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Yellow through
1st Degree Black Belt
The following are the objectives
to achieve the qualities and characteristics of each belt:
A Yellow Belt practitioner is given an introduction to the American
Kenpo System while developing a working knowledge of the basics
– the foundation of the Art.
An Orange Belt practitioner must strive for the development of
proper form so as to enhance the effectiveness of
the basics.
A Purple Belt practitioner must strive for the development of
speed achieved through economy of motion
by executing basics with proper form.
A Blue Belt practitioner must possess a proper display of power
achieved by the correct application of form plus speed of the basics.
A Green Belt practitioner must strive for the development of timing
achieved by the proper application of breath control.
A 3rd Degree Brown Belt practitioner must strive for the development
and display of focussed strikes achieved by adding
power to breath control.
A 2nd Degree Brown Belt practitioner must enhance his/her physical
fitness in order to increase ones stamina
and to make one more tolerant of pain.
A 1st Degree Brown Belt practitioner must strive for the development
of mental skills by possessing a working knowledge of the principles,
concepts and theories of American Kenpo Karate.
A 1st Degree Black Belt must demonstrate his/her expertise in
American Kenpo by properly applying these three formulae:
- Knowledge of Basics + Form + Speed = Power
- Power + Breath Control = Focus
- Focus + Physical Conditioning + Working Knowledge of Concepts,
Principles and Theories = Expertise in individual self-defense
skills.
1st Degree Black
Belt through 10th Degree Black Belt
A first-degree black belt (junior instructor) has achieved a certain
level of physical expertise. Understanding the concepts and principles
of motion, he has become a formidable fighter defensively and
offensively. However, his skills outstrip his ability to communicate
and teach, so teaching is essential to any further progress.
For the second-degree black belt (associate instructor), the ability
to teach has begun to reinforce newfound skills. He has discovered
that "to teach is to learn," and this is accomplished by a
re-evaluation of past mistakes and bad habits. A new sense of
responsibility appears, and he must begin to cultivate an image of
authority within the school.
At third degree (senior instructor), the black belt fins that
first and second-degree black belt look to him for guidance and direction
in the execution of techniques. He now has the authority within
the school environment to organize a curriculum, express policy
and set up tests.
At fourth-degree black belt (head instructor), the black belt
acquires the privilege of overriding others within the school after
careful discussion, as well as a more mature ability to communicate
that allows teaching first, second and third degree black belts.
Together with these responsibilities, the fourth-degree black belt
assists the master instructor in seminars, demonstration and other
public functions at which the school and the art are represented.
His physical expertise should be noticeably above that of more junior
black belts, particularly in terms of speed, power and timing.
The fifth-degree black belt (associate professor), has reached
the level at which he begins to teach the art beyond the realm of
the school. Although the school curriculum has been carefully spelled
out, he is no longer bound by it and has acquired the ability to tailor
it to fit individual student needs. At fifth degree, in short, the
black belt now moves on to a broader base of responsibility.
The sixth-degree black belt (professor) has now reached a level
at which he can not only teach the art but also begin to positively
formulate its concepts and principles outside his school. As a result,
caution becomes imperative. He has advanced to a critical point
in his art, and it is at this point that his accumulation of time
in grade becomes his defense against teaching what he cannot later
retract.
- Seventh
Degree Black Belt
At seventh-degree black belt (senior professor), a noticeable
change takes place in the black belt’s understanding of his art.
He becomes capable of ascertaining the problems that lie within the
teaching of the curriculum. Working from a broader base and beginning
to teach locally, nationally and internationally what was once taught
mainly at home, he now recognizes that his former ways may not work
abroad and must be tailored to particular minds, cultures and agendas.
He has realized that while the language of the art remains the same,
the varied applications of that language must be fitted to the
environment. In brief, a seventh degree who goes out to teach in
the world must have learned to tailor his teachings to the place
and the people.
At eighth-degree black belt (associate master), the black belt’s
concerns shift to exploring areas of physical mastership that were
not visible to him in the past. His art eventually begins to expand
physically and mentally, so much so that a definite physical change
becomes evident, expressing the fact that he has begun to settle
into a physical mastery. Thus, movements are less contrived because
they are in the process of becoming embodied within him.
At ninth-degree black belt (master of the arts), the black belt
has reached to a level where, at any given moment, he can choreograph
a technique by reaching a "superconscious" level. No longer
separate from the art he has internalized, he has at last embodied it
and become an element of it. What he teaches and what he physically
embodies are indivisible. His contributions to the martial arts
inside and outside the community are many, and his rank is backed
by at least 25 years of sacrifice and service.
Tenth-degree black belt (senior master of the arts) represent
a lifelong endeavor to help all humankind. The rank is so respected
by peers and students that the person’s word affects the course
of the art.
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