I do hap ki do, and one of my friends is going to be getting his black belt pretty soon.
Apparently, in the US (but NOT in Canada), if you have a black belt in a martial art you have to register yourself as a weapon? ie, you can’t indiscriminantly go around kicking the crap out of people - you will be held to a higher standard that your average shmoe butt kicker.
Is this true? It sounds like one of those things that guys like to tell each other to sound macho…
No. The police do not maintain a list of people who are karate (or any other martial art) blackbelts. At least not here in NYC. I doubt such a thing exists anywhere in the U.S. It’s a myth.
There is nothing in the NY State Penal Code about martial arts itself. Martial arts weapons such as “Kung Fu star” and “chuka stick” are prohibited to be manufactured or shipped under Section 265.10.
i think this crap got a boost from that movie… um… with nick cage… with the … Con Air. Yeah. He was sentenced to x # of years in jail (which is why he was a “con” in the film) because even though he was defending himself… since he was a “deadly weapon” he committed assault w/ a deadly weapon… Nick Cage was shafted by the old “you are a black belt so you are a deadly weapon” crap myth.
About 16 years ago at a yard party some big mouth broad was bragging how their 11 year old had received his black belt and they had just registered his hands with the town police.
I looked her straight in the eyes and said:“no you didn’t”.
She got all huffy and insisted “I most certainly did! It’s the law to register leathal weapons”. I then asked her which officer she registered them with, the chief, patrolman McClain or myself, as we were the only cops on the townships police department. Caught in a lie she stormed off. Afterwards 4 women I did not know approached and said “We never liked her…”.
The “register your hands as weapons” story is a crock.
Uh huh - another NO! I’m in Canada (not the area you specified I know) and got my black belt in 95… and never even heard of such a thing until ConAir myself. I know many martial artists, but never heard a thing about such a rule. It doesn’t even make sense to do so; truth be told not all black belts are created equal meaning some are more “deadly” than others. Many people do martial arts not because they like or even enjoy kicking butt or fighting, rather as self-defense, physical training, the disciplin benefit (some schools are pretty close to military standards), a real hands-on physical hobby, or just because they like the lifestyle and history of what they do. The more traditional places teach it as more of an art and way of life then a way to win bar-fights anyway.
There are many people out there just as deadly or more so who have no structured training at all; a lot of street fighters, self-defense/boxing flunk-outs, and of course the plain old over-aggresive drunken 6’4" hot-heads. Ex-soldiers, pro-boxers, olympic wrestlers, body-guards and the likes could be just as nasty, but don’t require any special registration AFAIK. One look at extreme fighting will show you that most people who are real dangerous there are usually the big younger super aggresive wrestling/grappling types who seemingly would have a police record a yard long; not the 5’8 thin guy who heads down to the dojo twice a week. As far as I’m concerned, if someone picks a fight or tries to mug a person and then ends up laying in a hospital bed because their victom knew how to take care of themselves, it serves them right!!
I’ve had a black belt (in Canada) since 1984. And no, you don’t have to register your hands or anything silly like that.
HOWEVER… Under the law there is the concept of reasonable force. If someone attacks you and you kill them, the courts will have to decide if you used reasonable force. In other words, if a little old lady starts hitting you with her handbag and you beat her to death, you will be charged with manslaughter. If it’s a big hulking drunk you can probably shoot him in the head and get off.
So… One of the things the court might look at is your martial arts training. If you’re highly skilled and your opponent is not, it will weigh against you if you seriously hurt or kill the other person. Basically, to use deadly force you have to believe that you will die unless you take action. Having a black belt makes that less likely.
As they say, with increased power comes increased responsibility to use it appropriately.
Oh, bullshit, CB. What exactly do you expect the Prosecuting Attorney and the Judge to be saying to the jury: “Well, gee, folks; I know that’s not in the law and we just had to prosecute them on this although it’s not in the law and whilst you’re considering the accused’s guilt or innocence, please look at this…no, wait, don’t look at the Penal Code because we’re not interested in the law but in frying the accused.”
