What does it mean to be black belt strong?
The Black Belt may be one of the most well known symbols of the martial arts, full of misconceptions and stereotypes. To those who have never trained, the Black Belt represents the highest level of martial arts skill. To a new student, a Black Belt becomes a worthy goal to achieve. For serious martial artists, it becomes an ideal to strive towards. But what exactly is a Black Belt and what does wearing a Black Belt really say about you?
When I was younger, I thought Black Belts had been around for thousands of years. I had heard that the harder a student trained, the darker their belt would get from the sweat, dirt and blood. When it finally turned black, they were considered experts. Obviously these stories that weren’t true. The fact is that when the first Black Belts were given by Jigoro Kano in the mid 1880’s, they were used simply as a visual way to acknowledge and separate his most experienced students from the rest. It’s also now known that he didn’t get the idea of the black belt from any ancient secret text or mysterious martial arts manuscript, but from Japanese public school swimming programs.
But is a Black Belt just a way to reward technical skill, or is there more to it?
The idea that you have to be a fearsome fighter, or be able to break boards prior to being considered a Black Belt is impressive, but extremely misleading. The Black Belt is more about internal growth and discipline than it is about fighting and breaking.
The discipline, indomitable spirit, and perseverance that it takes to make it from White Belt to Black Belt or confront a personal challenge and work through it, is more impressive to me than someone’s ability to break boards. Most people can’t stick with anything for a few weeks, let alone three to four years of commitment and constant practice. And it’s during this time that we learn that the martial arts is really about self-improvement, not just self defense. We begin to look past the belt and see the ideals of being Black Belt “Strong” such as honor, integrity, courtesy, and discipline as the real goals.
The truth is that having and wearing a Black Belt doesn’t mean anything if you aren’t living and training with a Black Belt Strong mindset and attitude. In fact, anyone who wanted to could call a martial arts supply store, spend $30 bucks and get a brand new black belt in the mail within a few days. But without the dedication, ideals and values that come with being Black Belt Strong, that belt is just a worthless piece of cloth.
So the next time you tie your belt, whether it’s a Black Belt or a white belt, remember that the belt itself is meaningless unless the person wearing it gives it meaning. As Royce Gracie once said “A black belt is for covering 2 inches of you. You have to cover the rest.”
And for those of you that don’t train in martial arts, when you are confronted with a life challenge, are you black belt strong?
Have a great day.
