Nothing pleases me more than seeing someone overcome adversity and be successful. This is especially true when it comes to individuals in my karate school!
We gave a belt test today to our queue (colored belt) ranks. Overall, all the students excelled and did fantastic, but one student in particular really stood out. This student is an 11 year old girl I will call "Amy." "Amy" has had many challenges and when the people she has been staying with asked her what types of activities she was interested in, since she had recently seen "Karate Kid" (with Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan), she decided she wanted to do karate. So eventually they brought Amy in. She did very well from the start. Her first true challenge, however, came during her first belt test from white belt to yellow belt. That morning, she literally refused to step out on the mat. In fact, it was hard to even get her to enter the dojo. She was so anxious and upset that she eventually ended up watching the testing. Of course, you know, her very wise and somewhat sneaky instructors decided that we would "test" her without her knowledge at her next class. Unsurprisingly, she did quite well and was thrilled to receive her yellow belt. So, now she is used to the testing process, right? Nope. Every single test she has had has been a battle for her to walk out on the mat.
Fast forward to nearly a year later...she is a green belt going to her blue belt, which represents a huge step, as if she passes, she will be an "upper belt." Now, Amy, being a fairly gentle kid, is not all that thrilled about sparring. Unfortunately, this is a requirement for blue belt. In the past, she has sparred either myself or one of the other instructors. Today, she was asked to step out on the mat and spar another colored belt like herself. Initially, we were concerned that this would be the show stopper for her. She swallowed hard, put on her gloves, put in her mouthpiece, and...went for it! She sparred her little heart out! Afterward, despite the relief she must have felt, she had tears in her eyes. Not tears of joy, but tears of the kind where you put it all out there and do something you never thought you could do. Needless to say, she was promoted to blue belt!
I, for one, am humbled, as it is so easy to fall back into how difficult something is and then not even really try. A friend's blog recently had a quote from one of the "Rocky" movies about getting hit (by life) and continuing to move forward anyway(Thanks, Kevin!). That is the indomitable spirit. The refusal to accept defeat and the intestinal fortitude to not be overcome defines what it means to me to be a black belt, not just in karate, but in life. I think "Amy" earned her "black belt" of the spirit today and I can't wait for this to be a physical reality for her. I plan to be there to tie that belt around her waist.
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