Epicurus was right!
A split lip, loud ringing in the ears, seeing double for a while, some very sore ribs and a wonderful sense of achievement… all the ingredients of a successful grading!
It would seem I was a little premature in my moping last week and needn’t have worried quite as much as I did. Yep, this does mean that I have actually completed at least one of my new years resolutions and graded two belts this year!
It probably seems a strange state of affairs, especially when seen by those who don’t do martial arts, that progress and a sense of achievement is only gained after a beating.. and let’s be clear, I was battered senseless last night, but it’s the way in which you pick yourself up and keep going forward that differentiates between a white belt and a black belt. Or at least that’s what Sensei says as he delivers another blow!
The other differentiator is having a group of friends behind you, cheering you on, and picking you up when you do hit a low point. Special thanks to Libby, Sarah and Ed, who always seem to make that little extra effort to gee you up and tell you, when required, to stop being an arse (not that Libby would ever use the “a” word… Sarah on the other hand would probably use something stronger and involve a back-fist to the stomach somewhere in the conversation… but you get the picture).
As Epicurus once noted;
“It is not so much our friends’ help that helps us as the confident knowledge that they will help us.”