I have seen more and more clubs now advertising their “Turn up for 4 weeks and get your white belt” and that is becoming more common in certain types of clubs.
This essentially makes those belts attendance awards and pretty much pointless if you are looking to earn a martial arts belt or work towards your black belt.
Most of the clubs that do this are commonly known as McDojo’s (See our other post on this topic) where belts for money are a common thing.
They entice you in with a free belt offer, and 99% of the time the grading costs are very high after that, and often done regularly to make everyone pay for their belt, regardless of the level they are at, and more often than not, everyone passes and gets another worthless belt.
Let s be pretty honest here, if you the club you are looking at offers attendance award belts for just turning up, I would go and look elsewhere for a club that has morals and values around belt awards, and which will make you earn them.
If you want a belt so badly, just order one off eBay for £3 and save yourself the time and effort of turning up to the McDojo and getting something which will hold the same value.
lastly, no other reputable club will recognise attendance award belts, because they are not worth anything, so if you want to move clubs, then chances are you will not be able to keep your belts when you do.
So if you want to earn belts, go to a club where they have a structured belt system in place, backed by a national governing body, which lets you grade at your own speed and pace, and not just at set intervals to just make money.
At IMA Marlborough and Tidworth, the belts you earn in our martial arts and kickboxing classes are well earned and you will feel a sense of achievement when they are awarded to you.
Take some time to check out 2-3 clubs before your commit to anything or sign up for anything, ask lots of questions, ask about grading intervals and costs, and look at the level of people training in the clubs and make up your own mind.
If you want something easy then check out your local McDojo for a free belt, anything worth doing will be harder and push you to be a better you.
Check out our grading page for more information >IMA Grading and belt information.