Training: The Importance of Beginning

Many of us, especially those in the martial arts, have heard the phrase "Empty your cup so that it may be filled." The film industry illustrates this phrase in many ways. In the movie "Forbidden Kingdom," martial artist and actor Jackie Chan plays character Lu Yan, a master who attempts to instruct an overzealous student about this principal. There is humor in this scene, as well as a double lesson, since the attentive student gazes at his cup and then throws out the tea poured into it and the master states, "Hopeless. It is hopeless." In my mind, this illustrates how the master also needs to learn to empty their cup when it comes to students and teaching. Each student is a new "cup" by which the master learns about themself and others. No opportunity to teach is ever hopeless. It is simply an open door to learning a fresh approach to help others.

My late husband introduced me to the book, "Illusions" by Richard Bach and a phrase in it used to confuse me. It read, "We teach best what we most need to learn." Over the years, I've thought about that phrase as I taught martial artists, or instructed nurses, physicians and writers on topics that I am very familiar with. Eventually, I realized that whenever I prepare to teach, I take extra time to read and practice on those topics before I teach them. This is crucial because I feel all students are important and deserve the best information from me that I have to offer. Still, during lessons, students often provide me with a unique perspective or insight, or they challenge information I present, and I am then compelled to return to the basics to review and relearn what I thought I knew.

In martial arts, just like in life, it is easy to accept a level of attainment and feel comfortable in that level or rank you've reached. Whether it is earning a black belt in a martial art, or a accepting a new promotion as a manager or director, the achievement provides a certain level of gratification because we know we worked hard to earn that position of expertise.

What is much more difficult is to let go of that attainment and start from the beginning again. For example, I've seen experienced martial artists decide to learn a new martial art, and they enter the dojo ready to share their experience with the instructor and others rather than "empty their cup" and simply listen, practice and train from the beginning. For many, it is difficult to take off the black belt and put on a white one. After all, they've gone from a well respected position at the top of their art to the bottom rung of the ladder which signifies that they are beginners again. Those students who are not ready to embrace the empty cup or beginner's mind (Shoshin) often become frustrated and leave the new dojo to return to where they feel comfortable and respected for their rank.

After my husband died in 2021, I returned to the martial arts with the gentle nudge of a dear friend who sent me a pair of boxing gloves. There was not a dojo nearby that offered the style of martial art that I'd achieved a fourth degree black belt in (Shorin-Ken). What was available in my local area was a martial arts studio (Lake Montecello Karate Academy) that offered Shotokan karate training. After meeting the chief instructor (Shihan Rob Silverman), I decided that this dojo would be a very good place to start my training, and so I put on my white belt ready to begin again. Shotokan, while similar to Shorin-Ken, is also very different in many ways, and the instructor was (and still is) very precise and utilizes the science of karate when executing motions and training them. He introduced me to the book, "Parting the Clouds: The Science of Martial Arts," which opened a new door of understanding for me regarding the physiology and physics of karate.

I struggled over the course of three years to consistently empty my cup at this dojo, and I watched as other students were promoted to higher ranks while I retained my white belt. With every class, especially as an older student (now at the age of 62) I learned more, but had difficulties with my body aches/pains as well as my memory which suffered from past life-altering traumas. Gradually, I began to notice how my memory improved, and I discovered how to deal with the aches/pains of aging while practicing my martial arts. My physical and emotional balance progressed as well, and thanks to the expert guidance of my instructor and my diligence in training, my karate practice and technique excelled beyond what I'd ever experienced before. Last month, after years of hard practice, I attained my 1st degree black belt (Shodan) in Shotokan karate.

The test for this rank began at 11:00 AM and ended close to 4:00 PM (16:00). It was a serious task that required every bit of energy, focus and stamina I had to complete. I tested for Shodan while fellow friends and sempai tested for their Nidan and Sandan belt levels, and at the same time other adults and youths tested for their new color belt ranks. There were physical drills outdoors as well as indoors. All required katas for the rank had to be executed correctly, and then when we were all near exhaustion, we sparred according to the level of our expected skill and completed self defense tests that required a "never give up" attitude. By the time the test came to an end, there was no doubt that if you passed the test, you'd earned it. I am extremely grateful to my instructor and sempai, as well as the junior belts who helped me along the way, and now I set my sights on the next mountain to climb in Shotokan, while consistently working toward better technique and focus.

While I was training in Shotokan, I had the opportunity to connect with senior students and those I'd trained with in Japanese Shorin-Ken at Old Dominion University (ODU) under Tesshin Sensei Hamada. I'd started in this martial art in 1988 and continued regularly until 2005, attaining my 4th degree (Yondan) while in Kyoto, Japan in 2002. Although I'd maintained my membership with the parent organization, Dai Nipppon Butoku-Kai, my martial arts practice later faded under my military obligations, work at the Pentagon and deployments to Afghanistan. Reconnecting with this style of martial arts once more, along with meeting former friends again, was both a pleasure and a sincere discomfort. I'd been away from this style of training for many years and I had to refresh my mind and body concerning the techniques, katas, and karate drills as well as learn new katas, weapons practice and more.

This process was extremely humbling and I struggled with my identity, my diminished skill, and my emotions. I was still a 4th degree black belt (Yondan) and a Renshi in Shorin-Ken, and I was expected to know/execute the many katas and drills I'd learned in the past. Thankfully, my rediscovered friends in this martial art helped me to refresh and relearn the katas, drills and techniques I'd forgotten, and to this day I remain grateful to them all.

Close to a year after I was training in both Shotokan and Shorin-Ken, Tesshin Sensei Hamada traveled from Japan to the U.S. to hold a Kensho Kai. At this event, we not only trained and demonstrated our martial arts skills, but we honored our fellow Yudansha (black belts) who had traveled from this world to the next. My husband, Jim, was included in that dedication ceremony. This was a monumental gesture since I'd trained Jim for his Shodan test which occurred at a martial arts Gasshuku held at the Outer Banks, in North Carolina in the early 90's.

