![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Grrr. Why did the rain have to come back?!
I have a fashion shoot planned for this Saturday, and I'd planned to shoot it outdoors, but the weather looks like it's going to be really bad. Crap. I need an in-studio backup plan. I'm sure I'll come up with one, but even so, this is not happy-making! Shooting slouchy high-fashion bitches with dive-y motel exteriors would have been so much cooler. Crap crap crap.
BTW, I use the term "bitches" with love, heh. One of my models came in yesterday for a quick fitting, and she was totally grounded and nice. But, you know, there is something about the whole thing of being super-skinny and "fierce" that makes "high-fashion bitches" seem like the more appropriate term. ;)
-------------------
So, I gotta rant about wushu.
To put this into context, at the last belt test, he gave me a green belt at the end of the test. I already knew broadsword, which was what the green belts would be working on, so he bumped me up to blue belt and I worked on learning spear. I figured that the same thing would happen again, where I'd say, "I already know the blue belt with white stripe stuff," and then I'd get bumped up to red and learn nangun.
Anyhoo, the belt test on Saturday went fine. Went in to talk with Sifu (head instructor) after class about what I would do next, and the options are basically: staff, 3-section staff, and nangun. I already know staff, I have no interest in 3-section, and I have lots of interest in nangun, so I said, "hey, I wanna do nangun!"
Then he says, "oh, but that's a little too high, because you have a blue belt with white stripe." I was taken somewhat aback, and then he goes into this schpiel about following the system and whatnot, and basically, alluding to the idea that he doesn't want to bump me up to red.
So, yes, I'm more than a little dismayed that I'm being jerked around about belt levels. I mean, I have nearly 4.5 years of experience, people! I don't think I know everything, but I know what I can handle, and I certainly don't want to be treated like I don't know *anything*. I'm a fast learner and I easily outpace the other blue belts, so it's not an issue of skill.
Also note that, if I'd spent the entire 4.5 years at this school, then with a belt test every 6 months, I'd easily be at red or brown belt level. Belt levels correlate more to time spent than actual skill at this place, and I'm likely one of the top 5 wushu students in the whole school. So, my skills are more than sufficient for nangun, wouldn't you say?
He did say that he'd consult with the other instructors and get a recommendation, but I don't expect to get my way. I definitely don't like being held back, though, and nobody's ever really done that to me before in wushu. All I want, all I *need*, is to train hard, improve, and get some guidance on the finer points of the art.
The fact that I'm not likely to get what I need to improve soon, and may not get it *ever* (unless I leave Portland), also makes me really leery of continuing to compete at tournaments. Competing would just make me feel worse about my lack of improvement and give me measurable evidence that I *haven't* improved. I'm already doing Berkeley this year, even though I feel ill-prepared, and that's not a feeling I want to re-live.
I don't know what I'm going to do yet. Hopefully I'll get some better news when classes resume next Tuesday. I'll shut up for now, and I'll try to be less whiny next time!
I have a fashion shoot planned for this Saturday, and I'd planned to shoot it outdoors, but the weather looks like it's going to be really bad. Crap. I need an in-studio backup plan. I'm sure I'll come up with one, but even so, this is not happy-making! Shooting slouchy high-fashion bitches with dive-y motel exteriors would have been so much cooler. Crap crap crap.
BTW, I use the term "bitches" with love, heh. One of my models came in yesterday for a quick fitting, and she was totally grounded and nice. But, you know, there is something about the whole thing of being super-skinny and "fierce" that makes "high-fashion bitches" seem like the more appropriate term. ;)
-------------------
So, I gotta rant about wushu.
To put this into context, at the last belt test, he gave me a green belt at the end of the test. I already knew broadsword, which was what the green belts would be working on, so he bumped me up to blue belt and I worked on learning spear. I figured that the same thing would happen again, where I'd say, "I already know the blue belt with white stripe stuff," and then I'd get bumped up to red and learn nangun.
Anyhoo, the belt test on Saturday went fine. Went in to talk with Sifu (head instructor) after class about what I would do next, and the options are basically: staff, 3-section staff, and nangun. I already know staff, I have no interest in 3-section, and I have lots of interest in nangun, so I said, "hey, I wanna do nangun!"
Then he says, "oh, but that's a little too high, because you have a blue belt with white stripe." I was taken somewhat aback, and then he goes into this schpiel about following the system and whatnot, and basically, alluding to the idea that he doesn't want to bump me up to red.
So, yes, I'm more than a little dismayed that I'm being jerked around about belt levels. I mean, I have nearly 4.5 years of experience, people! I don't think I know everything, but I know what I can handle, and I certainly don't want to be treated like I don't know *anything*. I'm a fast learner and I easily outpace the other blue belts, so it's not an issue of skill.
Also note that, if I'd spent the entire 4.5 years at this school, then with a belt test every 6 months, I'd easily be at red or brown belt level. Belt levels correlate more to time spent than actual skill at this place, and I'm likely one of the top 5 wushu students in the whole school. So, my skills are more than sufficient for nangun, wouldn't you say?
He did say that he'd consult with the other instructors and get a recommendation, but I don't expect to get my way. I definitely don't like being held back, though, and nobody's ever really done that to me before in wushu. All I want, all I *need*, is to train hard, improve, and get some guidance on the finer points of the art.
The fact that I'm not likely to get what I need to improve soon, and may not get it *ever* (unless I leave Portland), also makes me really leery of continuing to compete at tournaments. Competing would just make me feel worse about my lack of improvement and give me measurable evidence that I *haven't* improved. I'm already doing Berkeley this year, even though I feel ill-prepared, and that's not a feeling I want to re-live.
I don't know what I'm going to do yet. Hopefully I'll get some better news when classes resume next Tuesday. I'll shut up for now, and I'll try to be less whiny next time!
