How McDojos Faked The Black Belt

what is a black belt? And why do so many of them keep losing? Why are there so many fake ones out there? I dug into the real history of the black belt: where it came from, who profits from it today, and why "black belt" means something completely different in Japan than it does in the anywhere else. ✨ Support me on patreon:   / nathanielcho   📚 Sources & Further Reading: Bennett, A. (2020). Judo: A sport and a way of life. Japan Publishing Industry Foundation for Culture. Brousse, M. (2005). Les racines du judo français: Histoire d'une culture sportive. Presses Universitaires de Bordeaux. Callan, M. (2017, September). History of the Budokwai, London: The adoption of Kōdōkan judo in the early years [Conference paper]. 4th European Science of Judo Research Symposium, Poreč, Croatia. Davies, R. J., & Ikeno, O. (Eds.). (2002). The Japanese mind: Understanding contemporary Japanese culture. Tuttle Publishing. Elias, N. (2000). The civilizing process: Sociogenetic and psychogenetic investigations (E. Jephcott, Trans.; Rev. ed.). Blackwell. (Original work published 1939) Friday, K. F., & Seki, H. (1997). Legacies of the sword: The Kashima-Shinryū and samurai martial culture. University of Hawai'i Press. Funakoshi, G. (1975). Karate-Dō: My way of life (T. Ohshima, Trans.). Kodansha International. Hendry, J. (2019). Understanding Japanese society (5th ed.). Routledge. Hurst, G. C., III. (1998). Armed martial arts of Japan: Swordsmanship and archery. Yale University Press. IBISWorld. (2026). Martial arts studios in the US [Industry report]. https://www.ibisworld.com/united-stat... Jaeger, C. S. (1985). The origins of courtliness: Civilizing trends and the formation of courtly ideals, 939–1210. University of Pennsylvania Press. Johnson, J., Jr. (1988, May 1). Ninja: Hero or master fake? Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-x... Kano, J. (2005). Mind over muscle: Writings from the founder of judo (N. Murata, Comp.; N. H. Ross, Trans.). Kodansha International. Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology [MEXT]. (2008). The new course of study. Government of Japan. Moenig, U. (2015). Taekwondo: From a martial art to a martial sport. Routledge. Pedreira, R. (2014–2015). Choque: The untold story of jiu-jitsu in Brazil (Vols. 1–3). GTR Publications. Rohlen, T. P. (1983). Japan's high schools. University of California Press. Sánchez García, R. (2019). The historical sociology of Japanese martial arts. Routledge. Stevens, J. (1984). Aikido: The way of harmony. Shambhala. Watson, B. N. (2008). Judo memoirs of Jigoro Kano. Trafford Publishing. ⏳ Timestamps 0:00 - Intro 1:13 - Black Belt is NOT the Top 5:51 - The invention of color belts 9:04 - marketing scheme 10:30 - The McDojo 12:22 - The first black belt 14:27 - Why do martial artists bow? 17:36 - Japan 22:18 - Martial Arts vs Sports 23:29 - Who would you hire? 📷: @kerrykan0823 #judo #blackbelt #bjj #martialarts #mcdojo #documentary #manonthestreet #jiujitsu #history