Pursuing Martial Arts

I often think of the unique perspective I have of martial arts, that of not just being a student, but also an instructor and parent. It has its advantages and disadvantages. The largest disadvantage would probably be as parent, as while I know why things are being done as an instructor, it doesn’t change the way I feel as a parent. Sometimes I have to remove myself from one of those tags and separate myself, be it from instructor or parent.

The largest advantage, though, is when I get to experience something like this weekend. We’re having our black belt testing, and although I’m not testing myself, I’ll still be involved. My son is testing for his first dan after much perseverance to hang in there, waiting for the right time for him. There are three others that are testing along with him that I have been an instructor to, and four others that are testing for higher than my own rank. I am being asked to read the test, and extreme honor no matter how you look at it.

First off, it’s an honor just to be asked to read the test as an instructor and watch those that I’ve taught the past few years and that I have watched rise all the way up from white belts. I’ll also get to watch others test for ranks higher than mine and get a deeper perspective of what I’ll go through testing for the same. I’ll be bringing in that perspective as a student. All of these people are part of my martial arts family, so to watch any and all of them advance to an important step in their martial arts career is heartwarming. But to watch my own flesh and blood test for this honor is the biggest honor of all. At times I have felt I was working harder than he was to reach this goal, so to now see him finally be able to apply himself and work so hard to achieve this at times feels unbelievable.

Because these people are all my friends, it will be hard to watch them go through the test as they struggle, as everyone struggles at some point in it. I did. My jumping and spinning kicks on a bag were atrocious, and I didn’t have a clear understanding at that time what vital points were. And after a summer of spending so much time trying to fix my work with weapons, it certainly didn’t show. It will be hard to watch my friends go through some of those same struggles.

But outweighing the difficulties of watching them struggle will be sharing in their joy as their training comes to a culmination. I can remember the feeling I walked away with two years ago, shaking my head. I wasn’t upset with myself for those bad kicks, the weapons mishaps or the misunderstood vital points. I was shaking my head that I had actually done it. I had earned it, and I knew it.

It’s that that I can’t wait to share with all these people at the end of their test. And because I share duties in our dojo of being an instructor, student, and parent, it will make all of it just that much more special.

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