A Certain Set of Skills

[chaosvizier]

I suppose once a year I make a post talking about my karate training, simply because it's one of the few things I do that A) I enjoy and B) I'm almost good at. This post is exceptional even among those posts, because of something that happened last weekend.

So, for some background, in case you're new here (or can't remember the last time I posted, which is completely plausible), in addition to work (a necessary evil) and consuming nutrients (in which I'm great at the consuming part, but maybe less great at the nutrients part), karate is where I spend most of my time and energy. I've been training for about 24 years straight (plus six years in high school, which gave me a start), and I've been a senior instructor in my school for nearly a decade and a half. While you should not compare me to Jet Li or Jason Statham or any other martial arts badass, I suppose I do have a lot of knowledge and experience at my disposal.

Yes, I know, background is booooring. Moving on.

In most martial arts, you train for a while and then, if you last long enough and pass all the tests, you earn a black belt. What many people don't realize is that the process does not end there. There are degrees of black belts — levels of mastery, if you will — and they require more and more effort to achieve as you move up in rank.

In 1998, I earned my first degree black belt. Last weekend I earned my sixth.

It sounds simple when I state it that way. It is not. In my mind, sixth degree (really, anything from fourth and up) was always reserved for important people, folks who had really dedicated their time and energy and lives to training, and who were good at it. I never considered myself as one of those people, even though I love it and get a lot out of it. So, when I earned fourth and fifth, I was still a bit flabbergasted, but I said "ok, that's fine, I guess I do a lot, I teach a lot, and I know a bunch of stuff, it kinda makes sense so I'll roll with it."

But sixth... that was a different level. Sixth is a master's level. I don't consider myself a master; I don't really like the term. And along with the rank comes a title, which translates into "Teacher of Teachers". I'm even less comfortable with that title. Titles give me the colliwobbles; they draw extra attention to me, and as an introvert that is most non-triumphant, as Bill and Ted might say.

Resistant and reluctant though I am, I have to face certain facts: I am a teacher of teachers. Every black belt in our school (except for the chief instructor) has only ever known me as a senior instructor. I have helped to train them and bring them up through the ranks, teaching and correcting and helping them. I have taught thousands of students of all ages. I have taught thousands of classes of all types. Only the chief instructor has more time on the floor teaching than I do. So... yes. I have to accept the fact that I have earned a new title. I might not be comfortable with it, but it is there.

Last year I was nominated for an award by the Isshinryu Hall of Fame (a national organization for our style of karate). I laughed because, really, me? Why would you do that? Then I was informed that I made the five finalists. Okay... well, we'll just pretend that there were only five nominees, so I made it by default. And then I won, and... wait, what? Do you guys even know me? This is some kind of shenaniganizing.

Of course, everyone in the school thinks this is great. Sixth degree! It's not like those are commonplace. And teacher of teachers! Neat new title! I had my old title of Junior Master since 2011. I was used to that. Now everyone is used to the new title except me. And it will be a while before I get used to it myself. 

So, the plus side to all of this is it's going to be years before my next promotion. And I'm in no rush.

Ok, long story short, for the tl;dr crowd: I'm getting recognized for my accomplishments and it gets me all wiggy because I think I suck.