What is your Black Belt or Instructorship worth

[SigungWhite]

I have read and surveyed numerous Black Belts on this subject on other forums. However, What is it worth your you in Time, effort, money, sacrifice, and dedicaion.

Sifu White

[blackwatch]

Happiness and satisfaction that in some way Im helping to mold students into good respectful citizens of the world.More respect of other peoples religion,culture and nationality= PEACE

[nanfeishen]

The time spent has been worth every minute, the effort required was rewarding, the money spent worth every cent, and the sacrifices were, thinking back, not huge, but seemed huge at the time, the dedication is a foregone conclusion.

As a full time instructor it is rewarding every day, from the new student who arrives with a yearning to learn to the regular student who suddenly gets something they have been struggling with, to the senior student who demos a form that is nothing more than poetry in motion, the rewards are daily.

It is about achieving something few westerners achieve, it is about living a childhood dream of one day teaching, about honour and respect for my teachers and students, and having the integrity to pass on knowledge freely , openly and without prejudice, it is a passion , a love , a desire , a yearning to know more and at the end of the day i suppose a regret that that i could never know it all.

It has shaped my life , and guided my destiny, it has provided for me and all it requires is time , effort ,sacrifice and dedication, not much to ask.

[blackwatch]

The time spent has been worth every minute, the effort required was rewarding, the money spent worth every cent, and the sacrifices were, thinking back, not huge, but seemed huge at the time, the dedication is a foregone conclusion.

As a full time instructor it is rewarding every day, from the new student who arrives with a yearning to learn to the regular student who suddenly gets something they have been struggling with, to the senior student who demos a form that is nothing more than poetry in motion, the rewards are daily.

It is about achieving something few westerners achieve, it is about living a childhood dream of one day teaching, about honour and respect for my teachers and students, and having the integrity to pass on knowledge freely , openly and without prejudice, it is a passion , a love , a desire , a yearning to know more and at the end of the day i suppose a regret that that i could never know it all.

It has shaped my life , and guided my destiny, it has provided for me and all it requires is time , effort ,sacrifice and dedication, not much to ask.

HERE!HERE!

[Fairfax_Uechi]

I have read and surveyed numerous Black Belts on this subject on other forums. However, What is it worth your you in Time, effort, money, sacrifice, and dedicaion.

Sifu White

To me it's worth what I put in. No amount of money is equal to the satisfaction I get when I teach something to a student, and they finally "get it" after struggling.

Rank becomes an ego thing after a certain level. Don't get me wrong. What I mean, is that it shows your dedication, how long you've been training, and hopefully that you've mastered a certain degree of proficency. But it really isn't that big a deal (or at least shouldn't be)

As I've said in other threads. I teach to learn. I train to learn. And hopefully as I train I become a better person, and somewhere along the way make the world a little better in a small way or two.

[jakmak52]

Priceless

[SigungWhite]

Jakmak, I love your answer.

Sigung White

[powerof0ne]

I don't know, I don't really consider it something that can really be taken away from me.

A few years ago someone broke in the school that I taught at and the owner called me to tell me some stuff was stolen, my first fear was my rank certificates! I rushed over to the school to find almost all of my thai pads, belly pads, focus mitts, etc. were stolen along with the owner's laptop and some other gear...thank god my certificates were still their.

It would have been a pain in the neck to try to contact everyone to get new certificates.

[Ottman]

Martial arts is a part of who I am, and was even before I started formal training. Getting my black belt was not a price that I paid, but a natural procession for me. I always knew I'd get it and any price I paid, or sacrifice I made didn't seem like one because I couldn't imagine not making those sacrifices, or paying those prices. On the contrary it would have been a terrible price and a devistating sacrifice to me to NOT have gotten my black belt.

[SigungWhite]

Ottman,

So, do you feel that you sacrificed a lot to get the coveted black belt

Sigung White