On being a Black Belt
By: Tom Callos
When I say or write being a black belt, I am thinking, being a human being. Being a good --or a great --black belt is something, for sure, but its nothing compared to the value of being a great human being.
Being a great black belt is like being Frank Lloyd Wrights amazing creation, Fallingwater, a house he designed and built for Edgar Kaufman in 1936. It is a thing of beauty. However, in comparison, being a great human being is the miracle of nature that is the Grand Canyon, 5000 feet deep on average, 227 miles long, and made up of 1, 200,000 + acres.
If a martial arts practitioner focuses primarily on being a great martial artist, its like the scene in Bruce Lees movie Enter the Dragon when Lee points out to a young student, It"s like a finger pointing away to the moon. Don"t concentrate on the finger, or you will miss all the heavenly glory."
A WASTE OF TIME?
From what Ive just written one might think that, in the big scheme of things, striving to be a great black belt is a waste of time, but thats not my point at all. It is through the practice of the martial arts and the quest to be a great black belt that the practitioner finds the raw materials for what it takes to be a great human being.
As the great Korean born martial arts master Jhoon Rhee points out in his landmark essay, The Seven Qualities of a Champion, flexibility on the mat is the martial artists ability to change quickly as conditions change in life; balance as a martial artist is equal to wisdom, good character, and physical health; good posture is integrity; good timing and endurance is punctuality and perseverance, two foundation blocks of good business; power is knowledge; and quickness is the ability to see opportunities and act upon them before they pass.
It is through the practice of the martial arts that one gets to act locally, but think globally, What we practice in the small space of our schools is what we seek to develop in the scope of our lives. The connection we make to our classmates is the connection we seek to make with all people. The ability to learn all of the difficult techniques of a martial art is made up of some of the same things we need to learn about finding peace, purpose, and compassion in our lifetime.
The only time that the pursuit of black belt excellence is a waste of time, is when it only manifests itself on the mat or in the ring. Being a black belt is being someone who has learned, through the practice of the martial arts, how to take the skills off the mat and into the world.
The premise of my training project for black belts called The Ultimate Black Belt Test, is to see how the participants use their hard earned skills for something beyond attack and defense. That is what being a black belt is about.
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