The Black Belt Attitude

Attitude is everything. But what is a black belt attitude and why would I as your instructor want you to exhibit it in the dojo and out of the dojo?

Masters in the martial arts seem to have a confidence that goes beyond the ability to hurt someone. Some of the greatest examples of a black belt attitude are exhibited by masters where it is not immediately obvious that they train in the martial arts. It could be the confident air about them. It could be the easy and efficient way they move. It could be the general good nature and positive outlook they have. It is probably all of that and more beyond. One day I hope to have that attitude and movement.

What makes a black belt so confident? Is it because they have encountered many physical and mental trials on the training floor and have overcome them? But how do they translate the training into their normal daily lives? We are complex individuals with the ability to compartmentalize portions of our lives. Many people will train hard and acquire the skills to achieve the belt, but still live their lives in confusion and disarray. Some exhibit supreme self control in their technique but lose control in their daily habits of eating, being honest, and living with integrity. Some can take the pain of a hit, but not the pain of rejection or an unkind word.

Personally, I use martial arts as well as my religious faith to help me be a better person. I also have the help of people around me that keep me in check and don’t allow me to go very far off course...thank goodness for those that care about us!

I believe that martial arts is for everyone. Unfortunately I do not believe that everyone that trains in the martial arts is a good person. Either the lessons have been compartmentalized or the lessons went over the heads of those individuals. But I feel it is our duty as martial artists to try to go above and beyond in our actions and treatment of others.

So how do I translate the mundane, day to day training into real life? That’s a tough one to answer, because I don’t know that I am fully educated in this process at this time. Instead, I will discuss aspects of martial arts and how I believe that it complements daily life.

In the dojo, we pay respect to the upper belts - we must remember to be humble in what we have and what we learned. We have never learned enough and we are never ‘done’ training. In life, we are never perfect. We must continue to educate ourselves in order to become more productive with the hope that eventually we will become more wise.

We listen and respect whomever is teaching us a technique even if we believe the technique is supposed to be done differently. This translates to open-mindedness as well as courtesy and respect for the individuals that we come in contact with. We should not always make it a point to correct others, sometimes, it is simply is not the right time or it can lead to hurting the feelings of the other individual.

No matter how many times we practice tournament technique one, we can always practice it a little more. Everything that we want to be good at takes effort and practice. If we want to be self confident, practice self confidence daily. If we want to be honest, practice living honesty daily.

Half-hearted training is useless. If you don’t put the effort into the kick, the kick will never get any higher, faster, or more powerful. You can see it in a student that has been training for years but doesn’t have a fast kick or punch. Only when we push ourselves to do better do we get better. Don’t do anything without meaning to do it. Give all of your effort to everything you do. Make every task important and pay attention to the little details. This works well in family relationships where the details do matter and your focus and attention can mean the world to the person you are spending time with.

Confidence generates success while cockiness generates contempt. Having a confident attitude allows the student to succeed as fears and doubts are minimized and placed on the back burner. The distraction of fear of failure is useless and destructive, and can cause you to lose your focus and concentration. Cockiness, on the other hand, leads to lack of preparation and potential failure. A cocky individual will not be helped by their peers and will be left alone to fail. We all need help, or might need the help of those around us. We should not taint our relationships by an arrogant attitude. We should be confident and yet humble when we interact with everyone around us.

The self-defense circle provides an opportunity for us to persevere when we become fatigued. How do we handle ourselves when we have given every ounce of our energy and yet the instructor calls out ‘30 more seconds’? Do we fall down on our face and give up? Or do we reach down deep inside and find the hidden extra reserve that the body withholds from us until we reach for it. Many don’t don’t even know it exists because they either have not encountered the fatigue or have quit before reaching deeply. How do we handle life’s difficulties? Do we fall on our face, or do we straighten our shoulders, raise our head and attack the problem?

When we train with our partners, it takes a great deal of patience and effort to give and receive the techniques. This is where selfishness can cause problems. We can’t be selfish in our training because we need our partners to help us get to the level that we are working towards. We can’t get their without also helping our partners get to their level best. We need to let our partners hit us as many times as we hit them, in fact it is better to receive than to give. Outside the dojo, we need to try to give more than we receive. Give your time, talents and energy to those around you. Everyone benefits, especially you.

Training is about balance. We have to know when to push ourselves and when to rest and heal. Some students suffer an injury yet ignore it to try to impress the instructor, only to cause the injury to become worse. Others will expend all their energy in the first 2 minutes of their test, and then have nothing left for the last 45 minutes. Others will hold on to their energies and never fully expend all their efforts for the important task. Knowing when to go all out and when to stop are very important. We must balance all aspects of our training and all aspects of our lives.

Thanks again for your time and talents. I truly feel blessed to teach and train with the best martial artists! Keep up the great work and keep training strong!

Sifu Kelly Corder