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Alumbrado -> RE: Monolingual English is a disadvantage (5/7/2008 7:08:21 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Irishknight
Colored belts didn't enter Karate until westerners got involved. A few schools still teach it that way. White for all students up to a certain level when they attain black. And black only meant a higher level of learning, not a mythical mastery.
We in the west added that myth as well.
Well, I said pretty, not colored, but the green and brown belts for some kyu rankings were not western additions, they were added by the Japanese in Judo, then Karate. Since westerners had been 'involved' in the Japanese arts from the time of Teddy Roosevelt, I would guess that there may have been some salesmanship involved in the practice.. or it may have been to keep those Japanese college guys happy.... [sm=2cents.gif]
quote:
Funakoshi, the founder of Shotokan Karate, was never given a rank by his instructors Master Azato or Master Itosu. He was taught in his instructor's back yard in his everyday clothing. He learned karate kata systematically one after the other without receiving colour belts for his efforts.
It wasn't until Master Funakoshi meet Kano Jigoro, the founder of modern Judo. He adopted the Judo style uniform and coloured belt system for use in karate.
The belt colours instituted by Funakoshi were the white, green, brown, and black. Additional colors have been inserted into this structure to provide inexperienced students with visible results for dedicated training.
http://www.kidskarate.com/Contents%20Page/history_of_belts.htm
More to the point of the OP though, the mutation of style names in Asian arts has always interested me, and that seems to tie into the topic.
If people from those cultures, let alone outsiders, don't know that Kara Te was 'Chinese hand' (or how, specifically, that relates to the nuts and bolts of the system), or that Taijiquan is not 'Grand Ultimate Fist', or that Baguazhang does not refer to 'The 8 palms'... to the point that the effectiveness of the techniques is watered down to suit the misunderstood names....then communication in any language is a dicey prospect at best.
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