How does the journey to become a black belt feel? To have mastered the basics is a different experience for everyone, no two paths are the same.
Here is one account:
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"The first time I walked into the dojang – now my home away from home
– I knew I was in the right place. Years earlier, when I was about 10
years old, I saw a black belt demonstration at my local school and I was
hooked. As the man did his demonstration with the forms and breaks, it
seemed as if his moves were effortless – every jumping kick higher and
higher – like he could fly. Although I grew up in a small farming
community and didn’t have the means then to take lessons, I made up my
mind that someday; I would find a way to learn how to fly. Fast
forwarding 30 years; I found myself barefoot in the training hall
staring at the words imprinted on the mirror that runs the length of the
hall,
“YOUR GOAL IS TO BE A BLACKBELT”.
As I started to dream, my
thoughts were quickly interrupted by my master instructor when he smiled
and said, “Are you ready?” After nodding and a quick “Yes Sir!” my
journey began and every day just keeps getting better.
***
Even though I
frequently dreamed about testing for black belt, when I earned my
Candidate belt in August 2011, my feelings intensified. All of a sudden,
it went from distant dream to potential reality. In an instant, my 30
year dream was within my grasp and I kept pushing myself to refine my
forms and improve my technique. At our dojang, we need 60 lessons in
between Candidate and Black Belt and at least 6 months between tests. As
I train 4 days a week and earned my 500 lesson patch on February 10,
2012, it was really just a matter of patience getting through that six
months. I know patience is a virtue, but it sure wasn’t easy waiting
that long.
After training the day before the test, my instructor
told me he had a big challenge for me. He explained that although the
next day would likely be “one of the biggest days of my life”, to just
go into it as “just another Saturday” – just another day. I agreed, but
my heart was racing! That night, hard as I tried, I could not get to
sleep. After going to sleep at midnight, I woke up at 1:00 a.m., 1:30
a.m., 5 a.m., and 7:30 a.m., respectively. I honestly tried to sleep
better, but every time I woke up I started thinking and couldn’t stop.
At 7:45 a.m., I gave up and took a shower. After I got ready to go, I
had the choice of waiting around the house until 2:00 p.m. or going to
an open rank class at 10:30 a.m. and then just staying after and working
on keeping loose until test time. Knowing myself, I KNEW I could not
pace around the house for 5 hours before leaving, especially with my
family there continually asking if I was nervous. I was truthfully more
excited than nervous, but I needed time to focus so I went in early.
***
As our dojang has an active enrollment of over 200 students, our pool
of black belts is constantly growing and my testing panel consisted of
my master instructor (6th Degree), 2 5th Degree Black Belts and a 4th
Degree. As we lined up to begin, my left leg was shaking a bit from
nerves and I was grateful when it stopped during warm-ups. The first
section was hand strikes and kicking drills followed by a roundhouse
drill consisting of 10 roundhouse kicks up the floor and sprinting back
to start again. Once I felt that my legs were going to fall off, we did
kicks with x-ray targets demonstrating various kicks and kicking
combinations. From there, we started forms and since I had to perform
every form I’d learned so far, that meant 10 forms all the way through
Koryo. Going through the forms, I felt really on track and when I
finished Koryo, my confidence doubled when I didn’t have to redo any of
them! I’s seen other members test and watched many redo’s and even some
Candidates space a form completely!
After forms, we were permitted to
get water and instructed to put our sparring gear on for 2 on 1
sparring. This was one section that unnerved me a little bit because I
didn’t know who I’d be put up against. Plus, although my sparring has
improved greatly, it is my weak point and something I continually work
on. The challenges just kept coming when I was put up against 3rd and
4th Degree Black Belts. After getting in some decent shots and trying
desperately to keep ahead of them, I got knocked down and scrambled to
stand up. When my round was over and I got some water, I put my hands on
my back to stretch and came back with my hands dripping with my own
sweat. The back of my dobok was absolutely soaked. When all the
Candidates had their turn sparring, we lined up for one-steps where we
needed to demonstrate all the one-steps from every belt level we’d
passed so far. It was at this point I found my second wind and felt the
power in my legs come back. Subsequently, this helped my memory a lot
and I performed all of my one-steps at full power. Following one steps
was 100 horse stance punches into a focus pad which - after regaining
feeling in our legs – was probably designed to take it out of our arms!
The last section was breaking and when my turn came; my instructor had 3
boards in a stack set up on concrete placeholders. I’d gone through 2
boards before so I focused on going through to the floor and took
several deep breathes before I made my first attempt. As I began my
attempt, everything my instructor said about that break flashed through
my mind and my hand went straight through!! My momentum was so quick –
in fact – I almost tipped over the bricks. My other breaks were a back
kick and a jumping front kick, but the 3 board break is something I’ll
never forget! From there, we had to recite the school rules, membership
oath, and the definition of tae kwon do from memory and then it was time
for the belt presentation.
***
At our dojang, our instructor always asks
the black belts in attendance to indicate by applause if the individual
Candidates are worthy of joining their ranks. He asked about me first
and – despite their continued friendship and support – I closed my eyes
and prayed that at least one person would clap. When they all did, I
dropped my head and had to bite my lip to keep from crying. When my
instructor called my name to receive my belt, it was almost like a
dream! As he tied it around my waist, all I could do was stare at it and
when he reached out his hand to shake mine – he smiled and winked and I
knew I had made it. By tradition, every black belt test concludes with
50 knuckle pushups and I’ve never felt happier doing pushups!! Never
before in my life had I felt more sweaty, exhausted, and proud. I had
absolutely left it all on the mat and although Black Belt is considered
the “beginning” of serious study, the end of my first phase is a day
I’ll never forget!! And the journey continues…… "
Kris Selting - 1st Degree Black Belt - KOR-AM TKD - Minnesota USA
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