2023-12-04

Teaching my regular classes at the Ross Farnsworth - East Valley YMCA.

It’s December already! Rank exams are coming up for my students: The 13th for youth and the 18th for the adult class. Most students I consider eligible to test by virtue of attendance appear also be ready to test, so that’s good. The rest is up to them.

I had a lesson in humility this evening, when I realized that my black belt hadn’t made it back into my bag over the weekend. Ordinarily it never leaves my bag, but something was different this weekend - I don’t recall what. Regardless, it wasn’t there, so I grabbed the white belt I use for Aikido (which was in my bag) and wore that while teaching the first class. Sure, we all had a laugh about how “Sensei is a white belt tonight”, but it made for a good teaching point: Your belt isn’t important. Your skills are. I still move just as fast, punch just as hard, etc., whether I’m wearing a black belt or a white belt. Furthermore, if I had to choose between having skills and no belt, or a belt and no skills, that’s no contest. I’ll take the skills every time.