We speak a lot about the next goals – training to be a Black Belt…

… or what your next midterm or color belt is going to be but every so often it’s crucial that we take a minute and think about the real purpose. It’s NOT the belt…

For every student we, at one point (and probably more than once) talked about the Past / the Present / and the Future with you – and the instructor probably filled out a page like the one on top where we wrote in where you started and what the future would look like if you gained the skills of a 1st, 2nd, 3rd degree Black Belt…

We did this because…

When you’re in the middle of getting your “belt” or getting the next grade in school or getting your college degree, or whatever achievement, it’s easy to focus only on the process of the work (“I have to study/practice for the test”, “I have to get the project done”, etc.) and THAT is a great thing because that’s how you gain the skills or knowledge, however it’s the outcomes we want…

Discipline / Confidence / Fitness / Safety…

Even these (the most common reasons people join) are not specific enough. What does confidence mean? We want our Black Belts to be able to be confident enough to – 20 years later – do anything they want. That’s a much bigger and more significant outcome than just “confidence”. 

The challenge for all of you (and a constant challenge for us as well as instructors) is to outline the path of how these things will matter, the more specific the better. PARENTS this is even MORE important for you. Examples:

• I want my child to develop confidence and the skills so that when they are an adult they can speak in public whether or not they are afraid because I know that’s a skill they need for success in almost all highly compensated or rewarding jobs!
• I want to develop enough discipline that for the rest of my life I can maintain a fantastic time/life/work balance and accomplish all the goals I set for myself!
• I want my child to learn safety skills and personal awareness so as the world evolves into whatever way it is and as times change they are capable of physically and mentally taking care of themselves. 
• I want to currently reduce my percent body fat but more importantly along with that maintain the discipline to keep in great shape for the rest of my life, maintaining fantastic health. 

These are specific things that we know that correspond to getting your Black Belt. Just like getting a college degree in say, engineering correlates to having the skills to be an engineer.

The purpose is what ultimately matters…

So during this week celebrating the 4th of July (we get Saturday off from classes but keep practicing), remember the purpose of training for you and your family!

Sincerely,