A note to Black Belt Candidates

Dear Black Belt candidate:

After teaching the Black Belt candidate classes for the past few years, I started thinking I have not been communicating correctly with the candidates and their parents. I looked back to see where I fell short letting everyone know what is expected of them and what it means to be a Black Belt candidate. Therefore, I would like to clear up a few items and also recommend a few things to all the candidates and their families:

The Black Belt candidate class requires your full, undivided attention, as well as your maximum energy level and focus. I am a teacher, not a private trainer or a professional counter. I am not here to train you or to make sure that you as a Black Belt candidate get a good workout. I am not here to count 1,2,3 for you. I am here to teach you. I am not here to push you to be more committed about your Black Belt. This is the wrong class for those who are not committed to earn their Black Belt or their Black Belt Excellence.

or those who are committed to creating a new level in their martial arts training and their life, we offer both Black Belt and Black Belt Excellence:

Black Belt: Requires completing the minimum requirements to achieve the Black

Belt in the quickest and easiest way possible without necessarily expanding your

potential. Requires the minimum required attention and energy level.

Result: A beautiful Black Belt to wear around your waist.

Black Belt Excellence: Requires completing the requirements to your highest level

possible and taking every moment, as if it is the last moment, you have to train. It

means committing yourself to create an unprecedented future and limitless

possibilities as a Black Belt -- not only in Martial Arts, but in life.

Result: A beautiful experience that will allow you to live a life worth living.

The choice is yours ...........................

Your Black Belt exam is a mirror of your life. Everything in your life is only as important as you make it. There are opportunities everywhere in your life that allow you to make decisions, to take them, or ignore them. There are moments to take advantage of and there are moments to waste, moments to obey all negative thoughts, or to fight them and do the right thing. The right thing is to give your all at any given moment. The right thing is to demonstrate an attitude of respect, honor and indomitable spirit during all practices of Black Belt training or your life.

"Doing more things right is no substitute for doing the right thing."

Learn to enjoy the practices. Don’t wish these days away by getting frustrated and angry. There is magic between now and your actual exam date. Remember: "Direction is more important than speed."

I encourage parents to participate in their children’s journey to Black Belt. Please have the candidates practice at home. Let them know that this is for them. Let them know how proud you are of all the hard work and dedication they have committed themselves to. Let them experience a sense of accomplishment by allowing them to work as hard as they can.

Your Black Belt exam has started already. You are asked to do certain things, participate in certain events, meet deadlines and follow rules. For those who care enough to do all these, I congratulate your sense of honor and commitment. For others, I recommend a deep look at the way you have been operating in terms of your Black Belt exam and life and examine whether this way of being serves you.

We ask students when they come into the studio to bow and pay respect to their instructors, by saying hello and good-bye. Students may think the art of Martial Arts lies only in the way they perform their kicks and punches. We believe the Art takes root in the simple action of bowing and paying respect to instructors and saying hello and good bye.

I strongly recommend you keep a journal of all your experiences and activities. Those who know how to write and don’t write are no better than those who don’t know how to write. Practice the art of writing, and let go of the habit of wasting your time watching TV.



Learn to practice by yourself. There is a great personal reward derived from practicing by yourself. This tests your will power and develops a great sense of self-confidence.

Learn not to talk and joke with your training partners. Weak people have a tendency to pull others down to empower their own weaknesses. Weak people like to have others participate in their own miserable lack of progress in everything they attempt.

Learn to praise yourself for a job well done. If you set up a practice session for 15 minutes with a complete workout plan, and you do it, praise yourself. Learn to appreciate the simplicity and power of Private Victories. Public Victories, where everyone praises you for a job well done, are good, but Private Victories like "doing what you said you would do" are just as powerful.

Learn to let go of the past. Remember: "The past does not equal the future." The way you are "being" is the result of the way you have chosen to be. If habits are learned, they can also be unlearned.

"Simple little things are not anything, they are everything." Putting your picture on your attendance card, having a patch on your uniform, being on time, turning in a request before the deadline, saying hello and good-bye are all little things that together make everything.

"Don’t make mountains out of mole hills." Don’t waste your emotional energy on something someone said, or why certain things are the way they are. Learn to put your goals ahead of your moods.

I hope that I have gotten through to all the Black Belt candidates and made a few points about becoming more effective. I would also appreciate it if the parents of the junior Black Belt candidates help their children understand these points.