I buy that most people aren’t that enlightened, but when you bring in folks who definitely know better, you’re stretching credibility beyond the breaking limit.
Yes, I realize this is GQ but when obvious bullshit is strewn…
Although it is possible that there might be some places where this is true for the vast majority of North America this is not true and is just a myth. The extent of martial arts registration currently is that some states require martial arts instructors to have a special license from the state and/or keep their credentials on file with the state. Some states enacted this, or plan to enact this, in order to prevent fraudulant and unqualified instructors from getting people hurt.
I earned my black belt in 1979 and have never had to do this. I also remember hearing the expression at least that far back (much MUCH earlier than when “Con Air” was produced). Could it be that this UL comes from the expression “I’m warning you… These hands are lethal weapons.”?
And remember, “black belt” really doesn’t mean that much. Any schmoe with $20 can order a black martial arts belt from a sports catalog, and many schmoes with “martial arts schools” are more than happy to give one to a ten year old who can’t do 50 push-ups as long as you keep the checks coming. The only art where there is some sort of standard as far as belts go is Judo, AFAIK. With anything else, the only way to judge a person’s skill is to watch them perform their art.
The premise of Con Air was bullshit too. What judge in his right mind would sentance a decorated Airborne Ranger to seven years for accidently killing some drunk redneck while defending himself and his wife from 4 attackers with knives? At the most he would get a couple years with a suspended sentance.
Anyway, my friend who works at the Registry of Martial Arts and General Ass-kicking told me that you have 30 days after receiving a black-belt to regster your hands and feet (big drunken Irish soccer fans also have to register their head because of their devestating headbutts). Once you register, you receive your laminated “Licence to Kick Ass” card and a log book for taking names. You also receive a complementary can of “Whoopass!” ™ for opening on people.
We were actually looking into this silly myth for a Staff Report, but decided it wasn’t interesting enough. We thought we had traced the origin back to a Woody Allen movie, where it is clearly a joke (imagine a young Woody Allen saying, “Stand back! I know karate and my hands are registered as lethal weapons!”)… however, I don’t recollect which movie.
No such registration in Texas - but “reasonable force” does come into play.
Had a discussion about that with an Austin police officer as I changed a tire once. If some guy starts punching me and I respond by beating him to death, yeah, I’ll be in deep trouble and my TaeKwon Do black belt will be a factor in court. If the same guy starts punching me and I respond by breaking his arm or simply punching him harder until he gives up, then that’s probably “reasonable” force for a response. The line of reasoning is that if you’ve got the training, than you ought to have the discipline and respond appropriately.
Besides, think about it - “registering hands as lethal weapons” - what martial art only uses the hands? My kicks are a hell of a lot more destructive than my punches. “You should know, my hands, elbows, knees, feet, and forehead have been registered with the police as lethal weapons…” I don’t think so. Also, what other lethal weapons have you ever had to register with the cops? Most of the US does not require firearms registration, I’ve never had to register a knife, and think of all the stuff in your house you could kill with…“I’ve registered this big rock with the police as a lethal weapon…”
Not quite true, as I said before my personal experience is with TaeKwon Do which does have standards for promotions to 1st Dan (First degree black belt)and above. My promotion test was judged by my instructor, the school’s Grand Master, and three other Grand Masters, one of whom flew over from Korea for the test as a favor to Grand Master Han. My black belt certificate came from Korea, from the Kukkiwon which serves as kind of a regulatory body for TaeKwon Do as well as being one of the oldest schools of the art. I dunno about the other arts, but TKD is fairly well regulated.
I was sure this was just one of those things that fellas say to pick up chicks, however, my friend IS going to be getting a black belt, so I didn’t want to argue too strongly without back up. (He could kill me in less than 3 seconds with his THUMB doncha know, doncha know!)
Regarding testing for belts, there are certainly specific requirements that have to be met, at least at my gym anyhow.
Kinda makes me wanna whine a lot…