Karate Testing

Today we gave a karate test to our students for their next belts. I always enjoy testing even though sometimes it can actually be difficult to stand/grade students for 2+ hours. All of the students did very well and all passed. It's always really awesome to see milestones being reached and people accomplishing things they never believed they would ever be able to do.

It's difficult to believe in yourself sometimes. We say and repeat the following before classes and most especially belt tests. "Seriousness, try hard, and never give up!" Although we encourage our younger students in this way, I'm always surprised at how hearing this can give us, adults, an extra push. Children are still at the "learning stage" of their lives, whereas, many adults do not "learn" day-to-day. Not that we don't; it's just not our focus as it was when we were in school. Most adults have the seriousness and try hard concepts down pretty well, but we get hung up on the not giving up part. How many things have I started and not finished because it got difficult, I got bored, or it just didn't seem to be important anymore. (I am thinking of my venture into knitting...I think I finally got one stitch before putting it aside and never picking it up again.) Now, I have decided that I'm not all that interested in knitting. I was considering (about this time of year one time) that it would be so neat to hand-make Christmas gifts. My learning curve on the knitting, however, did not bode well for my being able to do this and I realized that it was easier and less stressful to look toward other gift ideas. Regardless, there are many things I've been tempted to give up, not because of interest or waning importance in my life, but it was feeling just too damn hard.

Many years ago, I did tae kwon do with my husband. We got to the point of testing for our blackbelts and he and I and another guy in our class went to test. Having never done a black belt test, I didn't know what to expect and I ending up not promoting (I refuse to say failed). My husband, on the other hand, passed with flying colors. It was SO hard to be happy for him, yet be sad for me. I WAS happy for him and so proud, but I was bitter, as well, as the experiences I had preparing for the black belt were less than stellar. I was given another opportunity to test six months later, which I nearly didn't accept. My husband was awesome in his support and he helped me with extra training and encouragement. The end result was that I did pass the second time, but I almost made a decision not to go forward with my training because I was too wrapped up in what I hadn't done and how awful I had done and how ticked I was that I nearly let it go. The biggest test for me was whether I was going to give up and I'm glad to say that (at least for THAT test) I succeeded.

Congratulations to all of my students for keeping the spirit of karate: Seriousness, Try Hard, Never Give Up!