My First Karate Practice as a Black Belt

Found out over the weekend that we had passed.  Everyone going for shodan (1st degree black belt) had passed.  Sweet.

Technically, I’m not a black belt until the ceremony in mid-Jan when we have our belts and certificates handed to us.  However, last night when I got to practice, several of the guys made it a big deal to bow to me (as it is customary to bow to any black belts in the class when you’re a lower rank).  It was pretty cool.  Now, I get to look forward to perfecting what I already know and to help the lower ranks (like those guys from last night who are going for black next year) get ready for their Shodan exam.  And yes, we’re going to start training them early, very, very early for this exam.