Before class you put on your uniform. You change your clothes and your mindset as you mentally prepare yourself for the intense workout and learning to come. As you wrap your sash around your waist you see the color of your progression, you see what you've earned through years of training. In knotting the sash, you wrap up your final thoughts before stepping out onto the mat, without the stress or worries of the day so far, or the events yet to come. You only have one thing on your mind and that is personal development. Learning more, punching harder, kicking higher, doing one more push up than last time... Getting physically and mentally stronger.
But class ends, and you change back into your regular clothes.... and often times, your regular mindset. Once you step out that door, personal development loses priority and you get back to the daily grind. As martial artists we need to realize that the sash itself is only a physical representation of our determination. We don't take off our hours of training, blood, sweat and tears with our sash. Our achievements stay with us, all day, everyday. When we step out that door, we are martial artists, uniform or not. We need to take on our daily challenges with the same effort and determination that we would in the studio. We need to continue to display values and respect for one another, just like how we treat our fellow students and instructors. We need to seek out ways to help rather than criticize. We are all martial artists, at all ranks, all the time.
Don't forget who you are, and how you hard worked to get there!
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