Once a student shows the potential to become a Bushi Ban Black Belt and has completed the required curriculum, they are selected by their instructors and will receive an invitation to attend the annual Black Belt Testing Program. These students, from youth to adult, are gathered for the Black Belt Orientation where they receive their Black Belt itineraries for the upcoming year. Bushi Ban Masters and Senior Masters go over the Black Belt Booklet with the prospective Bushi Ban Black Belt Candidates. It is then that they begin the process of proving themselves worthy of becoming a Bushi Ban Black Belt.
A four-test process awaits each student as they must summon all the knowledge and skills they have learned from their first day they began their Martial Arts education. Students are tested to the best of their abilities through each testing phase. They must display the technique, discipline, and indomitable spirit it takes to achieve Bushi Ban Black Belt Excellence. It is a dream of many and reality of few but with the proper attitude, dedication, determination, and persistence they can achieve this great honor.
Very few make it to the testing process because the journey can be painstakingly challenging. The doors of the dojo are always open to all who wish to participate in Martial Arts training. However, Bushi Ban Black Belt Excellence is only attainable for the few who truly immerse themselves in the journey. Students selected for the Black Belt testing process are the students we believe have done just that. It is their responsibility, however, to prove themselves through each of the testing phases.
We honor their dedication with the opportunity to become a Bushi Ban Black Belt. The test has just begun but the journey to excellence lasts a lifetime. We congratulate all who receive their invitations for testing as it is well earned, and we look forward to seeing everyone tying a Bushi Ban Black Belt around their waist for many years to come!
Why did you decide to become a Martial Artist? The truth is that you will not find the answer until you have reached your final destination. The destination, however, should not be confused with the journey. Though your journey to becoming a Black Belt is almost complete and you may tie a Black Belt around your waist, the foundation must not be put to waste! When you began the physical journey of working to become a Black Belt, you began to acquire tools and knowledge to build this foundation. It was your hard work and diligence that has laid before you this grand opportunity to become a Bushi Ban Black Belt. Now that you have these tools, knowledge, and the foundation needed to become a Bushi Ban Black Belt, the true journey to excellence begins with the journey within. It is the journey to apply all the skills you have learned in your everyday life.
So now we’ve laid down the foundation with our tools and knowledge and have built what we believe to be this wonderful foundation, our dream house so to speak. Would you build such a fine house and not live in it? If not lived in and maintained would the house not fall apart? Granted, it may not fall apart right away. The grass will grow around the beautiful porch, trees will go untrimmed, vines will stretch around the house, and other unproductive things will creep in and the house will begin the process of becoming nothing like what we had built it to be in the first place. This can also happen to your house of Martial Arts. If left unmaintained, uncared for and neglected it will become nothing like what you had built it to be.
Becoming a Black Belt is not a milestone, it is a steppingstone, and this is where the pursuit to achieving Black Belt Excellence exists. Now we look to our knowledge and skills, not just physically, but mentally and spiritually. We have displayed and used the Nine Principles of Black Belt Excellence when earning our Black Belt and Achieving this goal. The new challenge is to live the Nine Principles of Honor, Honesty, Integrity, Loyalty, Dedication , Perseverance, Courtesy Respect, and Indomitable Spirit in our everyday lives. We need to display these principles of Black Belt Excellence in our lives to grow in our understanding of what it means to be a Bushi Ban Black Belt. Through this only, we can grow in our effectiveness as a positive contributor to the world around us as a Bushi Ban Black Belt. This is something that should be cherished and carried out with honor.
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