Black Belt Prestige - You can still do that which you do, because you do it.

You can still do that which you do, because you do it.

This is one of my not so famous sayings. I can still punch and kick because I punch and kick every day. I am fit and trim because I work at being fit and trim every day. If a black belt does not care enough about his or her black belt status to stay fit and trim and performing at a level greater than do non black belts of the same age, then the prestige of the person’s black belt will drop and the prestige of all black belts in general will suffer.

Sometimes black belts cannot do, but they talk of when they once could. However, the reason they cannot do may be because they never could.

Once you cannot maintain the standards of a black belt, do not appear in public as a black belt. I am a retired U. S. Navy master chief and as such, I am still permitted to the wear the uniform at special occasions, which I did for years. However, now, while I am still fit and trim, when I wear the uniform I look like an old man who is trying to relive the past, so I do not wear it. I still retain the rank of master chief petty officer but I do not pretend that I am still a master chief petty officer. I am a black belt and at age 60 can still perform as a black belt, equal to if not better than much younger black belts, so I still wear a black belt. However, I no longer test for rank. If I did, I would probably be promoted, but I would not be judged as a younger person, I would be judged as a senior citizen, so the rank would mean less to me.

The Rolling Stones are old, but they still perform as well as they ever did, so they keep making music and people still pay to see and hear them. When people start to say, “I can remember when they were good” it is time, actually past time, for the Stones to hang it up. I am old-ish but I still wear a black belt because people still say, "He is good." When people start to say, “I can remember when he were good” it is time for me to just teach and not perform.