The Special Black Belt:

[Instructor]

If you visit my home you will see a lightly used black belt with gold embroidery. It has the name of my school and looks very fancy. My wife found it in my duffel bag along with my other training implements. She had her father build a nice wood and glass display box for the belt and it resides in the box. I tested and received this belt 19 years ago.

My waist was thinner in those days so I rarely wear the fancy belt because it doesn't fit so well anymore. Middle age is humbling. Is this belt special to me? Well it is in a way, it reminds me of my test and the pride of passing it. In some ways the box that holds the belt is more special to me because it reminds me how much my wife and her parents love me.

My other black belt is the one I mostly wear. It has no fancy embroidery, and it's not as ebony as it used to be. In fact it’s not even black anymore but has a gray patina to it. The edges are frayed and worn in places. Some of the seams are tattered. When I pick it up it is supple with use. This belt is the one that is most special to me. Not because it is fancy but because it more closely represents what I have learned and what I teach, humility.

It was passed to me informally by my teacher one day, he had worn it for years before giving it to me and he had a new belt. This belt was with him while he trained multitudes of people, including me. It looks very plain but I cherish it because it represents all the qualities of a good teacher (I write ‘he’ but it can also be a she):

He must love his art
He must be patient
He must be kind
He must value his students and honor them
He must be selfless
He still learns every day
He exists to serve others not himself

I see a lot of fancy schools out there that focus on performance, winning, and the spotlight. They charge vast sums and have rows of students, many of them black belts. The instructors have gilded belts with rows of stripes. The walls have affiliations and awards, the windows frame rows of trophies. I am not saying these things don't have their place, but I am glad that I didn't learn in a place like that.

I look back at my teacher. He has been teaching for 30 years. He has had scores of students come and go like other schools. Out of all those people to my knowledge he has only promoted three to black belt, me and his two sons. When I talk to him he often calls me one of his sons.

He hasn't made a lot of money in martial arts, in fact he usually teaches for free nowadays. Just for the joy of it. I was poor growing up and even now I never seem to have much money. My first belt my teacher bought for me and he never asked for compensation, he did it because he loves his art and he loves his students, they are family. Nowadays if you visit his school often you will see his son teaching advanced techniques to higher students. If you want to find my teacher follow the joyous giggles of children as he teaches them to tumble on the mats.

You might think that because our school is simple and doesn't have all the trappings of success that it is not successful. This is simply untrue. My teacher gave me an invaluable gift. On one occasion it saved my life and the lives of my two children. All my years of training coalesced at that one fateful moment.

The rest of the time his other gifts serve me, faith, trust, honesty, humility, hard work, and love. I carry on with my own school and my own students, I just hope I can be half the teacher that he is and be worthy of wearing his special black belt.

 

[elder999]

I always think of the gray, frayed one as the "special" belt, and the fancy one as, well, the fancy one.

 

[Gemini]

Very nice post, Instructor! All of my striped belts sit in the closet and nowadays I only wear my unadorned competition belt because it carries my favorite memories.

 

[chinto]

I have known some men who were provably as dangerous and skilled in Karate as any one on the planet! these men, the ones who are scary, scary good, and one woman who is that way as well all have the same quality's. They are very kind, slow to anger, love their art, teach with respect and respect every one.

They pass on their skills carefully, making sure that the student understands what he/she is learning. They each have saved more then one life that way when it got dangerous and the student was in real combat for their lives or their loved ones lives!

the last is that they would wear their rank, in most cases a 'candy cane obi' (red and white alternating down the length) but, would just as soon and often wear just a plain old black belt.

 

[Buka]

I've had a few belts over the years. The first one broke (while tieing) after thirty years. I have one of the nice gold embroided ones from one of my teachers (Billy Blanks), but I don't wear it anymore. I used to wear it for testing, to give me that "big muckey muck" look, but it's been somewhere in the closet for a decade or so. I have one that one of my students gave me (he's been teaching twenty years) that matches the black belts in his school. I wear it once in a while.

I wear the same one all the time now. Nothing fancy, no stripes, just some Japanese writing that stands for what I believe.

I've liked all of them....for a couple minutes, then they just became what they were meant for - to keep my gi closed.

 

[puunui]

I wear the same one all the time now. Nothing fancy, no stripes, just some Japanese writing that stands for what I believe.

I generally buy a new embroidered belt every time I visit korea. It's pretty cheap. The embroidery used to be free as long as you paid for the belt, but I notice now that they are starting to charge for the embroidery. It's not much. I don't have any stripes on any of my belts, just my name on one side and the school name on the other. I have a lot of belts at this point, and generally rotate them. I will wear one for a while, then switch to another. Or I will wear a different belt every day. If the belts get old looking, I generally stop wearing it, although I do have some favorites that I wear maybe once a year or so.

 

[ralphmcpherson]

I generally buy a new embroidered belt every time I visit korea. It's pretty cheap. The embroidery used to be free as long as you paid for the belt, but I notice now that they are starting to charge for the embroidery. It's not much. I don't have any stripes on any of my belts, just my name on one side and the school name on the other. I have a lot of belts at this point, and generally rotate them. I will wear one for a while, then switch to another. Or I will wear a different belt every day. If the belts get old looking, I generally stop wearing it, although I do have some favorites that I wear maybe once a year or so.

do you have your name/school embroided in korean or english on your belt?