Martial arts contains a very specific structure that is easy to learn and follow. This is the use of the belt system to define and differentiate between the beginners and more senior people within the community. Each belt has a different meaning and different responsibilities. The lowest in any form of martial arts is the rank of white belt. the rank signifies that a person is pure and unexperienced in the community. Their is no knowledge and no mistakes can be put on that person. The rank that is opposite to this one is the rank of black belt. This rank signifies that one has completed years of training and has learned everything that they could as a student in the community, during this rank their is a change from the status of student to instructor. This belt signifies all the colors of the belts below it as one, however once one becomes a black belt he has in a sense completed one journey and begun another one. After this level their are ten different levels of black belt that he must achieve.
The structure of belts changes, depending on the style of martial arts and even more specifically the school that is teaching the martial arts style. For instance some styles only have five different belt levels between white and black and other can have up to twenty. The only constant is the levels of black and above, these are the same throughout each style and school. Each belt level has a minimum time that a student must be in the rank before they can move on. This time period increases as the student gets closer to black belt.
The structure of belts changes, depending on the style of martial arts and even more specifically the school that is teaching the martial arts style. For instance some styles only have five different belt levels between white and black and other can have up to twenty. The only constant is the levels of black and above, these are the same throughout each style and school. Each belt level has a minimum time that a student must be in the rank before they can move on. This time period increases as the student gets closer to black belt.
In martial arts their are several different authorities that in a sense govern the entire foundation that each style is built upon. The first level is in each martial arts school; it starts with the most senior instructor who is charge of how the school is run and teaching that are within the school. From there it goes to the per on who taught the instructor that opened the school. This person is usually an elderly person and has been truing for at least thirty years. This person usually trains three or more instructors who own a school. From there it goes to the leaders in the country of origin. Taekwondo was stared in Korea and is now overseen by the World Takwondo Federation. The leaders of this organization make the important decisions regarding how the style of martial arts is to be taught. In my martial arts school the highest ranking person is Master Antoinette Chavez, who is a sixth degree black belt. She is the owner of the school and has two master instructors under her. They are both fourth degree black belts and are next in line to lead the school. The only way this authority can shift to them is if Master Chavez passes her authority to them and asks them to take over the school, or if they receive her permission to open a separate school under Master Chavez.
martial_arts_structure_pyramid.xlsx | |
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Below is a picture of some of the black belts in my community. In the center is my Master Instructor, Master Antoinette Chavez.