First month as a 2nd Degree Black Belt…

I am about to reach my first full month as a 2nd Degree Black Belt, and it feels great! Although I haven’t quite gotten used to being called “I-Dan,” I do feel the difference between First and Second Degree. For starters, when I first became a Black Belt 2 and 1/2 years ago, I was so nervous in that first Black Belt class! I took my spot towards the end of the Adult Black Belts and thought “WHOA!” I was taking a class and learning the same material as 3rd and 4th Degree Black Belts, people who had been training for 10 years and more. Despite the discrepancy in experience, I found we all shared one thing in common: the desire to become better. Even those students who had been training for 15 years were still working on getting the absolute perfect sidekick, practicing all their forms and self-defenses, and striving to be the best they could. A non-Black Belt would think that once a person becomes a Black Belt, they simply are awesome and never have to work at it. Wrong! As impressive and difficult it is to achieve any rank of Black Belt, the journey does not stop there. Everyone, no matter of age or rank, still has things to perfect. Don’t be discouraged- that is the beauty of the art! Just like Master Gorino says, “all of us, regardless of rank, are in the same boat- some of us are just better at paddling.” Even now, after I have achieved Second Degree Black Belt, I am still working on my kicks and punches, self-defenses, everything I’ve learned since I first stepped though the door. Tae Kwon-Do is not something that can be conquered, but I will try my hardest! 🙂