Essay By: Katherine

[katherine Dickhaus]

By Katherine

Some of my goals upon having reached black belt for my future training and learning are to have realized that you don’t become a black belt when the masters tie your belt on, you become a black belt when you have learned to respect and to honor others and yourself. As for my training when I know I have a higher belt on I know that I am expected to be more respectful and to work harder on my forms and kicks.

I will be the kind of black belt that shows respect to everyone because when I first started I was told to respect elders and the higher belts. Although when I became a higher belt I realized that they had never told me to respect the younger kids, but then I learned that to respect is to respect everything not just one thing

I would like to highly recommend that Katherine Dickhaus be given the opportunity to test for her Deputy Black Belt. Katherine began the journey towards this accomplishment the summer prior to turning six years old. At that time her interest in karate was merely a reflection of a goal in my mind’s eye of my child learning to be more respectful, gain a stronger sense of confidence and ability to protect herself, if God forbid she ever found herself in a situation where this skill was needed.

As years passed her desire to continue would at time wax and wane as my goal for her developed into goals for herself. She has learned through this experience that she can master a technique and feel strong and confident as a result. She has also learned the importance of being still. Eyes that initially peeked and a body that shifted during meditation, now is calm. She has learned patience needed when mentoring a younger child and found that she enjoys teaching. She has learned that developing a skill is not about working towards being better than someone else, but about challenging yourself to improve. She has come to this place in her yet young life because my goal for her 6 years ago has transitioned to one she now owns. I believe she recognizes that this long journey and development of self will not end on 7/29/2010; it simply means the foundation is complete. I am very proud of her.