It took your friend 4 years to get to black belt.
And your friend is saying your achievements - regardless of the color of belt - is worthless?
I'd say he's the pot calling the kettle black, wouldn't you agree?
Except that I think you spent more time (even at a younger age) in the style, and despite your hiatus, you still can appreciate the time you spent and the things you learned much more than someone who dabbled for a couple of years.
Having said that, it is true that a jr black belt is worthless. So is black belt. And red belt. And white belt. And all belts, for that matter. Regardless of their color, they do represent the time and energy you spent in the style and school.
In your case, it represents 8 years of training. In your friend's case, it represents only 4 years.
Assuming you both got good instruction (which I doubt; few legitimate Karate schools hand out black belts to students in their 4th year of training; and better ones make kids/pre-teens wait until 14 or more before they get theirs)...
...then I'd say you got the better training.
Be happy with your achievements, and tell your friend not to hold or behold the belt in such high regard. You won't use it against the punk in the street whose holding a knife to your throat.
Forget about the whole belt situation. The belt doesn't make the Karateka, the Karateka makes the belt. You have more experience than your friend regardless of what belt he has and that is all that matters. Be proud that you have a black belt. I did martial arts for 4 yrs and only obtained an orange belt. You are obviously more dedicated than I am. You have the skills, the speed, and the physiche. Don't worry about your friend because he lacks something that you have, experience. I was taught that an average person can earn a black belt in 7 yrs minimum. Your friend only has 4 yrs of experience. Also it not about the competition but the passion that you have for your art; therefore, don't let your friend baffle you. have fun with what you do. :)
Yes, a junior black belt isn't really recognized outside the dojo. But that doesn't matter, because as a kid you had the discipline and the heart to earn a black belt.
Your "friend" is just one-upping you by saying his black belt counts and yours doesn't. If you don't have the time to return to the dojo, don't feel guilty. It's up to you, and no one knows what all is going on in your life except for you. Don't let anyone tell you is doesn't mean anything--when I was studying the martial arts, I had tremendous respect for the junior black belts. Be proud, and tell your friend to shut up.
Ignoring the inconsistencies in your story, I'll give you a slightly different perspective with which to look at this. You did not achieve black belt. You achieved the rank before black belt. Unfortunately, you had to quit. This means that if you were to take up karate again, you would still need to take the black belt test in order to achieve black belt.
You haven't done karate in 8 years, so your proficiency would not match that of the other students who are one level below black belt. If you were to go back to classes, would you want to be the really out of practice black white belt, or would you be willing to dedicate yourself to going through all the ranks again?
If you're just concerned with wanting to tell people that you're a black belt, that's not a claim you can make. But that doesn't mean you didn't go through good training. The belts you earned you earned because you did work hard and put in effort. Unfortunately, the typical person who has no experience in martial arts, when informed that you do have experience, is only interested in whether or not you have a black belt (my parents--who live out of state and have never seen me do karate--seem to be convinced that until I get to black belt I must just suck at it). However, this shouldn't matter, as martial arts should be about personal achievement and not about being able to boast to others. Ultimately, the color of your belt means very little.
I saw your last question. The reality is there is not such thing as a JR black belt. That is a made up title to keep children interested. Traditionally a black belt is an adult rank. No child can have one.
It is impossible for you to retain much of anything if you are not actively training.
Your friend is also wrong too. Having a black belt is not that great. It is just the beginning of your training. It is like graduating 8th grade. There is much more to learn and accomplish.
Edit:
Don't worry about what your friend said. Even though having black belt should not be the goal. For many it is. Many people beleive getting a black belt is the end of their training. This is not true. I hope you can make time and begin to train again. Having that much training you should be able to pick things back up fairly quickly. Then you can earn a black belt and higher ranks.
No it's not worthless. It helps motivate younger students, but it also makes it clear that they're not full black belts.
I look at junior black belts in a similar manner to brown belts. They are getting good with basics but need to learn more about the mental aspect and the understanding. Or simply put a junior black belt often can do the moves but isn't advanced enough yet to "own" their karate.
So your friend is being a bit harsh on you.
Seems to be a good school so far. Doesn't let kids have "black belts" at under 16.
Your buddy here, is an idiot. It doesn't matter what belt you have. It's the skills that does. It's more of an achievement, I guess.
So the requirement went from 16 to 18? Believe or not, some people keep track of questions, and who is asking them.
no
SORRY ABOUT THE LONG EXPLANATION, but please read.
I took karate when I was kid from age 5 to 13. I went from white belt, to orange white, orange, green white, green, blue white blue, purple white, purple, red white, red, red black, black white (junior black belt). They said I couldn't get my full black belt until I was 18. I understand that it seems unreasonable to award a kid/pre-teen a black belt, but I did pass and go through all of the 12 belt level requirements at my old karate dojo. However, when I earned my junior black belt, I became incredibly swamped with school and haven't been able to get back into karate since. Now I am 21 and although I don't remember much of the katas, I have still retained all of the fighting and defense styles and methods and discipline.
The reason why I am asking is because I have a buddy that is a black belt. He started at age 15 and became a black belt at 19, but he was saying that earning a junior black belt doesn't mean anything and only earning a black belt was really fully worth it. I was very far along in my training and was even in the Black Belt Academy. I also attended the adult classes and trained with adult brown belts and some younger black belts. If it truly is that the junior black belt is considered worthless then I'll just come to terms with it, but it just baffles me because I did go through some good training.
Thank you.
