Written by This week was my first week of the hardest challenge I will ever face. My Black Belt test. So far I have felt extremely excited for this upcoming year but also a bit nervous too. I know I have so many people by my side and supporting me as much as they can and that makes me feel so much better. This past week I feel like I have been keeping up with all the criteria needed such as push-ups and crunches, miles, meditation, and acts of kindness. The part I have been struggling to keep up with was the sparring rounds but I will certainly do my best to connect with my fellow teammates so we can schedule times to do more sparring so none of us will fall behind. I wanted to thank Sensei Oliver, my fellow Black Belt candidates, all my other teammates, and my family for everything they have done and will do in order to help me with this test.
Pushups
(55,300 / 50,000)
Situps
(55,300 / 50,000)
Miles
(1,205 / 1,000)
Kata
(1,076 / 1,000)
Kumite
(1,036 / 1,000)
Kindness
(1,700 / 1,000)
Meditation
(5,370 / 5,000)
Books
(5 / 6)
Blogs
(43 / 52)
Videos
(12 / 12)
The sparring portion of the test is there for two reasons: 1) to make sure no one gets a black-belt from me that hasn’t for damn sure gotten a fair amount of hard, on the mat training time in and 2) to force you to connect with your fellow candidates during the test. It’s the only portion of the test that directly requires you to work with others on a consistent basis and is a good reminder that martial arts learning is best done with partners.
I’m looking forward to seeing you and training with you in the dojo.