What is “the Ultimate” Black Belt Test?
Or, for that matter, “the ultimate test” at any belt level?
It’s a test that pushes you hard, but not over the edge. It’s a “test” that makes you grow in areas you aren’t currently strong or skilled in (as what kind of “test” would it be if it only asked you to engage in things you’re already good at?). The “ultimate” test is one that challenges YOU, completely –and develops you in ways a lesser challenge would not.
It Could Be Your Personal Olympics
Olympic hopefuls will train 4, 8, 12 years (or more) in advance of the games. In the ultimate black belt test, you prepare well in advance too, so that every part of you is prepared, carefully trained, and ready for the event. The Olympics, like your black belt test, shape you –but the real learning happens in the preparation for the event.
If you look at your test as your own personal Olympics, then it might put the effort it takes to be a world-class performer into perspective. And that’s what I want my black belts to be, people who prepare themselves like word-class athletes/performers. Anything less than that would represent a less than a 100% effort –and for me, teaching a person to be a black belt isn’t about their kicks, punches, and throws, it’s teaching them how to apply themselves, fully, to whatever it is they’re doing.
Oh, and you are, by the way, training right now for something that comes a decade (or more) from now. You're in-training to become an amazing Master Teacher.
To Live a Black Belt Test is to Live Like a Champion
In the UBBT, we understand that the “test” or the final event is driving us, but the most pleasure and growth comes from the daily, consistent, focused effort. The gift is not found in the graduation, but in the way we train ourselves to live and think –on a daily basis. To live a black belt test is to live like a champion.
The “ultimate” test is to make every day a day when we are “testing” for our black belt. The way we eat, today, is important. The way we handle stress, today, is “the test.” The way we focus, think, connect, create, and innovate –all of these things make up our test, today.
A real test is to spend 365 days where we eat, train, rest, recover, sleep, think, and live as a black belt –and THAT is hard to do. What is hard to do IS our test.
Vince Lombardi is reported to have said, “It’s not practice that makes you good, it is perfect practice.” Likewise, getting your black belt isn’t what makes you a black belt, it’s living as a black belt that makes you one.
Testing Beyond the Accepted “Scope” of Testing
With regards to my body, I know I’m going to polish certain physical skills to have a solid and worthwhile black belt “test.” I’m going to have a great defense. I’m going to have great “hands” –in that I know how to strike with speed and maximum effectiveness. I’m going to have great footwork –and kicks too. My “ground game” is going to be sharp. I know I’m going to be in great shape when I test; my wind, my recovery time, my stamina, my strength –all of these things are going to be as brilliant as I can make them. I intend to, physically, be at the top of my game when I test.
Mentally, I’m going to be as tough as nails. Test day you won’t find me making excuses for poor performance, as I’m going to will myself to explode, to persevere, and to handle anything my teacher, my classmates, or the circumstances toss my way. Mentally, I will be at the top of my game, as I’ve prepared myself for the event.
Emotionally, I’m resilient and ready. I’m in control of how I feel –and I won’t, as Ernie Reyes, Sr. has said to me so many times, “Let any person, place, or thing take my mind.” Test day I am a warrior –and it’s a good day to die. You won’t be able to “hurt” my feelings, as I’m prepared for full engagement –and I know that if I fall apart emotionally, it’s equal to breaking down physically or mentally. It will not happen. I can handle this –all day long and for as many days as it takes to succeed.
So on test day (and of course in training FOR test day) I have my physical, mental, and emotional game on. But what about my spirit? What is it, spirit? And am I willing to find what “the spiritual” aspect of training and preparing to be a great black belt means to me? Of course I am. I am ready. Bring it on! If you want to make spiritual training a part of my “test” –then so be it. I’m training myself to be a great martial artist –and I’m not going to fall apart for any test requirement. Given that I have enough time to prepare and train, there isn’t any reason I can’t explore any aspect of being a fully engaged human being. Yes, bring it on!
And how then, can we expand “the test” to deal with creativity, with family, with community, with global issues, with LIFE? Is there, with this “black belt attitude” ANYTHING off limits? IS there a point where I say, “Oh no, that is just too much”? No, I don’t think so. If it’s hard, bring it on. If it will challenge me, I’ll go for it. If it’s meant to be a part of my journey, then I will embrace it, eat it, absorb it, and come out on the other side stronger and more knowledgeable for it.
After all, this is just a black belt test. It’s not the plague, it’s not a world war, it’s not famine; it’s not anything but a journey of exploration, of creating a certain mindset, of challenging ourselves to dig deeper, to be better people, to create an event that causes us to spend each day aware of our actions, cognizant that we are seeking to improve, to grow, and evolve.
Ready For Anything
My idea of the ultimate black belt is a man or woman ready –as in “ready for anything.” If it requires me to be tough, I’ll be tough. If it requires me to be soft, I will be soft. If it requires me to learn what I don’t know, I will learn what I don’t know. Do I have to bond with a team of strangers? I can. Do I have to face my fears? Ok then, I will. Do I have to learn to eat differently? That I can handle. You say I have to be a catalyst for 50,000 acts of kindness? Ok, bring it on –I can do it. I have to make a journal entry every week for a year? I thought you said this test was hard? Of course I can do that, no problem. Do I have to try and change the world, even a little, for this test? Ok, if you say it’s so, I will step up to the plate and swing that bat until I connect. Nothing you can throw my way for this “black belt test” is outside the realm of something I can handle. I can.
Fit the Shoe to the Foot, Not the Foot to the Shoe
Despite the fact that I have set curriculum for the UBBT, none of it is written in stone. The concept of the UBBT is to create black belt tests that speak to the skills, mindset, resources, experience, ambitions, and sense of mission owned by INDIVIDUALS. The ultimate test would be different for the boy of 16 compared to a man of 46. The 42 year old woman recovering from cancer would have a different set of challenges than would the 54 year old multi-school owner and former world champion. The lawyer has a different skill set than the bricklayer, the woman with a degree in psychology and a commitment to women’s rights has a different path to follow that the environmentalist or the astronomer or the auto mechanic.
All of these things (and more) are relevant to the ultimate test, because the ultimate test challenges the student to grow, to expand, and to accomplish in the school --and out of the school. The ultimate test is a test that affects all aspects of the tester’s life.
As a teacher, I don’t want to limit my influence to just kicking, punching, and grappling; I have the chance to affect my students in other ways too –and if the opportunity presents itself, I’m going for it. If the mother becomes a better mother for something we practice and/or talk about on the mat, AND she’s a good martial artist too, well…that’s the ultimate. If the astronomer says her work has been affected by her journey to black belt, if she says she concentrates better or treats her coworkers with more respect or that she’s more patient with the tediousness of her profession –and all because of her training with me, well…that would be the ultimate.
In the black belt test/journey of the future, instructors work very hard to challenge their students in ways that mean something to the STUDENT –and not just to the teacher. In the future a black belt test will not just take place on the mat or in the ring; it will take place in the students’ lives.
Monday, June 29, 2009 at 12:36PM