This month’s Quality of a Champion is “Black Belt Excellence”.
We use the Qualities of a Champion in our classes to help students focus on specific aspects of their performance above and beyond just “learning the moves” or “knowing the kata”. Ultimately martial arts is about execution, not memorization. It’s like the old Bruce Lee quote, “I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks. I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.” Proficiency comes from doing (on the road to 10,000 reps you’re bound to remember some material). That said, the “one kick” is not the same kick repetition to repetition. Done properly, the student grows between reps! That’s where Black Belt Excellence shows up.
What is Black Belt Excellence?
The most succinct description of Black Belt Excellence I’ve heard is that Black Belt Excellence is the combination of two things: 1. The willingness to enthusiastically give your best effort and 2. a commitment to CANI (constant and never-ending improvement).
We ask students to follow the three rules of the school every time they train: 1. Be my best. 2. Have fun. 3. Improve every time. Sometimes we get stronger or faster or we focus better or we become more accurate. Investing effort and enthusiasm and remaining mindful of the commitment to improve makes practice into practicing EXCELLENCE. Excellence grows with practice just as certainly as does speed, power, or focus.
Black Belt Excellence is at once the hardest and the easiest quality of a champion. You see it in every new white belt who stares intently at the center of their first board. They pay special attention to strike with the proper part of the foot and to execute all four parts of a kick when breaking that first board! You also see it in the seasoned Black Belt who doesn’t move as quickly as he or she did 30 years ago, but who moves with more purpose and efficiency than ever.
Black Belt Excellence can be applied to almost every aspect of your life. It can be health, relationships, work, or school. It is an evergreen quality because it is only limited by the student’s willingness to invest effort and commitment to grow.
I hope this makes the idea of “excellence” more concrete. It may be easier to measure speed and accuracy, but if you watch the students closely, you can see the enthusiasm and commitment that are the tell-tale signs of Black Belt Excellence.
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