Well, congratulations are in order – one of our brown belts was just awarded his black belt; the first one given out in our dojo in about seven years….it has been a while since the last in-house promotion to shodan. You see, the majority of black belts in our current lineup, achieved their dans before they ever visited our class….some, a very long time ago. Sempais Kevin, Elton, and Cheryl made it some 10 years ago, Sensei Trish and Sempai James – over 20 years ago, for me – it was exactly 40 years ago, and my old friends Sensei Peter – 41 years ago, and Sensei Wayne – 42 years ago. What amazes me the most, is that these senior members of our group continue to faithfully train and teach till this day, representing so many years of effort, focus, and patience. I am so blessed to be associated with karateka of their high character and dedication to learning and sharing the art.

Karate students often imagine that their highest goal is make it to the first level black belt or shodan…actually, what it really means, is that one has merely learned the abc’s, basic grammar, words and phrasing of karate-do – the tools one needs to be able to read for real content. It means that their instructors feel that the student now has the basic tools needed to really learn the more interesting aspects of both karate-do, as well as something about themselves. It is a shame that many karateka who make it to black, will naturally quit the art shortly thereafter, having achieved what they believe to be their goal. It’s kind of like, making all of the effort to becoming literate, and then, being able to finally read – never picking up and reading a single book!…one might just as well, simply remained illiterate. Rather than reaching the Goal Line, I like to think of it as finally getting up to the Start Line of one’s study of karate-do. Those young graduates who accomplished the hard work needed to acquire their degrees in medicine or law or engineering haven’t become instant experts in their fields. However, they have indeed, reached a very important milestone…they are now considered proficient enough to commence a lifelong practice of their particular discipline, hopefully, for many, many fruitful years.