Goal-Setting is our Powerful Word this January and it got me thinking about how I started training in formal martial arts 41 years ago.
Why Am I Training?
The day I first walked into Dragon Wind Kenpo Karate in Chicago I had already decided to become a Black Belt.
That was the whole point.
It never occurred to me to earn, say my Orange Belt, and then stop there.
It was “Black Belt or Bust” for me from the get-go.
I knew exactly what I wanted; I had a concrete goal to strive toward.
Stepping Stones to Success
Of course Black Belt was many years in a far-off future, so I keyed into all of the smaller steps I’d need to get there, starting with the most salient markers — the different colored belts.
When I earned my White Belt (first step), I begin telling everyone that my favorite color was Yellow.
Yellow Belt was the next belt, the one I was currently working toward.
Upon earning my Yellow Belt, Orange was the new favorite.
I continued this train of thought as I earned each new belt.
Every time I entered the school I looked up on the wall at the Belt Progression Chart and I found out where I was on it, saw which belt I had, and thought, “I am here.”
Then, I followed the chart up to the top, to Black Belt.
“And that’s where I’m going.”
The general culture at the school back then was a tad elitist,”do you really think you can make it to Black? Who do you think you are, kid?”
I wasn’t exactly laughed at, but there were a few chuckles.
The sad thing was that I saw many students who did not make it, and guess what…
I didn’t make it either.
At least not in Chicago.
My teacher moved to Florida before I could pass my test, so I did the only thing that made any sense for me at the time…
I moved down there.
A Strange Thing Happened When I Got There
The signs were everywhere and it was on everyone’s lips:
“We are a Black Belt School” and “Black Belt is Our Goal.”
This was quite the culture shock and this encouraging message was a welcomed change, after all this had been my goal from the start and i was great to see it so prominent and explicit.
It was also brilliant.
In academic school I always knew that the point was to graduate, be it from Kindergarten, 8th grade, or with a Bachelor’s Degree.
I never thought I’d just go to school until I got to Fourth Grade and then give it up.
Graduation was a foregone conclusion, so why shouldn’t earning your Black Belt be any different.
One of my teacher’s sayings was,”I’m not here to create the world’s greatest Yellow Belts, but to create high-quality Black Belts.”
Made sense to me.
So I entered this new environment where everyone was training for a similar goal, with much camaraderie and a degree of healthy competition.
A Long-Term Goal Achieved
It was here that I finally earned my Black Belt.
And I helped many others earn theirs also, a good number of which are still training, over 28 years later!
I know I’m “not normal” and that many students don’t walk into the academy from day one with the fierce determination to earn a Black Belt, not do I expect that from new students.
What I do try to instill in new students is for them to understand that I teach each class as if it is leading to Black Belt and to help them decide to set earning a Black Belt as their goal as well.
To be clear, it’s not HAVING a Black Belt, it’s what is makes of you to earn a Black Belt. The Belt is a symbol of all the lessons learned that change your life on the path to Black Belt.
The Path to Black Belt is wonderous and rewarding, and it begins with saying:
Black Belt Is My Goal!
If you would like to learn and train to become a Black Belt, take the first step and CLICK HERE to try a FREE CLASS.