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Excruciating Pain Yields Unparalleled Glory | |
| "In the mirror, I see only myself. On my face, I see sweat dripping all over. In my mind I see what needs to be done and how. I hear a gentle voice behind me say, "Are you ready?" I give a zealous "Yes, sir!" in response. I turn around, and see twenty-one black belts in front of me knowing that one will soon be mine. My instructor looks up at me and says, " You can do this, you have been ready all your life." At this instant, I realized that getting my black belt would be the most physically and mentally demanding event of my life Sound falls away as I nod my head, and all that is left is my heartbeat and the silence. I stand in the center of the room alone looking at my father, brother, sister, instructor and seventeen other black belts. Their eyes fixed on me, analyzing at every move I make, trying to find any mistake in my form. The exhaustion I felt at the half-way-point of my Katas (a sequence of strikes and blocks simulation fighting multiple attackers) was incomparable to any I have ever felt in my life. Difficult does not begin to describe what this was. I had to show power, immaculate stances and perfect foot placement, without making a single mistake. After surviving this with no mistakes, I had to fight the black belts that were willing to initiate me. I was exhausted from the Katas and could barely breathe. During my five-minute break I geared up and prepared to fight. I was just thinking survival. I stood in the center of the ring, and looked at my opponent. Her eyes blazed back as if she wanted to show me what it meant to hurt. Mr. Chapa's, My instructor, "Keeya!" begins the fight. I move around my sister avoiding, defending and attacking. She traps me in the corner and starts pummeling me. She hits me so hard in head that it bounced off the wall after every impact. Once the fight ended Mr. Chapa calls in another fighter. After the tenth fight, I thought I couldn't do it anymore. My head throbbed, the bruised ribs ached, cuts stung my face, and I couldn't breathe. I told myself, " Come on Rocky, you can do this, your halfway there." I fought new fresh fighters every time. I would fall on the floor from exhaustion, but the energetic fighters would just pick me back up and start hitting me like nothing happen. On my last fight they put my black belt on me. It felt incredible. I felt power radiationg from the belt. All the strength I thought I lost suddenly returned. My instructor and I sparred for two minutes straight. Those two minutes of pain exhaustion and intensity went in forever. Right after the fight was over, I fell to the ground and laid there for awhile in a vain attempt to regain my strength. Finally, I reach my goal after nine years. Everyone cheered, "Rocky you did it!" After I collected myself, examined all my cuts and bruises, and hydrated myself, I stood in front of all twenty-one black belts and they congratulated me. I walked down the line shaking every hand and bowing respectfully to each person. Finally I bowed, shook my instructor's hand, and he handed me my Black Belt Certificate. He said, "Come stand with the rest of us, you earned it." I joined the black belts in line and bowed them out. Now I set forth-another goal to reach in Karate. There were times when I thought about quitting, but I succeeded because I was able to block out those thoughts. I learned how to motivate and believe in myself. I learned how to be physically, mentally, and emotionally strong. I learned that you can push through even incredible pain if you want to reach your goal bad enough. I worked hard for this day, I was ready and I knew I wasn't going to fail. I learned you can never justify quitting. Getting my black belt was the most challenging event in my life that had the greatest impact on me. It gave me a better view on life and how to succeed in it. | |
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