What Happens After Black Belt?

Earning your black belt is a lofty goal, I won’t deny it. But many people assume once you reach black belt you’ve crossed the finish line and the race is over, when actually the race has just begun.

Black Belt is Only the Beginning

Becoming a black belt is just the beginning of a life-long relationship with martial arts. From a physical standpoint, continuous training provides a healthy and fit body. Mentally your mind stays sharp, relaxed, and stress- free. Not to mention the self-defense. These are all things we need for a happy and successful life.

It saddens me to see a black belt quit their training.

Tae Kwon-Do will be something you’ll use and benefit from the rest of you life. It will be a part of you no matter what you end up doing.

Statistically, when a black belt takes 3 months or more off, they will rarely make a comeback. I have had numerous black belts in my school who have taken 3 or more months off, and only a handful have made it to the next black belt level.

There are too many things we take for granted, such as the physical strength conditioning and stretching of your muscles. You might be extremely active and fit after quitting Tae Kwon-Do, but without your training your body won’t bounce back. It’s brutal. Painfully difficult and mentally challenging.

So we educate our students that black belt isn’t the end, it’s the beginning.

I compare it to becoming a doctor. The color belts represent medical school. This is the initial training, the building of knowledge and techniques.

After medical school, CONGRATULATIONS!, you’re a doctor, or a black belt in this analogy. This isn’t the end, it’s just the beginning.

A doctor now enters residency where she applies her knowledge and perfects her skills in order to go out into the world and practice medicine. This is the same for black belts as they earn their degrees throughout their life. The physician benefits from her career in medicine just as you’ll reap the physical and mental rewards Tae Kwon-Do gives you.

The black belt is just the beginning of another martial art life.