I have been thinking a lot recently about the nature of this test. This month has been a difficult one for me. I have had a lot on my plate, with school taking it up a notch on the homework load, fundraising for Alabama, vocabulary cards, my speech for Alabama, blogging, and of course, my physical requirements. Between all these things that I have to do, I have had little time relax or do any of the things I like to do in my free time. Some days, I don't have time or forget to do my physical requirements, which leaves them to stack up in great, festering piles of work that seem insurmountable compared to the time I have. i then have to spend a day i set aside for free time, doing these or just getting them out of the way for more to take their place. It's like swimming through a river of mud, and I am just trying to stay afloat until the Buildvention has been finished, and everything calms down a little.
My point is, everything in my life would be easier if I didn't have this test to do.
But I think that might be the point.
I think that this test should be brutal. I think that this should be a beast, a monster that looms over you, terrifies you, threatens to grind you into the dirt. I think that this test should be a soul crushing fiend. I don't know about anybody else, but I believe that a test can't be a bright happy time.
I don't mean to say that getting a black belt should be a dreaded experience. But I do think that while this test will have its ups, it should also definitely have its downs.
Because having a black belt means that you are someone who can take the bad with the good. Too get a black belt, you have to be a person who can wether the storm, you have to be resilient. A black belt crushes the lemons life gives them, handles "le mèrde" and keeps focused(pardon my french).
I think if your test is a time where everything goes your way, than it is not a test. This should be a stressful experience. Though it may have its ups, it will definitely have its downs. In my opinion, A back belt test should be a survival story, and never a fairy tale. This is not a thing that is easy, this is a story to tell. When someone tells you about their two hour black belt test, you can give them their story on a platter, because of the mountain of your achievement.
Ultimately, I think that the test should be difficult, not because I believe that we must be hardcore, but because we need to show people how it's done.
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Thank you for putting words to something that I have been thinking about for a while. And awesome words too. Double thank you.
ReplyDeleteYou are double welcome
ReplyDeleteI generally agree with this. It is not my goal to terrify, however, but to challenge. Hard, but doable is the goal - not near impossible. It should be able to be completed with the right amount of dedication and effort, not by just a select few. You are correct that this being hard is part of the test. As I talked about in the beginning: the whole reason for a year test is that over that year there is going to be at least one thing (if not multiple things) that threaten to derail you from the process. That, right there, becomes part of your test. And while we hope that this test inspires, sets the bar higher, or maybe even changes the world of the martial arts as we know it, in the end it is about our journey and how we grow from it.
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