Me as a 7th Dan

In our club, we have a Brown Belt. She was away from training for several years. Since we started up in November, she’s been working hard.

She wants to do her next test by Christmas of 2011, and that one will be for her Black Belt.

It is a tough test. And people have to do extra to prepare.

When I was working towards my own, I did tons of extra practice. I also started running, and joined an aerobics class. This all went on for months. As the club’s instructor, I didn’t get much of a workout during class time.

I failed my first attempt. I hope that our Brown Belt won’t experience that. I was my own Sensei, while she has 3 Black Belts in the class who can help her. She is also planning on training in the city once month with even better instructors. That is a really good idea.

It’s funny how much respect one gets from non-Karate people as a Black Belt. You also get tons of respect from lower belts, too. Really, Black Belt means that you’ve finished Kindergarten, and are ready to be a beginner.

A shiny, fresh belt is a good signal that one is new. It takes about 5 or 6 months before a new satin belt will condescend to stay tied properly.

A few years after attaining first degree Black Belt (Shodan), one normally tests for second degree (Nidan). This continues up the ranks, with increasing periods in between. There is also an age requirement to insure maturity.

If I had been ambitious, and tested at the maximum rate, and had opportunities to do so at the appropriate times, and by some miracle had always passed, I could be a 6^th degree (Rokudan) by now. If I hadn’t taken off so many years, I could be a 7^th degree (Seichidan). Perhaps pigs would be flying overhead. More realistically, I might be about a 3^rd (Sandan).

I am, in fact, Shodan. A mere 1^st degree. After gaining my rank, I put all my effort into preparing my senior students for their Black Belts. After that, I ended up in a University program that allowed me no spare time. We moved to Sechelt, and I worked on starting a new club, and a new job. We also could only test above Shodan with Mori Sensei. For the next ten years, he never visited us. To visit him, we had to go to New York. My wife and I had other trips we’d rather do. Then I took my long break.

The result is a very long-winded explanation that nobody wants to hear. Did you enjoy reading it?

I think I’ll just switch to something almost as accurate. When people ask me, from now on I am going to put on an enigmatic expression and say, “I don’t like tests”.

Which is true.