Of Strikes and Belts

Last week, I passed a belt test to get my brand new green sash in Fang Shen Do Kung-Fu. I am proud to say that it went very well and I can see the progress I made from the last time.

Progress is an amazing feeling, and testing your abilities and skills is one of the best ways I know of to measure personal progress. In this regard, Martial Arts have been of tremendous help and have ever been my guide.

Just so you get an idea where I stand, my martial arts experience starts from way back into my (chubby) kid days doing some months of Shotokan Karate with my father, and Yoseikan Karate later with some years in between. I only made it to yellow belt in the latter, but I already knew in my heart that I loved martial arts. Because of that, a couple of years later (in my teens) I started Shorin-Ryu, also known as Karaté Sportif around the Laval area (Quebec, Canada).

I managed to stay 2 years there, started becoming quite at ease with martial arts drills and made it to my green belt. The tests in this school weren’t all that hard, but we did get evaluated and I always tried my best and put all the effort I could.

Shaolin Seminar

Then I moved to Quebec City, which made me drop Shorin-Ryu. Two years passed, and I realized I desperately CRAVED doing martial arts again. So I found another school, the Studios-Unis, which teaches Nick Cerio‘s Kenpo. This is where my martial life started getting serious.

The belt tests are what blew my face away. I will always remember my first test there, to get my yellow belt. I couldn’t make it to the group test, so I had to face my instructor alone. Oh, and I was *starting* to get in shape back then, but had a huge way to go. So this instructor started my test and made me live THE FRIGGIN’ LONGEST 45 MINUTES MY LIFE HAS EVER HAD. “Wait, wasn’t that 3 hours or something?”. It was one of my most intensely challenging moments, both physically and psychologically.

But when the instructor put the belt in my hands… I was the happiest, albeit most wasted man in the world. I had gone through. I had passed the hardest physical moment of my life, and was still living to tell the tale. This belt I was being handed was the token, the symbol of what I had gone through.

Despite the scratches, the pain and going through hell hours at a time, I nevertheless became addicted to getting tested. The accomplishment I felt overwhelmed everything else. Each time, I saw progress. I used the difficulty of these tests as a motivator to train hard, and make sure as heck I wouldn’t screw up. As a result my technique,  fitness, confidence… they all went up, and I never stopped improving.

Fast forward almost two years from now, I faced the first true long-term goal almost any martial artist lusts for: The Black Belt. I passed with definite success, and was filled with pride.

I had just set the first true milestone to my martial path.

“Wait, what?” – Despite what many think, the black belt is never the end goal. It is a crossroads and where the journey actually begins, because you know where you’re headed. You’re either stopping (for any reason), or actually never will; in the latter scenario, Martial Arts has become a true part of your life.

This is nicely poetic and all, but reality still kicks in and I had this crazy project of going back to school, and had to move back in Montreal in order to do it. No Studios-Unis there, and no Kenpo style nearly resembling Cerio’s. I was in for quite a search.

When I found out about Fang Shen Do, however, I felt I was onto something. I had an intention to try out many schools before locking down my choice, but only one try at this one was all the arguments I needed to sign in. Lots to learn, many fun drills, admirable focus on both physical training and stretching, and even breathing and meditation. I was hooked.

However, I still had to fall back as a complete beginner (not even white belt!) when I started. This was a completely different system, and all the Nick Cerio’s knowledge in the world couldn’t make me an instant black belt everywhere else.

Chi Sao Seminar

No matter; my cup is empty. So long as I’m learning, I don’t actually care what color my belt is. Rather, I’m willing to learn, build my way back up AGAIN and prove I’m worthy to wear a black sash as a Fang Shen Do practitioner.

The actual tests are of course very different. Still quite challenging, but not in the same all-out physical, no-gas-left-in-the-tank fashion. Well, not yet anyway. And it doesn’t matter as much, because the classes alone leave no gas in the tank. Oh, and I heard that the deal changes when it gets to tests for brown and up.

We shall see. And I definitely intend to find out next Fall. This is the goal I set for myself, and I’ll work all the way through to make it happen.

What about you? How do you measure progress in areas of your life?

Stay strong!

Mathieu