Coloured belts

[JAnstey]

Hi there,

I read this quote some time ago, unfortunately I can't remember where it came from but it has stuck with me. The quote will not be word for word but hopefully contains the essence.

"In our art there are no coloured belts, you start with a white belt.The more you train the more soiled the belt gets. After many years of hard training the belt eventually becomes soiled, turning darker and darker until it turns black. Once this happens it is time to double your training efforts, in doing so the belt will become frayed and after many years it will become so frayed that it will become white again - it is then that you will have come full circle"

Hope ya get something out of it?

Yours in budo

Jason

[MikeWilliams]

It's a myth. Coloured belts originally appeared in judo (as did black belts). There's a good article on judoinfo.com about how coloured belts were introduced (in France in the 1950s I believe).

So go and wash your belt, before it becomes toxic or develops consciousness! :)

[Andrew S]

Jason,

It is a fable in the martial arts - it's supposed to inspire us with good, solid attitudes to training - but is nothing more than a story.
That said, I never wash my belt (Mike winces in disgust)

[JAnstey]

Hi Chaps.

Yep, I do realise it is a myth / fable. What I got out of it is once you get your "black belt" you need to train twice a hard to come full circle, ie not rest on the achievement. It has nothing to do with washing ;-) I think the quote came from Zen Guitar??

Cheers

Jason

[MCOLBOURNE]

Hi all.

I have always liked this analogy of the 'enso' - (circle of zen).

The more I think about it, I feel that the circle is never really completed unless you take it to mean that, at the beginning of your journey you thought you knew something and after a certain degree of time, you come to realise that you do not! And then you really can begin your journey lol.

FWIW, I personally think Budo would be better served if there were no coloured belts - I feel that the negatives have far outweighed the original purpose that they were designed for.