Posted by KC Elbows on February 03, 2003 at 19:18:02:
In Reply to: Re: Susan Johnson posted by Susan Johnson on February 03, 2003 at 17:01:24:
A belt is so incredibly unimportant. Take it from someone who earned one. A black belt does not mean that you can defend yourself at will. It's your business what you study, but no matter what style you learn, the belt does not mean you can do a thing except what you were tested for.
Pay attention at your test. You will go over forms, and techniques. But you will not use those moves on the fly, so to speak, you will only do them when asked, but not against someone who is trying to stop you. In a real fight, your opponent will be trying to stop you, and it changes how you can apply a technique.
As an example, someone can learn to play a scale on piano, and maybe learn a run, but applying that run while a song is playing is more difficult, and can only be learned by doing it on the fly, and blowing it until you learn to do it right.
Fighting is the same. You can learn all of the moves that are used in a fight, and still know nothing about fighting. There is timing to think of, and timing is determined by you AND your opponent. And there are distance issues.
I spar every chance I get, I do sensitivity drills like push hands and sticky hands every chance I get, I do groundwork on a regular basis, and I still would not claim to be able to handle all of the self defense situations that come up. And I have achieved the rank you are striving for. I believe the term for what you and I both strove for is 'chasing grails'. It is a path full of lessons, but so few of those lessons have anything to do with self defense.