Originally, karate students wore one belt (white) to match their white gi (uniform).  They had a superstition that all the things they learn “soaked” into their belts and so they did not wash them.  As they trained longer and longer (in outdoor dirt floor dojos) their belts would eventually fade to black, which they called the “first step.”

In karate schools everywhere in the world today, students don their various colored belts to represent their knowledge and skill in their martial art.  These colored belt systems were invented to help modern students feel good about their training and (hopefully) motivate them to continue to get their next belt.  Belt systems are excellent for training children and really help kids understand the value of their practice and the long term commitment required for real skill development.  Having curriculum organized in levels is also helpful in developing cohesive programs of instruction for children of diverse levels of natural ability and commitment to training.

However, belt ranking systems are more problematic for adults.  Once we place value on belts, adults just want the belt as a status symbol and they forget about the value of  attending classes and learning.  Adults tend to look at each belt as a “upgrade” rather than a step in the right direction.  Once one belt is earned, adults seem to believe they are “beyond” everything in that level and ready to “advance.”  In most cases, instructors look at belt levels as minimum standards of competence, not as definitive proof of complete understanding.  A black belt is like a high school diploma, not a master’s degree.

Unfortunately, adults want to earn black belts because they think it will elevate them above anyone wearing any other color.  In reality, a belt is a piece of dyed cotton, it has no special properties.  The value of the belt is only realized in so far as the person wearing the belt has actually developed their skills.  Adults get that, but only to a point.  Once adult students get into their advanced levels, they usually begin to forget why they started training, why they like to learn, and are focused only on getting that black belt.  this is really too bad because belts are actually not that interesting, but training is!  In their quest for rank, adults students miss out on so much learning.

Martial arts is a process of continuous learning and development for students and instructors of all levels.  This process goes beyond earning belts: it requires humility and a long term commitment to martial arts training.  Students believe their training culminates in earning a black belt, but in reality – black belt is where it all begins.

Kids today have too many toys, cell phones, i-pods, laptops, video-games, etc.  All of these techno-toys are also costly and distracting.  Kid swill sit for hours playing video games or texting their friends, and everything else is just not exciting enough to keep their attention.  Unless, of course,  they are participating in one (or 5) extra-curricular activites like soccer, t-ball, foreign language, piano, dance, karate, the list goes on!

If we add up the toys and the activities, we are giving our kids a lot of privileges.  That in itself is not a bad thing.  As parents, we want our kids to have a great life and to give them every advantage and joy we can afford.  However, if we do not create a balance between a child’s privileges and their responsibilities, we are not doing them any favors.

As a karate instructor, I have made it part of my mission to teach youth students responsibility through their karate training:

• I make kids take responsibility for their own uniforms and training gear.  I expect them to get themselves ready and to know where their gear is at all times.  I don’t allow them to blame their parents for forgotten or lost equipment.
• I expect youth students to know what skills they have tested for and which ones are left to learn.  Yes, even the 6-year-old children can do it.  It is not too much to expect kids to memorize their skill lists.  If they can learn the abc’s and memorize their favorite song, they can remember their karate skills.  Let’s face it, if they can’t remember the skill then they don’t know it.  How else can you teach but by expecting students to take responsibility for their own knowledge!

Without responsibility, there are no privileges.  Karate teaches children that their skills are a responsibility that must be earned over time, not a privilege to be handed out to those who want it.  That lesson helps kids understand that if they want things, they need to work for them.

Some say that “repetition is the mother of mastery.”  I know from my own experience that this statement is certainly accurate.  There is an inherent difficulty in maintaining focus during repetitious arts training.  Because progress occurs in very small increments, the more advanced a student becomes, the smaller the increments of progress.  Over the course of their training, students will have trouble maintaining their commitment level because of this dilemma.

Unfortunately, there is no secret answer or “cure” for this problem.  The reality of the situation is that martial arts training is just a lot of work, and it will never be anything else.  Although we have a belt system to help us track our progress, earning a belt does not make the work less challenging.  The important lesson is that the process is the progress – in other words – “let’s do that again!”  The value of repetition as a training method is that, instead of being a means toward developing a skill, the ability to maintain focus during repetition becomes the skill. Being able to tolerate repetition then allows us to tolerate more still, and that translates into better skills over time.

The translation for the word  “kung fu” is:  skill acquired through hard work over time.  Often, kung fu masters will train by copying traditional Chinese calligraphy for hours to develop their “kung fu.”  So kung fu is not a martial art per se, but a concept:  the best way to become skilled is to understand the value of hard work, not in terms of the exact result of the work, but in terms of the work itself.  How does writing calligraphy make a kung fu punch better? maybe it doesn’t, but the ability to copy Chinese calligraphy for 3 solid hours without getting distracted or fatigued is the same ability required to develop fighting skills.

So whenever I have trouble getting a student to understand a movement, I usually solve the problem by saying “let’s do that again.”  My kung fu master (the same one who copied calligraphy) would answer most of my questions with the phrase “you practicing more – making better.”  Yes – he really talked like that.  I used to get frustrated when he would not answer me, but tell me to practice when I had just practiced the technique for hours!  Eventually, I began to understand that he did not see his role as sifu (Sensei in Japanese) as the expert who could answer my questions.  He was there to teach me kung fu – how to develop skill through hard work over time.  He was trying to tell me that if I just kept working on it,  I would have the answer for myself (so why ask the question?)  Once I understood, I stopped asking questions about technique.

I have now learned to respect the process of training as the most valuable part of the martial arts.  I enjoy being skilled and feeling confident about my ability to defend myself and to teach.  However, I value my ability to maintain discipline and motivation after 2 decades of repetition and difficult work above all other skills I posses.  I try to pass this love for training on to my students, but it is difficult to help them see the “big picture.”  We live in a culture that is so competitive, and moves at such a fast pace, that we have trouble being patient with ourselves.  Lack of patience leads to a low tolerance for repetition and a propensity for distraction over concentration.  Typically we say “let’s do that again” when we are enjoying leisure activities, not working hard.  When we are working hard we can’t wait to get it over with.

One reason I love the martial arts so much is that it helps people connect to the part of themselves that enjoys hard work and desires a challenge.  Every student has the ability and the capability to change themselves and their bodies through hard work over time.  We just have to be willing to “do that again,” and again, and again.