Questions and Answers

The boy seems to have decided that he really wants to earn his black belt. In order to achieve that he has to enroll in a what his school calls “Black Belt Club.” (Don’t start with the “No one talks about Black Belt Club jokes…) Aside from a means of getting a little higher tuition fee from the students, I think it’s a pre-screening method for those students whom really want to earn a black belt. To join the Club, a student has to write a letter of intent to the instructors explaining why they wish to earn a black belt.

To help the kids in writing the letter, the School provides a bunch of questions to answer. Following are the questions along with the boy’s answers (italicized). The answers are his own words.

1. Why do I want to be in the Black Belt club?

   Make me better at karate
   Learn more forms
   I want to be a black belt

2. What do I enjoy about martial arts? Where am I challenged?

   I enjoy the self-defenses and competitions/games
   I am challenged by sparring

3. What do martial arts do for my character and me?

   Helped me get better at stuff I used to not be able to do before I joined karate. I used to give up on stuff that was really hard, but now I don’t.

4. What does achieving a Black Belt mean to me?

   Means being able to protect myself, make me happy because most people don’t become Black Belts because it’s hard and it takes awhile.

5. What kind of person receives a Black Belt- in your mind- and how/why is that your goal?

   That person is willing to do extra practice
   Do his best/ try hard
   Has patience
   Helps me learn stuff so I don’t get scared or anything like that.

I had to help him understand what the questions meant, but the words above are his. The Wife will help him turn that into a letter eventually. I thought it was a pretty good effort for a 7 year old. I will say he focused more on the physical side of martial arts, as opposed to the mental aspects. In other words, his responses always started from the physical side. But I was able to make him understand that many of the question were more attuned to the mental side of the discipline.