As a dedicated student of the martial arts...

Saturday was a very good day for me.
I ran with KMA people for the first time. I took my regular 9am class, at the end of which, I was invited to test for my orange belt on August 1st. I was flying high for hours!

I started taking classes in October of 2011. It was a month after we enrolled our oldest son in classes. They offered a month of free classes to family members of students and I jumped at the opportunity. 

From the very first time I entered the dojeng, I was made to feel welcome. Students and teachers alike were genuinely warm and kind. I felt an immediate sense of community. My beliefs align with their principles and I found a new home.

When I started, I mentally prepared for it to be for the month. We couldn't afford two tuitions. (For the October special, they even provided me with the uniform for free.) Come November, I had to let it go. I missed it. 

I loved the structure, the similarities to yoga, the power, the conditioning, the feeling of community, the ability to see my progress. I love the instructors, the positive philosophy, the feeling of community.

In January they offered a "90 Day Fitness Challenge." It was a discounted rate for a 3 month membership, essentially. Aaron made it my Hannukah gift. 

When I started again in January, I still had a short-term mindset. Our financial situation hadn't improved and I couldn't imagine how we'd be able to afford two regular tuitions indefinitely. When they talked about black belts I imagined they were talking about other people. When I repeated the philosophy at the end of class, I didn't really absorb the meaning. I let them be just words:

As a dedicated student of the martial arts
I shall live by
the principles of black belt:
Modesty
Courtesy
Integrity
Perseverance
Self-Control
Indomitable Spirit

At some point during that 90 days I fell in love. I did not want it to come to an end. It occurred to me that I could earn a black belt. Suddenly it became a goal that I could achieve. Without looking, I had wandered onto the black belt path.

I didn't know how we could afford it, but I also had the realization that I didn't have to have a solution to the tuition problem. I didn't have to figure out the "how." But in making an honest effort toward my goal, I approached them about a work-trade agreement.

Ma'am Laura, a co-owner, was open to talking to me about it. First she suggested I talk to her later about it. Then she suggested I continue to come to class but that she'd talk to me when she returned after a week away. At that time she asked me what I had in mind. I told her I could help mostly in the evenings when I'd have childcare coverage. I offered to help clean, to make phone calls, to do computer work. I was open to anything. She said she'd give it some thought, and I was to keep coming to class. Eventually I realized, without any formal agreement, she was allowing me to continue to come for free. Neither she nor Master Turnhout have asked anything but dedication from me. 

I feel like I've been given one of the most precious gifts I've ever received. And in return I have renewed my effort, my focus, my dedication.
Now when I say the philosophy at the end of class, I own the words. I think about what they mean for me. I think about them outside of class. I am internalizing them as I jab, front kick and extreme combo my way to a black belt.

Testing for yellow belt, April 2012.