Black Belt and Beyond

What is a black belt? Ask fifty people that question and you will get fifty different answers. Ask any experienced black belt that question and the answer range starts to narrow. One thing anyone who has earned that rank will tell you is that the belt itself is irrelevant. What is relevant is the sweat and blood that went into earning it. The value is in the journey, not the destination.

A black belt test, regardless of the level of black belt being tested for, is a very long process. How do you evaluate or quantify a black belt unless you quantify their journey? There is a minimum physical standard but that standard only defines the destination. Character, intensity, humility - all the intangible qualities that make up a black belt, are forged by the journey.

It takes a minimum of three years to earn a second degree black belt, four years to earn a third degree and so on. The higher the level of mastery, the longer the journey that is required to develop the skill and character to earn the rank. How do I quantify a black belt’s progress? One year in the I Ho Chuan.

“The only two ranks that matter are white belt and black belt.  White belt represents courage [the courage to risk failure] and black belt represents persistence and follow through. The world is full of great starters, but it is the ability to follow through to the end, that separates the best of us from the rest of us.” - John Graden