Karate affects four aspects of me. It affects my body, my conscious mind, my subconscious mind and my attitude. There are four factors to karate which cause these effects on me. However, they are not mutually exclusive, nor do they affect only one aspect of me. They are integrated, their effects intersecting each other across multiple facets of my character and form. What is more pertinent to this essay, however, is the acceleration of the effects of these factors and how this acceleration is tied to the Black Belt.
When I first started Karate I was nine years old. It was my father's idea, but I really wanted to do it as well. My father was a Shodan at the time but I just used to tell people that he was a Black Belt. For me this was the final goal. I started karate because I wanted to be a black belt. I wanted to be a black belt because it seemed to impress people. There was something mystical about it for me. An action hero with a Black Belt was more hardcore than one who had a big gun. So, for me, becoming a Black Belt was my goal, my reason for doing karate.
I am a Black Belt now. I have been for three years. When I graded to Shodan I did not feel any different. In fact the whole thing was anticlimactic for me, especially considering my belief in the mystical powers of the Black Belt. I was a little disappointed when I woke up one morning and realised I was a Black Belt but I didn't have any super powers. I felt just the same as before.
Since then I have come to realise something about my training before becoming a Black Belt: all the basics, the intermediate gradings, the form work, the basic stepping sparring drills, everything was just building a solid foundation for my real training to begin from. Getting to Black Belt is about preparing the body physically for the next phase. It is about establishing the correct form of technique, the required level of fitness, the basic programming of muscle memory and the instilling of self-discipline in the Karateka. It is the foundation on which all future learning will be based.
Being a Black Belt means having this solid foundation, without it you are not truly a Black Belt. It is therefore important for Black Belts to teach other students. Not only to benefit students who are still in the foundation phase of training but also to continually improve and reinforce their own foundation. My technique, especially my form, improves greatly when I am teaching. This is because the mistakes I see in students recur when I cannot correct them and the most effective way to teach Karate is to demonstrate it. Thus my Karate is improved by teaching. My understanding of techniques also increases as I teach them. I am forced to examine them from a different point of view. I have to answer questions about the techniques. All of this contributes to my growth as a Karateka.
Upon becoming a Black Belt I had to refocus my goals for Karate. It has taken me some time and a lot of training but I think I have discovered what the key difference between my pre Black Belt training and my post Black Belt training is going to be. I think it will revolve around taking ownership of my training. Whereas before I would attend class because I wanted to, I often did so without looking forward to the class, even if I enjoyed it. There were some phases where I trained because I could think of nothing else I would rather do, but there were also phases where I trained out of habit.
Over the last year, however, my training has changed. Not in the sense of the actual training, but more in terms of my attitude towards it. At the beginning of this year I realised that from here on out there will always be instructors to coach me or teach me or correct me, but that if I was to really improve as a Karateka and become a real bona fide Black Belt, I would have to take responsibility for my Karate. Not just attending classes and doing what I am told, but really working on my own technique, critically and introspectively.
This change in attitude has allowed me to improve a great deal over the last year. It has revolved around this idea of responsibility. Whereas before I placed the responsibility for my Karate on my instructor, I now realise that this is incorrect and counter productive. How can I logically expect a man who is teaching a class of at least twenty students to be accountable for my technique? Since discovering that the best way for me to move forward is to invest more of myself in my Karate, I have awakened in me a desire to train that I have never had before. I never even contemplate missing classes any more and, as a result, I am enjoying training so much more. I also feel that my Karate has improved greatly in the last year.
I suppose the biggest lesson that I have learned over the last three years is that there is no place for ego in the dojo. It gets in the way, blinds us to what is real. A Karateka must have humility and know that he can never perfect his Karate. The fact that I understand that I know very little about Karate is what will allow me to keep improving. And this knowledge gives me confidence.
Karate creates this entirely paradoxical relationship between humility and confidence. Both must be present and in balance in order to improve. Too little of either one will stifle progression. It is necessary to have the confidence to believe that you can deal with whatever comes at you otherwise you can never develop as a fighter, and this makes doing Karate kind of pointless as it is a fighting art. But overconfidence prevents you from seeing that there is always room for improvement.
I woke up one morning and realised that I was a Black Belt, and in that moment of clarity I saw........ that it was just the beginning.
- by Ryan King
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