Wherever you find yourself on your path to Black belt, enjoy it! Don’t be the person who gets so caught up in grading that they can no longer stand their current grade. One student might say, “I’m so sick of being a red belt. I just want to be brown belt already!”
This attitude demonstrated that they have a destination disease. In other words, their happiness is entwined with their reaching a destination. A common problem these people face is that they if and when they reach their destination, and a month later they are unhappy and frustrated again.
In the Western World we focus a lot on the destination, on achieving goals. The East focuses more on the journey itself, the process rather than the product, knowing that the process leads to the product. When you focus on the journey rather than getting caught up in the destination it allows us to be more at peace with our journey’s ups and downs.
Above all, you should focus on enjoying your training. You likely enjoyed your first few classes and that is what kept you coming back. Somewhere along the way, many students start to get caught up in grading rather than the enjoyment of getting along to training and giving it their all.
Karate is all about progress. Your own progress is what you need to focus on. As long as you are continuing to learn, and develop your skills, and build your discipline levels, you will continue to learn more about yourself. As your body strengthens, so will your mind. You will be able to challenge yourself in ways that you may have thought impossible 6 or 12 months earlier. You will reach new fitness levels that you thought were unattainable. You will develop a stronger self worth and your confidence and self esteem will be greatly enhanced.
These are all qualities that you may experience as you take your karate journey. There will be times where you feel you’re not improving, but by knowing this in advance, and the reasons why, you will be able to address it when it arises. You will know that motion creates emotion, and sometimes you just have to make yourself get to class, even if you don’t feel like it. You will break through barriers and see yourself as a much stronger and more determined person than you thought you were.
This is your journey. We are happy to help you in any way to ensure that you get the most out of it. Don’t compare yourself to others, nor to perfection. Stay on track and use all of the principles of karate to take you forward.
We hope you enjoy the journey and gain all of the many amazing benefits that karate offers. We are with you all the way, so read on, ask questions, have faith in your potential, and lets get to work.. Your Black Belt Awaits You..!
