"When I began training I was too negative to maintain a normal healthy friendship. I had very little patience for my peers who couldn't understand what I felt were simple pieces.
"I also brought hostile energy to the training floor and the more advanced students knew it.
"People are complicated creatures. On one hand they are capable of the greatest acts of creation and on the other hand, they are capable of the greatest acts of destruction. It is a constant battle between the better angel and worst demons that live in all of us.
"Sometimes the only way to tame the darkness inside of us to shine the light of compassion on others.
"What does it mean to me to be a black belt?:
- To know that life is not a death sentence.
- To have the vision that no one sees.
- To lose words like doom and hopelessness.
- To know that there are always more than two choices available.
- To know true friendship.
- To know the difference between battles and wars.
- To know when and why to fight.
- To know a hero is.
- to know what true strength and courage is.
- to know my life has value.
"I hear people talk about how this art can save your life by testing how you deal with physical situations. When I joined this art, I could already fight. This art may have saved me by teaching me how to fight my inner demons. To me being a black belt is about dreaming again and knowing the future is what I make of it."
-M.P. (Adult Black Belt Recipient)
