On earning your Black BeltI'd like to, if you are interested, award you with your next black belt rank. I'd like to have a reputation for producing spectacular black belts - black belts who are in great shape and who have great skills, but more importantly, black belts who make the rank mean something so much richer, more meaningful, and more comprehensive than anything that currently exists in the martial arts world today.The black belts who come out of "my school" must be, first and foremost, Martial Arts Activists; a Martial Arts Activist is someone who uses his or her martial arts education to take action in the world - for the benefit of others. A Martial Arts Activist produces results that enrich the lives of others - and makes the world a better place. A Martial Arts Activist, the kind of activist I want to be known for encouraging, does something with his or her skills that transcends the current definition of what the martial arts are for. My "students" and peers work in a way that juxtaposes the martial arts with art, activism, architecture, literature, education, music, science, and, well...LIFE - outside of the ring, outside of the dojo. The black belts I want to work with and "produce" are inspired by men and women, both living and of history, who used what they did (medicine, science, architecture, politics, etc.) to do something remarkable. Rosa Parks didn't know what refusing to give up her seat would mean to history, but she did what was right. Alexander Fleming didn't know, for sure, that his experiments would save million of lives and untold suffering, but he did know the potential of his work. Rachel Carson knew that something was wrong in the world - it caused her to pen Silent Spring, but she couldn't have known the changes she would inspire. Martin Luther King had the guts to promote non-violent protest against what was ugly and disgraceful injustice against black people - and his life was always in danger because of it, but he did what was right. Samuel Mockbee used his classroom to do what he recognized was the right thing to do. He mixed the skills he taught with lessons in awareness, compassion, innovation, and cause - and as a result, he's inspired teachers and students in around the world, in and out of the world of architecture. Parks, Fleming, Carson, King, Mockbee - and you. I see a kind of martial arts school, a "school of thinking" that suggests martial arts master teachers hold themselves to the highest standards. That men and women who aspire to be "martial arts masters" should be measured against the world's greatest thinkers - and activists. Sometimes, to be a great doer, as history has shown us, all it takes is a simple man or a simple woman, doing what is right - when the need arises. I say that the first step is for you to distinguish yourself by living in an extraordinary way. Maybe you begin with daily meditation, with performing acts of kindness, by forgiving trespasses, by righting wrongs, by organizing your friends, students, and neighbors to do something for your community, by slowing down, walking, and taking the time to disconnect from the mundane, and/or from feeling real empathy for the plight of others? Perhaps you start in your own little world - and show the people in your immediate sphere of influence exactly HOW to step up and out of "the box." Show them how to get in extraordinary shape - show them what that does for energy, vitality, and clear thinking. Being at TKC and earning a black belt under this organization means you have to perform, and participate, and stand for a kind of martial arts that is different, but right. In the future, with your help, what I'm talking about here will be the norm, rather than the exception. |
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