Belt factory is a derogatory term for a Martial Arts school where there are a relatively large number of grades or belt ranks for students to progress through compared to most traditional schools. Actual martial ability is not a requirement for progression through the ranks in a belt factory, only a willingness to pay the high testing, grading or grade registration fees. Chinese martial arts have until recently not awarded grades as such, but lately some schools influenced by the financial success of the Japanese martial arts' belt systems have been instituting similar programmes.
Belt factory can be seen as one of the possible incarnations of a McDojo.
The fl belt was "invented" by Jigoro Kano, the founder of judo, who first devised the colored belt system using obis, and awarded the first fl belts in the 1880s.
More seriously, most modern belts are made with a cotton or nylon outer shell, but polyester batting and stitching to fill out the belt; the different shrinkage of cotton and polyester in hot water could cause the belt to unravel and come apart.
Since in many styles a fl belt takes approximately 3 to 6 years of training to achieve, a good intuitive analogy would be a college Bachelor's degree; the fl belt can be considered equivalent to a BA degree in the martial arts.
A belt (looped back on itself, going round and round, sometimes continuously, sometimes intermittently, as it is stopped and started) conveys these objects placed on it, sections of the belt do their work, carry the load, then are relieved of it.
A belt may simply be an accouterment of good posture, alignment and a proper bearing or comportment that expresses the harmony of organismic verticality and horizontality.
Given that belts are so ubiquitous, perhaps we should learn to distinguish among them, understand their functions, their parts, their language and therefore not reduce them automatically to the metaphors they yearn to be.
Feeds |
Contact