the part where he got a chance to be shown something that will actually impact his free-rolling ability. As it was, he got a rushed version, but at least he got a few ideas, and that would have been the best version of what would have happened if I’d had the correct belt on.

The nasty version would be that he wouldn’t have approached me, and gotten nothing at all, and I would have just sat about.

For me it was fun working with a new partner, regardless of rank, so I would have won either way, unless he had avoided me.

Then the beginner class started. My partner was one I’ve worked with before. She cheered to get me. I don’t think she cares about me wearing a Blue or Purple Belt, but knows that she gets a private tutor in either case.

In the advanced class that followed, my partner wore a Blue-and-White Combatives that means she has only recently completed the beginner program. The no-stripe Blue Belt I was wearing implied that I was a single step senior to her, rather than the 8 steps my own belt denotes.

She made all sorts of comments and suggestions about my performance, and even bullied me into trying all the moves on my weaker side. This all made her a better partner for me. She quietened significantly when somebody asked what happened to my Purple Belt.

Belts don’t matter? Today, of the 3 people that I worked with only the one who already knew me didn’t care. It did matter in the dynamic for the other two pairings.

Both were much more willing to offer opinions, to help, and even to cajole or correct me. This made them excellent partners for me. If they’d known they might have been intimidated to work with me, but to use me more like a tutor.

I don’t know if it was positive, or negative, or a mix, but each dynamic sure would have been very different.

I don’t mean to say that I hold a lofty rank, and am particularly awesome. Perhaps compare it to University students who’ve spent a similar amount of time to my partners and I. My female partner has perhaps finished her first year at university, and my Blue Belt companion has maybe got his second year finished. I would be a holder of a Master’s Degree, and be starting work on a PHD. A Black Belt in our organization in terms of time, is perhaps the same a somebody with a couple of PHDs, or maybe even three.

There is also an obligation placed upon higher belts whenever in an unequal pairing

For example, my new Blue Belt friend from the start of the session asked me for help during the advanced class when he and his partner couldn’t figure something out. I immediately dropped what I’d been up to and clarified the point for them, and then rejoined my own partner. I could have said that I was busy, but as he found it necessary to call for help it was necessary that I render assistance.

I learned something about myself in this regard. I don’t normally grab a partner at pair-up time, especially if I do not know the group well. If somebody goes for me, that’s fine, but I don’t expect it. Just before we start I always check to see if there are an odd or even number of participants, not including myself. If even, I tend to move away from the pairing up action. I then wander about helping, but also keeping an eye on the door to see if any late arrival comes in with nobody to work with. If the number is odd, I make sure to see who doesn’t get picked, and to bet there before they have time to feel left out.

I found myself doing this, even when not flagged as a high-ranking student. I didn’t conciously know that I did this at all, until I found myself thinking, “why am I not acting exactly like everybody else?” The normal action at partner time is to look to one side and take whoever is there, and then look a little farther, and then to shuffle around looking rejected.