RE: [MR] What Does a White Belt Really Mean?

[Louise Sugar <dragonfyr@tycho.com>]

Poster: Louise Sugar <dragonfyr@tycho.com>

Actually, dear lady, Dragonfyr is a female type person and the post in question 
was not written by me but was posted to the SCA-West list by Braun 
(Darrel_VanHorn@msn.com) and looks to have been written by Reverend Kensho 
Furuya.  The piece simply blew me away with it's clear and rational thought and 
I too was as struck with it's clarity and similarity to the SCA as Braun was

Dragonfyr
On Tuesday, July 01, 1997 9:45 AM, Erica Stark [SMTP:ejstark@hotmail.com] 
wrote:
>
> Poster: "Erica Stark" <ejstark@hotmail.com>
>
> I think Dragonfyr's original posting was thought provoking indeed, but
> he did not alter the words of someone elses' post.  Although Alfredo
> made it clear where he had made changes, I still don't think it was
> entirely appropriate.
>
> >I think (IMHO), perhaps, that "cleansed white by the purity of his =
> >honor" would be adequate...
> No, it would not be.  Fighters are not made Knights for their'Purity'.
> Prowess is the first of the knightly virtues, although (IMHO) it is not
> the most important...
>
> >Poster: "Ed Hopkins" <Ed.Hopkins@MCI.Com>
> >
> >Dragonfyr wrote:
> >
> >> Found this on the West list and thought it quite thought provoking
> >[...]
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From:   _  [SMTP:Darrel_VanHorn@msn.com]
> >> Sent:   Friday, June 27, 1997 10:45 PM
> >> To: Multiple recipients of list
> >> Subject:    [SCA-WEST:9257] A neat look...
> >>
> >> I was web suffing one day and found this paper. If you replace Black
> =
> >Belt with
> >> White Belt and look read from that perspective. I found it held alot
> =
> >of what I
> >> think...
> >> Just food for thought, anyone hungry?
> >>
> >>                         Braun
> >>
> >  [in the following Alfredo has taken Braun's advice and
> >   replaced all occurances of "black belt" with "white belt".
> >   He also took the liberty of replacing "white belt of the beginner"
> >   with "red belt of the squire", although he suspects that's not
> >   as close a match]
> >---------------------------------------------------------------------
> >>
> >> What Does a White Belt Really Mean?
> >>
> >> By Reverend Kensho Furuya
> >>
> >[...]
> >> At whatever level you achieve, if you think you "deserve" a whie
> >> belt, or if you think you are now "good enough" to be a white
> >> belt, you are way off the mark, and, indeed a very long way from
> >> reaching your white belt. Train hard, be humble, don't show off
> >> in front of your teacher or other students, don't complain about
> >> any task and do your best in everything in your life. This is
> >> what it means to be a white belt. To be overconfident, to show
> >> off your skill, to be competitive, to look down on others, to
> >> show a lack of respect, and to pick and chose what you do and
> >> don't do (believing that some jobs are beneath your dignity)
> >> characterize the student who will never achieve white belt. What
> >> they wear around their waist is simply a piece of merchandise
> >> brought for a few dollars in a martial arts supply store. The
> >> real white belt, worn by a real white belt holder, is the red
> >> belt of a squire, turned black by the colour of his blood and sweat.
> >
> >Now, I think this last sentence needs work.  Should it maybe say
> >"bleached white by the purity of his honor"?  I don't know.
> >
> >-- Alfredo
>
> As I said before, the original posting was thought provoking, but we
> have to watch out for the trap of "A is a lot like B, therefore, A=B. A
> KSCA is not just like a black belt.  Dragonfyr seems to understand this.
> But Alfredo, a lot of newbies do not, and we should not seem to be
> saying that in front of them.
>
> Erica Poitevins
>
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