BP 72 - Get Your Black Belt

 

I tell folks all the time: "Get your black belt in 'something,' and then start exploring other arts."
Every martial art (MA) has it's gaps. What are the gaps in yours?
Once you get your black belt in one MA, you've graduated kindergarten. Now it's time to start exploring and filling the gaps. You do this, by enrolling in another kindergarten program...
And then another...
And then another...
The cool thing is that you never really move beyond kindergarten. You just keep enrolling in one kindergarten program after another. A true master is really just someone who's repeated kindergarten more than anyone else.

Here are the kindergarten programs I've gone through and am still enrolled in (some as an intentional repeat):

In the below kindergarten programs...

By "fluid (that is, within the arenas of 'fluid')," I mean that I've gotten my black belt (or what might be the equivalent of a black belt). Most of these disciplines I've cycled through kindergarten training many times. When I assess myself as "fluid (or 'fluid-creative' or 'creative-fluid')," I'm actually "an advanced beginner." At the end of this, I provide an overall guide on assessing one's (or another's) levels of competence.

By "relaxed (that is, within the arenas of 'relaxed')," I mean that I have a general competency that's in the mid-range.

By "mechanical (that is, within the arenas of 'mechanical')," I mean that I have skills that are slightly beyond "rudimentary" but not yet "relaxed."

Wrestling/Grappling
Freestyle Wrestling (relaxed kindergarten levels)
Folkstyle Wrestling (relaxed)
Submission Wrestling (relaxed)
Upright (standing) Grappling (relaxed)
Leg-sweep Throwing (mechanical kindergarten levels)
Judo (mechanical)
Brazilian Jujitsu (mechanical)

Boxing
Western Boxing (fluid)
Muay Thai (fluid)
Systema Striking (relaxed)
Ji Do Kwon/Tae Kwon Do (relaxed)
Jeet Kune Do (relaxed)
Wing Chun (mechanical)

Self-defense
TFT and Inmate-style Combat (fluid)
Krav Maga (relaxed)

Martial Flow
Quadrupedal Flow (relaxed)
Systema Formwork (relaxed)
Tai Chi (mechanical)

Weapons
Pepper Gel Disbursement (fluid)
Jo (relaxed)
Single Stick (relaxed)
Arnis/Kail/Eskrima (relaxed)
Nunchaku (relaxed)
Bat (relaxed)
Edge Weapons (relaxed)
Fire Arms (mechanical)

Martial Physical Attributes
General Health (for a 60-yr-old male) (fluid)
General Healthy (dynamic and posturally-supported) Movement Ability (fluid)
Muscular and Cardiovascular Strength (fluid)
Flexibility (fluid)
Pliability (fluid)
Explosivity (fluid)
Striking Aim (fluid)
Ability to String Multiple Martial Systems Together/Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) (fluid)
Shooting Aim (mechanical)

Martial Mental/Emotional Attributes
Situational Awareness (fluid)
Understanding of Violence and its Use as a Tool (fluid)
Understanding of Vulnerable Body Targets and the Somatic Responses to Strikes to Such Areas (fluid)
Understanding of the Fragility of Life and of the Human Body (fluid)
Ability to Recognize (and distinguish) Antisocial Threats and Asocial Threats (fluid)
Settledness about What I'm Willing to Do to Preserve Life (fluid)
Verbal Skills (fluid)
Empathic Skills (fluid)
Ability to Deescalate (fluid)
Ability to Transition into an Asocial Mind-state (relaxed)
Ability to Process Trauma (relaxed)
Ability to Teach Multiple Martial Arts Systems Holistically (relaxed)
Ability to Deal with Multiple Threats at the Same Time (mechanical)

From one kindergartner to another: Grace and Peace to you, friends...

Levels of Competency (from The Big Book, by Dave Brown):
Subjective Level

Typical Total Cumulative Intentional/Intensive Training Time
Rudimentary (First Innocence)

3 Months

Mechanical

1 Year

Mechanical (80%) - Relaxed (20%)

2 Years

Relaxed (80%) - Mechanical (20%)

3 Years

Relaxed

5 Years

Relaxed – Fluid

10 Years

Fluid – Relaxed

15 Years

Fluid

20 Years

Fluid – Creative

25+ Years

Creative - Fluid (Second Innocence [Full Circle])

-

Creative (Self-Transcendent)

-

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