When do you stop being a White Belt?

I was thinking about a short story I had read, Eleven by Sandra Cisneros. It is a story about a ten year old girl as she approaches her 11th birthday. The story explores the feelings of moving on and growing up. At one point the character comes to the realization that she is not ready to be eleven yet-- she just figured out how to be ten. She surmised that even though she was turning eleven, she really won't be eleven until she is ready to turn twelve.

As is usually the case, as I read, I am usually looking for applications in Taekwondo, school and life. This one really hit me in the TKD department!

Too often as we train, we focus on the promotion ahead of us-- moving from Yellow to Camo or Brown to Red. We rush through promotions and belts as fast as we can to get to Black Belt. In doing so, we forget to explore what it really means to be at each step of the journey. Thus, we treat each belt like we are cramming for a test-- learning just what we need to to pass the test (and usually forget it just as fast!) If you are a high rank, you know this is true as you struggle to re-learn the previous material to qualify for testing.

I need to tell you that if this is where you are, you are focusing on the wrong thing. Instead of focusing on the journey, you are only looking at the goal of being a Black Belt. Obviously, having goals are extremely important and focusing on those goals helps you reach them. But-- the journey is equally important. What you learn on the journey is what gives you the experience you need to move to the next level.

So, when do you stop being a White Belt? NEVER! White is always part of every belt you achieve as you progress from White to your Mastership. Many of you have heard me say that you truly don't understand Songhm 1 until you are a Black Belt- yes you obviously know the moves long before that, but do you really UNDERSTAND the form?

Along the same thought, once you promote to a new belt, say Green Belt, you really aren't a Green Belt until you promote to Purple. You become that belt once you've mastered the material that leads up to that belt.

Why all the esoteric thinking? In the last testing, I saw way too many students looking only at the current material rather than at all that they had learned in their previous ranks. They forgot the basics of stances, kicks, punches, balance and focus. They forgot previous material. They forgot that a Black Belt is Black because it is the combination of the colors of all the other belts. They forgot that the Songhm Star is made up of 9 color belt forms and 9 black belt forms-- not a single form.

So, in your training over the next cycle, think about not only where you are going but also where you came from.

Good luck in your journey!

Mr. Bailey
4th degree Black Belt