Learning Karate (Page-3)


Black Belt is the equivalent of a Higher Secondary Exam, while a San Dan (3rd Degree) is equivalent to a Bachelors Degree. Anything above a 4th or 5th Degree, in West Bengal is probably a fake, and a 6th Degree is definitely not genuine.

The major karate styles also give instructors licenses, as well as licenses for judges and examiners. The instructor, or his senior, must have an Instructors license, or he will not be a very good teacher. As a prospective student, you have every right to ask if the instructor has a license to teach!

Another important factor in choosing a school, is how many of the schools students have won prizes at the State level competitions of the West Bengal Karate-do Association or National level competitions of the instructors style, or of the AIKF. Do not pay much attention to `International Competitions,’ A Meghalaya girl won a Gold Medal at the World Shoto Cup in Paris in 1998, and some Orissa students won medals at the World Shoto Kan Federation (a breakaway group of the JKA) Championships in 2005, but no one from Bengal earned an International award at a WKF recognized tournament, after Sensei Anil Sinha, who started the JKA India and the WBKA, became All England University Karate Champion some three decades ago.

An instructor must be good to have his/her students earn prizes at competitions of AIKF recognized tournaments, but there are good teachers whose students have not yet received awards, perhaps because the students are more interested in learning karate than in winning awards. After all, karate is excellent as a means of self defense, and is also good for developing the body and mind no matter what your age. Winning prizes is not the final goal of this martial art.