Is there a way for a self taught Martial Artist to test for a belt?

Question

Is there a way for a self taught Martial Artist to test for a belt?

Answer 1

Normally? No, but some (few) schools and even moreso online/video certification are available, although your skills probably won't be on par if you didn't actually train with a qualified instructor.

Answer 2

There is a chinese proverbs that believes that the most important aspect needed in fighting is in the order of:

1. Intelligence

2. Power

3. Kung Fu Skills

Intelligence: smart and dirty fighters will hit you when you are not ready, strike your weak points, very deceptive and so on and so on, you will never get a fair fight when fight against an intelligent fighter. So, they are the most dangerous. You can still lose to an intelligent fighter even if you posse power and martial skills but lack intelligence.

Power: powerful and and strong fighters are very dangerous, because they can knock you out with one or two punch, or destroy you with their strength. On one hand, If you have power but you don't know how to use it to your advantage, you can still lose to the intelligent fighter. On the other hand, if you have both power and intelligence, you have a dangerous combination. You can beat those with Martial arts skills but lack Power and intelligence.

Martial art skills. This has been put last because it is believed that if you have martial skills but lack in power and intelligence you will lose because you falls into traps, tricks of intelligent fighters and also, because you lack in power , you can not hurt/damage others with your strikes or techniques. That is one of the reason why a person who has been studying martial arts for 10 years, who has done nothing to increase their power/speed and intelligent tactics/stragegies, will lose to a powerful smart street fighter who has no martial art training.

Martial Arts are complex systems, you definitely need great instructors to train and produce great fighters. You also, need a competitive enviroment to train and compete. eg. skillful sparring partners and tough competitive tournaments. Even a simple system like boxing or kick boxing, there are so many little things that can improve your techniques that you would not have known unless told by your instructor. You need instructors to observe and monitor your progressions to give you feed back. Self learning Martial Art will let you learn what the shapes look like, so, you can copy a martial move, but the power will not be there, and you will not know when best to use it, the timing of a real opponent, and so on and so on. In the long run, you will end up wasting a lot of time.

It is like if i teach you taught yourself how to swim, will you be able to race against a swimmer who has  been taught by a coach, very unlikely.

If for some reason you can not get someone to teach you martial art. then,  It would be much wiser to just concentrate on learning how to fight dirty, learn deceptions tactics, learn body's weak points, and train your body to be strong and powerful. This way, you can and will win most fights even against an average  martial artist, because you got the first two important aspects: intelligent and power and you will dominate the battle field.