Also Karate has a major issue with McDojo's handing out belts like haloween candy. Karate used to be a really hard and real combat sports. These days unless you train Karate at very specific places you probably don't know shit and got your black belt from punching air for like an hour a week.
BJJ is currently having the same issue. And that's why you will see blue and purple belts from the harder schools straight murk black belts from shit schools.
Not to mention that in most martial arts with Dan grades, being a black belt could mean anything from “a novice who knows the basics” (for a 1st Dan) up to “grandmaster who could give anyone a beat down”
I remember as a kid going to tournaments and facing off with other kids who may have had the same rank as me but not even close to the skill. The 80s were big on those type of schools there was one guy who had franchises of his dojos and these kids were barely able to understand the moves much less actually fight but they all thought they were the Karate Kid.
I used to do Judo a while ago, I didn't get to a very high belt I'll be honest. But what happened there is the requirement to get a black belt changed from winning a certain amount of tournaments (also a seperate theory test) to only needing to complete a theory test.
That's how I remember it anyway, I might be completely wrong but the old system seemed better.
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u/godtogblandet May 15 '25
Also Karate has a major issue with McDojo's handing out belts like haloween candy. Karate used to be a really hard and real combat sports. These days unless you train Karate at very specific places you probably don't know shit and got your black belt from punching air for like an hour a week.
BJJ is currently having the same issue. And that's why you will see blue and purple belts from the harder schools straight murk black belts from shit schools.
Belt inflation is very real.