At the July 2023 Kensho-Kai event in Virginia Beach, martial artists attended from around the nation. At that time, I'd trained with two fantastic instructors, Hanshi Mike Nguyen and his wife Sempai Suzanne Nguyen at Bushin Martial Arts in Richmond (about an hour and a half from my home). Since I did not have a group to join for a dojo kata presentation, their team embraced me and we trained focusing on the kata Rohai. Working together toward group harmony was a great opportunity--and I was extremely grateful for their friendship and dojo hospitality.

During this 2023 Kensho-Kai, I was awestruck and shaken when my Sensei and fellow Yudansha presented an American flag to me in honor of my husband. It was a beautiful ceremony, and my eyes brimmed with tears as Sensei passed the folded flag into my hands. At the end of the event, I was stunned when I was promoted to 5th degree (Godan) black belt along with many others who received promotions. Imposter syndrome hit me after this. I thought, who was I to be promoted to this rank when I felt like I knew nothing? Intentional or not, that promotion only spurred me to work harder to improve my memory, practice and skill.

A year later, an opportunity presented in 2024 to start rigorous training for the April 2025 7th World Butoku-Sai held in Kyoto, Japan. Our team trained close to a year for this event, both in person and on Zoom, as we worked to perfect our katas and weapons demonstrations. When we finally arrived in Japan, the week of final preparation was an amazing, and challenging experience. Our entire group worked together as one to execute our demonstrations at the famed Butokuden in Kyoto. Our practices before the event resulted in exceptional team harmony when we performed our katas and skills.

Upon completion of our events, I was startled to receive a promotion to 6th degree black belt (Rokudan), with the additional titles of Shihan-dai, and Kyoshi. I was also promoted to Ikkyu brown belt in Iaido, which jolted me with surprise. Again, I mentally struggled with this action. I did not (and still don't) feel deserving of such honors, but again, they compel me to work harder to learn more, train better and pay attention to detail in my practice so I can continue to improve. By doing this, I can help ensure that when I train others, they receive the best that I have to give--and I must always remember that with every attainment there comes a responsibility. A responsibility to self as well as others.

This past weekend, October 24-26, the 60th Anniversary Gasshuku for DNBK Bushin Kan USA Members was held on the oceanfront--this time in Virginia Beach. At these events, there are no competitions in kata or sparring. There is simply the joy of training hard together, pushing each other to do our best, and presenting katas, drills and weapons forms in harmony as specialized groups in karate-do, aikido, jujitsu, weapons, kendo and self-defense. Many Yukyusha (those below black belt/Yudansha) also tested for their next belt rank, including the Kari-Shodans who tested for their black belts. Friday, we met, trained indoors and prepared for the next days to come. Saturday and Sunday, early in the morning, we met at 6:30 AM to train indoors before going outside to train on the beach. Each morning training session concluded with approaching the ocean together, punching air and sand, performing more drills, and finally sitting seiza on the salty water shore. There, we linked arms as the bracing ocean waves baptized us with her powerful energy under the rays of the red rising sun.

There is no other experience that comes close to this--none that I can compare it to. The sisterhood/brotherhood bond that develops within the warrior mind, the sharing of energy without ego, the harmony and united struggle--all culminating in the beauty of nature and human spirit--it is truly priceless.

In my martial arts journey, I've also been exposed to Gracie Jui Jitsu and Kali stick fighting, and I attend classes in Charlottesville when I can. This is another time that I don a white belt and work to empty my cup for these martial arts. While I am determined never to forget what I have learned, when I enter the dojo, no matter what style or instructor, I realize I must enter it without preconceptions. My cup needs to start empty with each lesson and my mind must be ready to focus and learn. This is not easy--and sometimes I fail. But as the Japanese saying goes, "Fall down seven times, get up eight," and that's exactly what I work toward each and every day. It's worth it, spending the time and effort to consistently drive toward self-improvement and bringing the body, mind and spirit together to work in harmony.

There are those who are critical of studying various martial arts simultaneously, preferring the pursuit of excellence in their chosen style. For those practitioners, I think that's admirable and I have respect for their skill and expertise. But for me, at the age of 62, I'm enjoying learning all that I can for the time that I have left on this earth. There's a saying that goes, "No man can serve two masters." There are some who apply this to martial arts or other skills, or to a certain instructor, believing a person should stick to one practice and and one instructor, and be faithful to that single endeavor.

When delving deeper, I've found that this phrase really applies to two opposing practices or forces when mentioning two masters, and I feel that all martial arts complement each other in a number of ways rather than oppose each other. Considering this, no one martial art or instructor is my sole training or life master, though I may always be the student of the instructors I learn from. Instead of thinking of a 'master' as a person or practice, I see the master as a path, and I've decided to choose my own path and take responsibility for it. I see "time joined with fear" as the opposing factor that some people often unwittingly serve. Understanding it in this way, I know I can either choose to serve the master within myself who desires to learn and teach until my very last breath, or I can serve "time"--that dreadful ticking clock--living in fear of it and hoping to leave a legacy of my art behind me after I die.

It's not surprising that after pondering this, I must declare that I choose to serve the master within myself and embrace the art of learning and practice in all the martial arts opportunities that come my way. As William Ernest Henley stated in his famous poem Invictus: "I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul."

It is my sincere hope that each and every one of you finds the path that drives you forward. Dream big and then continue on to follow those dreams to someday achieve what it is that you desire. And dreams change. That's okay too. Just take a moment, inhale, exhale and focus--then be true to yourself every step of the way.