Martial Arts – What is a Black Sash? (1)

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Martial Arts What is a Black Sash?
Jow Gar Kung Fu
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What is a black sash? is a very philosophical
argument in martial arts and you will likely get
a different answer from every person you ask. So
here is my two cents worth. What is a Kung Fu
black sash? There are many things that go into
making the type of person who is able to get
their black sash. From my point of view the
person who trains hard in the martial arts to
achieve their blacks sash has shown that they
have the commitment the will and the energy to
put into a martial art, and to dedicate
themselves to pursuing that art to achieve their
black sash. Every person who comes to the
martial arts has a different background,
different body type and different natural
abilities. There are some who are awesome
fighters who have never received a black sash,
there are people who go from style to style who
consider themselves to be accomplished martial
artists yet have never committed themselves to
getting a black sash in a particular art.
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So from a martial art teachers point of view, who
would I consider a better student? The person
who has dedicated themselves through both their
time and energy to the style that I teach, or
someone who may be a better fighter who has never
dedicated themselves wholeheartedly to achieve
that one specific goal? I feel that if a person
sees themselves as a martial artist, a black sash
in at least one style is a prerequisite.
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So moving on to what goes into a black sash in
our schools. To me a black sash, again, a
symbol of the dedication of a student to learning
our art. I consider to be the end of what I would
call High School. If you look it from that
analogy, you get to the end of your time at high
school, you study hard and sit your HSC to get a
score or an arbitrary mark which then allows you
to go on and continue your learning in an
environment that allows for a deeper knowledge
and a deeper understanding in the area that you
wish to engage in.

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So if you look at Martial Arts or Kung Fu in that
sense, the black sash in our particular system is
less than a third of what is available to learn.
So you have really only scratched the surface of
what is available to learn in the art of Jow Gar
Kung Fu, and more importantly you do not have a
whole picture of the complete style. If you do
not know the whole picture of a particular style
you cannot judge it against another. Which for
most people out there who are quick to compare
one style to another, renders there opinion void.
You cant do a book review on a book you havent
read.
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This may sound like I am taking away from the
achievement of earning a black sash, but I am
not. There are 12 levels on the path to black
sash in our particular curriculum, moving through
these levels and then training for the black sash
grading takes a lot of commitment, dedication and
time on the mat. Although the black sash is a
stepping stone into the complete system, it is an
achievement that only 10 percent of our student
body are able to reach.
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So, that separates those 10 percent of students
out to me as those who are ready and committed to
learning  our martial art. As a teacher the
martial art is my responsibility to pass on to my
students. From Jow Gar Kung Fus founders and
down through the teachers in our lineage, it is
up to me to pass on this art as I have learnt it,
and then one day select disciples who I feel are
ready to do the same. The Black Sash is the
first moment in time when a student is able to
show me that they are ready to continue learning
the art of Jow Gar Kung Fu.
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Then the student is able to put that black sash
around their waste knowing that they have
expended a lot of time and energy into earning
it. More than they would have done so in the
course of normal training. When a student of
Kung Fu puts that sash around their waste its
only value is the amount of blood sweat and tears
that went into achieving it. Literally, without
the effort the black sash means nothing. It is
only through the struggle and the effort to get
the black sash, that the piece of material around
that students waist means anything.
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Thank You
Head Academy Kung Fu