Kumite Tips #1/Kumite Tips #2/Kumite Tips #3/Kumite Tips #4/Kumite Tips #5/Kumite Tips #6/Kumite Tips #7/Kumite Tips #8/Kumite Tips #9
After an hour of hard fought Kumite with various participants, ranging from kids to the ladies and finally the tough guys...I performed my Kata for the Red Belt.
The Kata was Bassai Dai...and even though I was totally exhausted and quite nervous, I managed to perform it adequately enough with only a few mistakes.
It's only been about 3 years since I began my Karate training with Erica, who unfortunately had to drop out due to school, part-time work and a boy friend.
So, in 3 years I have a yellow, orange, green, 2 purple, 3 brown and now a red belt.
That belt progression by today's standards is quite normal and in some cases it might seem a bit accelerated...
...Especially since my Sensei, spent 8 hard years punching and kicking as a brown belt, in an era when Karate in Canada and in particular Alberta, was in it's infancy.
It was a time when the only Black Belts around, had all come from or had been trained in Japan.
And from some of the stories my Sensei has told me, the Black Belt instructors had no qualms about getting physical with their students...which is of course a no no today.
I have in front of me now, the real test for a martial artist, that being climbing the last stretch up the mountain to the summit, to receive a Black Belt...
...I will have to dedicate my total being for the next year and a half to the principles and forms of Karate.
On my final ascent I will need a strong yet flexible body, a focused but not fixated mind, and a dedication and determination to surmount physical and mental obstacles.
A strong body and character will not in themselves guarantee that I will make it to the top of the summit...
...because patiently waiting for me there, will be my master and if I'm not ready he will know and will surely send me back down the mountain.
You see, a Black Belt cannot be bought, it has to be earned...
To be failed on ones first attempt will humble some and discourage others...
...but the ones that have the fortitude to start the climb again, and possibly again, will one day wear the Black Belt.
In the end, one see's that it is not the Black Belt that is important, but what the being that it wraps around has become...
RJF
