White Stripes

9/1/2012

Considering I've been training for over a year it feels odd to be wondering what the stripes on my belt actually mean. But after thinking about it, it was never really explained to me. It just seemed like, hey you've been training for a while have a stripe! Yay! A round of applause, a handshake from the instructors, bow, and you get to stand further up the line. It feels nice, gives a sense of accomplishment, but really...what's it mean?

It is a measure of skill? A mark of experience? A symbol of dedication? Or a mark of praise given out when your instructor deems it's warranted? I've heard so many different meanings for stripes it's become confusing. So here's how I figure it.

I don't think it's a measure of skill simply because there's people with less stripes that are clearly more skilled than people with more (admittedly, I'm often one of those with more stripes that struggle against some with less). Belt color is more a measure of skill than the amount of stripes on it. I don't think a stripe should be given as a form of praise. That just seems a little base and it allows for bias. Feels like praise should be a result, not a reason. I side with a stripe being a sign of experience. The last person who gave a reasonable explanation of what a stripe is explained it as a sign of one's position, they've been there longer, they're more senior and have more experience.

So why not dedication? Well, just because somebody's dedicated doesn't mean they've been training. For example, at the beginning of the year I was completely dedicated to Gracie Barra but I wasn't training. Feels like a stripe should be awarded for time and effort on the mat not from some sense of attachment. Not that there's anything wrong with dedication, just feels like that shouldn't be a main reason for awarding a higher rank.

That's how I figure it. What do you think? Really, if your understanding of what a stripe is is different please let me know. I'm just guessing here.