1000 Word Excerpt



Congratulations, you just graduated high school and entered college! Thats the feeling you may have upon entering the advanced or traditional class. Everything moves a little faster, yet it takes longer to get from place to place. Everything seems more complex, yet youll spend most of your time re-analyzing the simplest movements. You may feel as if youve really come quite a distance and yet you may feel as if theres so much farther to go.

All of these feelings are very natural. Seemingly polar degrees of feeling are part of the paradox we recognize as martial artists. It is equally true that youve come a great distance and that theres a long way to go. If you can reconcile what appears to be this contradiction, you will begin to put into practice the deeper levels of martial arts philosophy. If you can preserve an awareness of this feeling, you will understand beginners mind and youll approach each day with a sense of wonder and curiosity.

As the road gets longer and the rewards are farther between, you must keep an awareness that you can achieve your goal of Black Belt. When you get there, youll realize that the Black Belt was a part of you during your entire trip. The goal is not the ultimate prize; the process of discovery is its own reward. If you can keep this in mind you can enjoy the journey to the fullest and youll realize that while rewards are transient, the process is infinitely renewable.

I sincerely hope that youve realized that you can indeed make it the rest of the way to Black Belt. Most of all I hope that youll continue beyond Black Belt and make the martial arts a lifelong practice.