What is a Black Belt?

Hi!

Last night's black belt testing for Shannon and Nick inspired this post... What is a black belt? It's more than a device for holding up pants, or a rank. A Black Belt is a person. The day such a person is awarded the rank and the device, though, isn't necessarily when that person becomes a "black belt." Becoming a black belt is a growth process. Days like yesterday are merely when the results of that growth are formally acknowledged.

To call what happened yesterday a "testing" isn't entirely accurate. Was it a foregone conclusion that Nick and Shannon "passed" the testing? Well, no, but they wouldn't have been there at all had they not already been considered worthy of the rank. It'd be hard to imagine what they would have had to do (or not do) to have been denied the acknowledgement last night. The main reason it'd be hard is because the inconceivability of them doing such a thing is based on the fact that they've already grown beyond the kind of person who would behave in such a way.

The truth is, though, that I know people who have attained the rank of black belt who don't live up to ideals I've come to expect of people awarded that rank. It's not that I expect black belts to be perfect. We all make mistakes because black belts are, above all else, human beings. Following my "Moving On" post, I was reminded of that by Sensei Dorsey, my Isshinryu Karate instructor. Part of what makes a true black belt special is the ability to acknolwedge their own humanity, and then consistently act in accordance with the brighter side of it. Last night was an acknowledgement that we believe Nick and Shannon will...

Thanks,
Matt