THE JUMPING-OFF POINT

 by Phillip Starr

Back when I was a young karateka (karate student), the last three kyu grades (kyu is a grade below black belt) of brown belt, sankyu, nikyu, and especially ikkyu, were known in Japanese karate as “the jumping-off point.” That is, most brown belts would give up for one reason or another and never make it to shodan (first grade of black belt). I think many of them figured they knew their stuff well enough by that time and there was no need to continue with the rugged, disciplined training.

Times have changed. It seems that nowadays, shodan has become the new “jumping-off” point. Many students throw in the towel after reaching this grade, the coveted “black belt.” In the West it is held in much higher esteem than in the East, however. We tend to regard a “black belt” as an expert (which, as Walt Whitman so aptly described the term, is “anyone who can spit over a boxcar.”). In the East, it is regarded as an important step in one's progress, but little more. It means that you have learned the basics and can perform them with a reasonable measure of skill. Nothing more than that. It's akin to graduating from high school. You have developed some basic skills but you're a far cry from going into a professional field.

At the stage of shodan, you're now ready to learn the REAL thing. You have enough of an understanding about your chosen art that you can begin to wrap your head around more advanced concepts AND your body has been trained and disciplined so that you can perform and implement them. Prior to this, it would have been like trying to explain trigonometry to a sixth grade student and asking him to solve a series of rather complex problems.

For every ten shodans, only two or three will go on to the next grade (and the percentages get smaller as you continue to move forward). I want to encourage you to keep moving forward along the martial path. NEVER give up! Stay the course and don't jump off!