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Each article is a personal opinion not meant to be politically correct or politically popular. They will generally deal with good hard working sensei’s past and present. Other times they will deal with topical issues both popular and again unpopular. You will always have an option as to log in or not. This is a Red Dragon web page for the purpose of introducing ourselves and expressing our views to any one interested in joining us or our point of view. It is not meant to be mainstream anything. "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. |
