Are You Still a Black Belt?

Recently, my wife and I had a discussion about black belt status which came down to one question, "Are you still a black belt?"

I've decided that to answer that question, (the answer will be different for every person) one must define what it means to still be a black belt.

If earning a black belt, and being a black belt means that once upon a time in my life I met all the requirements to pass my black belt test. Then anyone who ever passed that test is still a black belt. That is kind of like being a high school graduate. Even if you've forgotten the quadratic equation and the location of the first battle in the civil war, they don't take away your high school diploma.

Personally, and this only counts for me, still being a black belt means that today, I could still pass the test I took to get mine, it means that not only have I maintained my knowledge and abilities, I have increased them. For me, to keep calling myself a black belt, I have to earn it every day.

MMA, RBSD, TMA What's the Answer?

So if you ask most of the Mixed Martial Arts guys they will say that Traditional Martial Artists spend too much time on technique and not enough time fighting, and Reality Based Self Defense guys spend not enough time on technique and fitness with too much emphasis on adrenal response.

If you ask the Reality Based Self Defense guys, they will say the Traditional Martial Artists and the MMA guys spend too much time in controlled scenarios and not enough time with adrenal response.

If you ask the Traditional Martial Artists they will say that the MMA guys are too focused on sport, and the RBSD guys don't spend enough time practicing the basics and building new techniques.

So who has it right? Who has the answer for how to learn to make martial arts real, viable self defense techniques.

I think they all do. I think that, like the 5 blind men who argued over what an elephant is like, they each have a piece of the puzzle.

If you spend all your time on technique in a sterilized situation with a compliant partner you miss a piece of the puzzle.

If you spend all your time sparring within the confines of the rules of a sport, you miss a piece of the puzzle.

If you only do an intensive two day course and never train again, you miss a piece of the puzzle.

While I'm at it, if you don't work to improve your relationship with the world around you, or your leadership skills, or acts of kindness. . . you miss a piece of the puzzle.

Honor Thy Body

Your body, that thing you move around in. That collection of bone and muscle and organs and sinews that contains you. How important is it to you.

I believe that we are all here for a reason, that we have something to do here, a job or a mission or whatever you want to call it.

I also believe that part of that mission is to honor our bodies. Our bodies are the vehicles that allow us to do whatever it is we are meant to do.

Imagine if you gave someone the gift of a classic car, or a new car, or whatever kind of car you like and they absolutely trashed it. They never changed the oil, they left cigarette burns in the upholstery, never changed the air filter. They decided to see what would happen if they put sugar water in the gas tank.

The car would be ruined they wouldn't be able to travel in it, and neither would anyone else. They would have destroyed a very useful machine and would be in need of a replacement.

We have each been given one body, one vehicle to get through life in. It is a wonderful gift, and we should honor that gift. We should avoid filling it with empty calories, we should avoid cigarettes and other drugs that will destroy our bodies, we should eat our veggies, we should exercise.

My body is important, is sacred. I need it to get through my life. I am certain my daughter would like me to make it last as long as I can.