KJ Kastelle wrote:
Over the last 25 years I have had the privilege to have instructed
Men, Women, and Children to the Black Belt level. When it came to
that BIG DAY most of them were able to perform at a level exceeding
their own expectations. Each time Grand Master Lee awards a Black
Belt to one of my students it is a very special moment for me. What
they don't know is that I personally keep all their Black Belt
philosophy papers. What we (the Black Belt candidate and I) have
done together, how they have grown, and how they intend to be a Black
Belt is the content of those reports.
Just before each Black Belt exam I take out some of the philosophy
papers my students have written.
Below are 2 a quotes:

"Not only do I want to continue to improve and develop my twchniques,
I want to help others in their training."
" I used to think of "black belt as a destination but I learned that
instead it is the beginning of a journey."

Give your papers some thought and keep this in mind:

Your Black Belt status can become the primary focus of your life, in
which nearly everything you do revolves around that. You could be a
serious competitor, or a teacher, or even enter martial arts as a
full time career.
Or, your Black Belt can become auxiliary, in which you take
your profession, position in school or university, your job or
career, and augment it by the things you are learning and by enjoying
the health benefits, mental training, confidence and focus that
TaeKwonDo helps you achieve.
Or, sadly, your Black Belt can become a marker. Something
you can hang on the wall or brag about sometime over an adult
beverage with someone you are trying to impress.
Whatever you choose, this becomes your vision of what Black
Belt means to you and it will become the limits (or lack of limits)
that your Black Belt gives back.
In preparing for your Black Belt I would like you make some real
decisions. Here are some decisions I suggest you make.
1) You will not fail in this attempt (perseverance.) Make a firm
commitment to see it through. Everybody has life issues that change
our course from time to time. These should be seen as a bend in the
river, not a dam.
2) You will not go about your preparation in a careless fashion
(dignity.) If it is worth doing then it is worth doing right. Not
caring about your self-image means you lack a value called dignity.
Be diligent, work hard, listen to your instructor(s), and don't let
frustration, fear of failure or fatigue stop you from what you have
set out to do. You don't need perfection because it doesn't exist.
You need attention to detail and the determination to do it right.
3) You will achieve and pass limits beyond anything in your past
(pride in yourself.) You will really know you have accomplished
something. Not many of the people in your neighborhood have seen the
top of that mountain. But remember you need to climb down to get to
the next one. Don't let your ego cause you to fall off, rather than
climb down, your mountain.
4) You will represent the World TaeKwonDo Academy, TaeKwonDo and
yourself properly (honor.) Everybody has different ideas about what
is honorable and what is not in the martial arts, and probably most
other things in life. But here is one thing I never had any problem
understanding. It has always been clear to me which men or women in
the martial arts I could trust. And which ones I had to watch out
for. You only have one lifetime as a Black Belt to be known as a
honorable Black Belt. You will certainly make mistakes on the way,
but everyone knows the difference between a mistake and a lifestyle.

5) And for my students one final thought. I'll keep your Black Belt
paper forever.
KJ KASTELLE