The Circle
Posted: Sun Nov 22, 1998 7:13 pm
A student begins her training in the place of trust and innocence and wears the white belt of purity. As the teachings progress she earns her first achievement ... a yellow belt or one green stripe ... indicating the awakening or dawn of a new day. She opens her mind to the teachings and forms and begins to acquire inner strength. She becomes planted in her new learnings and becomes fertile and starts growing, hence the color of the green belt.
The next stage of development is that of battle and competition ... developing her hara and firmness of stance in Mother Earth. She acquires the brown belt as she begins to feel her spirit rise and realizes that she must learn control with the power she has acquired thus far.
As she rounds the circle to ikkyu, the next step is jumping into the black abyss of the unknown of the shodan test. It is there she faces the first enemy of fear. If she survives the test she is awarded the black belt and becomes truly teachable. At this point, she apprentices to a man or woman of knowledge and faces her next test of the enemy of clarity.
Does she know all that there is to be known? Is there more to learn? Why continue with training? She defeats the enemy of clarity when she understands that as she now reaches what may be perceived as the top of another hill, she has an opportunity to look back over what steps she's carved. Once again, she gets ready to jump into the abyss of another dan test. Afterwards, She knows that she will be confronted by another hill in which she must carve steps again ... and so the circle goes until she must face the enemy of old age and death and make it her ally.
JAO
I have just passed my Sandan test ...
The next stage of development is that of battle and competition ... developing her hara and firmness of stance in Mother Earth. She acquires the brown belt as she begins to feel her spirit rise and realizes that she must learn control with the power she has acquired thus far.
As she rounds the circle to ikkyu, the next step is jumping into the black abyss of the unknown of the shodan test. It is there she faces the first enemy of fear. If she survives the test she is awarded the black belt and becomes truly teachable. At this point, she apprentices to a man or woman of knowledge and faces her next test of the enemy of clarity.
Does she know all that there is to be known? Is there more to learn? Why continue with training? She defeats the enemy of clarity when she understands that as she now reaches what may be perceived as the top of another hill, she has an opportunity to look back over what steps she's carved. Once again, she gets ready to jump into the abyss of another dan test. Afterwards, She knows that she will be confronted by another hill in which she must carve steps again ... and so the circle goes until she must face the enemy of old age and death and make it her ally.
JAO
I have just passed my Sandan test ...