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ARTICLES AND COMMENTARY
THIS IS A RE-RUN OF AN
ARTICLE I DID TEN YEARS AGO. IT IS CALLED: "So You Want To Be a Black Belt"
Are you
sure? Yeah right.......That’s the approach I take with each student new and
old and I’ll tell you why. First lets look at the obvious. Everyone
doesn’t!!! Because if you do it right------ it is hard!! That reality alone
eliminates the vast majority of the "I wanna be’s" So let me say God Bless
and good riddance. I would hate to think I had spent the greater part of my
adult life pursuing a passion in the company of people who would be just as
happy doing crossword puzzles. I don’t think it should be for elitist alone
but neither do I want casual joiners. At some point I want to see someone
have to sacrifice something along the way. Just show me you can hang. Some
people working toward a black belt are like a dog chasing a car. What are
you going to do when you catch it??? They see the black belt as a final
destination instead of a life style beginning. In the year plus that someone
in our school wears the brown belt before being tested, the real testing has
been on-going. The last 90 days before promotion is like the last three
weeks of jump school. If you are going to quit, it will be before you jump.
I tell my students up front,” that my job is a double edge sword”, that it
is up to me to make everyone a black belt and at the same time to prevent
everyone from becoming a black belt. They will begin to understand that
contradiction when they near brown belt (san-kyu). I am not a great believer
in black belt testing. If you are a working sensei and have trained someone
for two-plus years and don’t know if they are ready then who does? All the
physical and academic testing has been done up to that point of promotion.
All that is required is a 100% yes!! vote from my instructors. It’s just our
way. I don’t want to wait two and one half years to see if the person can
take the testing pressure and knows the drill. On the other hand I know
people who do extensive testing and turn out excellent black belts; so it’s
just a philosophy like most every thing else we do.” It isn’t how you arrive
at the game but what you do when you get there”. That brings me to the next
dilemma that plagues all of us. The great black belt quitters club. We all
have members of that distinguished aggregation out there. All the time, all
the information, all the loyalty (sic) gone. It’s like the common cold. You
can use prevention, but you can’t eliminate it. I see the black belt as a
source of vehicle fuel for the person. Everyone has their own miles per
gallon and some run out sooner than others. There is no way to gauge anyone
100% of the time, but there are indicators of the tank running low. I like
to get to know the spouse. Their support or lack of, can make or break the
person. If a loved one is against it then you have a drop out on the way.
Especially if the loved one might as well be wearing the belt, because they
are obviously wearing the cahonnies. If the loved one feels threatened by
the black belts time spent at the dojo, so-long black belt. Indications of
this are numerous calls to black belt from the loved one during class.
Obvious competitive attitude toward sensei from the loved one at any
gathering. If this gets too heavy send black belt out the door to serve the
loved one with all their time. I’m not up for that kind of juvenile
negativity. As a general statement it takes ten positive instructors to even
out one negative one. The next sign is when a black belt has to take time
off every time the winds change. No matter what happens, the black belt
feels that they can handle it better if they don’t have to be worried about
karate. What a hero. Wonder if they ever ask themselves where they would be
if their sensei felt that way. But what the hay, let the other guys worry
about classes and the dojo, cause none of the other guys have any problems.
You know I see that mentality in kyu’s when they treat karate as a total
liability when anything else comes up, but a black belt is suppose to know
better. If you look closely you can see karate steadily slipping down the
list of priorities. What really kills me is when people tell you how much it
all means to them but the first time it is tested they fold their tents. The
person who wants to learn all they can and wants to know what you know. They
then back up their claim with about four hours a week at the dojo. Either
they are a fast learner or I haven’t learned much in 34 years. We have
people who legitimately can’t make it more than four hours a week and they
are there no mater what. I would rather work with someone who is there every
time they can be than when the spirit moves them. I much more respect the
guy that says, I’ve lost interest and I’m quitting. I understand everyone
doesn’t want to do this forever, but stop trying to have it both ways. Lead,
follow, or get the hell out of the way. If a person stops contributing and
being an example then they should go. I am living proof of that. When I
stopped being a working sensei I became a non-working sensei. There is no
grey area here. Lead, follow or, well you know! A sad sight is the "Dead
Belt Walking.” That is black belt or worse Master belt giving us all the
pleasure of their company at seminars and tournaments. This pretender
usually referees or judges until they nearly die from exhaustion from being
out of shape. They do a lousy job because they no longer see students
anywhere else, and they just want everyone to have a lot of fun. Well let me
tell you something!!! The working sensei that brings people to tournaments
is usually already tired and beat up from preparing their students. They
also have the added pressure of getting everyone there including the
students friends and family. Not to mention what happens to all that
responsibility when the competition starts. If you are a young sensei and
compete, you have to summon up what’s left of your emotional and physical
energy and try not to embarrass yourself in front of your whole following.
Yeah lets have fun. It is work......You better do well because when you get
back about 20% of your student are going to drop out and you have to rally
the troops. To sweeten the pot of pain, you are probably going to have to
discipline some student in or around your ring because his sensei is brain
dead when it comes to courtesy and this was the first time someone told him
he should not show disrespect. Many are called but few are chosen. And so it
goes; everybody wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die. Fortunately
Isshin-Ryu is blessed with excellent leadership that year after year turns
out new and even better talent. Every year we have a Shiai at our dojo. This
year I watched the young black belts and feel that they are better than we
(the old head bangers) ever were. Isshin-Ryu is by and large in good hands
and we all need to make sure it stays that way by preserving the old values
while exploring new ways. We will do that by teaching the new generation how
to reproduce itself. That brings the responsibility of progressive
leadership. Being a leader by example. Clara Booth Luce said "What you are
drums so loud in my ears, that I can’t hear what you are saying. Somewhere
along the way "Clara Baby" must have taken Isshin-Ryu from a working sensei.
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