List of STMA Black Belts
7th dan Shihan Kyoshi Kancho
Master Instructor
The Guvnor
4th Dan Renshi
Full Instructor
3rd Dan Sensei
Associate Instructor
Iceman
2nd Dan
Assistant Instructor
Baloo
Chip
Tank
Viper
1st Dan
Apprentice Instructor
Joker
The Tork
Maverick
Cipher
BLACK BELT
Senior Member Sempai
Rogue
Bane
Shamrock
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With Joker achieving Shodan we have updated the STMA Member Grade list, and added a new list at the end of all established Black Belts
shirotoratiger.proboards.com/thread/593/stma-member-grades
7th dan Shihan Kyoshi Kancho
Master Instructor
The Guvnor
4th Dan Renshi
Full Instructor
3rd Dan Sensei
Associate Instructor
Iceman
2nd Dan
Assistant Instructor
Baloo
Chip
Tank
Viper
1st Dan
Apprentice Instructor
Joker
The Tork
Maverick
Cipher
BLACK BELT
Senior Member Sempai
Rogue
Bane
Shamrock
People tend to think that Black Belt and 1st Dan are the same thing but they are not - BB is the highest coloured belt, the title of Senior Student - one has to train as a BB for a year before consolidating their knowledge to receive the Shodan degree rank and title of Apprentice Instructor, which is signified by the first strip on the black belt
This post from Sep 2022 can now be updated:
We discussed STMA Black Belts tonight
The first three BB we had were Baloo, Chip and Tork
Ice was our fourth BB
Baloo and Chip were the first to get to 2nd Dan - Ice was the third
Ice is the only BB to reach 3rd Dan
Tank is our fifth BB and the fourth to reach 2nd Dan
So you can see how rare and significant these Dan grades are
Maverick, Viper and Cipher our sixth, seventh and eight BB, and are the BB who achieved 1st Dan
Viper was our seventh BB, and the fifth BB to reach 2nd Dan
Rogue, Bane and Shamrock are our other three BB, our ninth, tenth and eleventh
Joker is our 12th BB and the 9th to reach Shodan
There are only 12 STMA Black Belts, 12 Tigers in 12 years
One has reached 3rd Dan
Five have reached 2nd Dan
Nine have reached 1st Dan
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CONCEPT:
The three primary JJ waza are Straight Arm, Bent Arm, Choke
These are applied in all Phases - Standing, Mount, Back, Guard, Side Mount - use Gi, use stick
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YELLOW
Star block is what later became Block Set One - Block Set Two adds stepping and is taught later on Brown One
Short form 1 teaches you to step back and defend - Delayed Sword, etc start with this
ORANGE
Long form 1 teaches you to step back and defend then counter with punch
Kicking set 1 teaches the four primary kicks, advancing and combining
PURPLE
Stance set 1 teaches the main stances - Set Two, taught later at Brown One adds the hand positions
Coordination set 1 - stepping back with block, kick and punch counter
Short form 2 - advancing while blocking - if your back was to the wall and you couldn't retreat - Five Swords is the first example of this and opens the Form with the block and chop - Long Two, taught later at Blue, has the first 3 moves from Five Swords as it's opening, the Block, Chop, Chop, Punch sequence already taught on Orange
BLUE
Strike set 1 is punching with angles and redirections - Set two, taught later on Brown 3, is the elbow set
Finger set 1 is all the finger techniques - Set Two, taught later on Black One, is the same techniques as Set One, with stepping
GREEN
short form 3, as we know, involves grab attacks - long 3 is taught later on Brown One
coordination set 2 is a more elaborate block and counter set
BROWN 1
Stance set 2 and Blocking set 2 we have referenced above
BROWN 2
Staff set - as Karate comes from Kobudo and all Karate has a Bo Kata, this is the Kenpo version - only the first few moves really make a lot of sense
Kicking set 2 - adds jump kicks, scoop kicks - at this point not a lot of kicking has been done in the SD sets or Forms so this rounds out the regular practice
BROWN 3
Long form 4 - interesting that this appears here rather than on Black - possibly because it follows as "next" from Form 3, possibly so students learn this before testing for Black Belt - it does then throw out the "continuity" of Form 5 for Black Two, etc - this was all around the time when the "revisions" were going on and the extra Brown level was added
Striking set 2 - the elbow set
BLACK 1
Along with what became Brown 3 where the syllabus is the "soggiest" - Nunchaku Set has been removed, Club Set is added, which is the basis for uses Two Sticks, the basis for Long 7 and the link to Escrima
Finger set 2 - the same techniques as Set One, with stepping
Two-man form - again, not everyone uses this and Kenpo does not have Gohon and Sanbon Kumite the way Traditional Karate does
Black 2, 3, 4, and 5
Form 5, 6, 7 and 8
This is the list of which Forms and Sets were needed for each Belt level
There was revision of this, and different versions ended up in different Associations
There was originally a Nunchaku Set which was removed
The Two Man Set was not always used, and not everyone learns it and uses it anyway
The additions of Long 7 and 8 becoming the "requirements" for 4th and 5th Black came later
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YELLOW
Star block
short form 1
ORANGE
Long form 1
Kicking set 1
PURPLE
Stance set 1
coordination set 1
short form 2
BLUE
Strike set 1
finger set 1
long form 2
GREEN
short form 3
coordination set 2
BROWN 1
LONG FORM 3
Stance set 2
blocking set 2
BROWN 2
staff set
kicking set 2
BROWN 3
long form 4
striking set 2
BLACK 1
Two-man form
finger set 2
club set
BLACK 2
Long 5
BLACK 3
Long 6
BLACK 4
Long 7
BLACK 5
Long 8
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