The White-Belt Mindset

Shoshin - Japanese for "Beginner's Mind" 

When a student begins to train in a martial art, a white belt is typically worn around her waist. Many times new students feel uncomfortable wearing a white belt because they think the belt is one of low status, while, by contrast, the words "black belt" conjure up images of a practiced and seasoned master. 

What many students don't appreciate is that a white belt can symbolize "a beginners' mind"--that a student who is a white-belt is open to new learning.  If a martial artist is not open-minded throughout her training, she will never grow in the knowledge and skills necessary to achieve the rank of black belt.  But why would the color black symbolize years of training and practice?  In theory, when a white belt is worn many times, it becomes soiled with use, acquiring a darker and darker color.  Those students who earn a black belt have done so through their own hard work and effort. However, extend this analogy one step further:  If the black belt, darkened through years of use, is washed, it would return to its original white color.  In this way, even though a black belt represents high status, a black-belt martial artist really is a white-belt student, still practicing and learning.

With an open mind and persistent
effort, anything is possible.

This has become a powerful metaphor for students in my classroom.  For any student to learn and grow, he must be open to new learning--whether this is in Bushintai-Do, history, math or English.  With an open mind and persistent effort, a student can become a black belt, can become an accomplished mathematician or writer, and, then…can continue to grow and learn. This is the definition of a life-long learner.

At the start of the new school year, I like to honor the new white-belt students in my classroom with a special White-Belt Ceremony. At the ceremony, new students learn how to wrap their white-belts around their waist. They also are introduced to a notion that may seem contradictory; white-belt status in not one of low rank, but one of endless possibilities and growth--whether they are at the dojo (Japanese for martial arts studio) or in the classroom.

Welcome to all new students of Bushintai-Do, the way of the warrior in mind and body. Always keep your white-belt mindset.

Nancy Keller, Teacher

Winooski Middle and High School

Winooski, Vermont

Education Coordinator

Bushintai-Do Programs, Inc.

Bushintai-Do and the Middle School Student

Bushintai-Do means the “way of the warrior in mind and body.”  For more than 10 years, my students and I practiced and learned this martial art as part of our school day together.  A few years ago, I had an eighth grader who found the meaning of Bushintai-Do important to her, and chose to write about it for her blue belt promotion essay.

I oftentimes learn about myself and others through the eyes of my middle school students. When I read this student’s essay about Bushintai-Do, it was one of those moments.

A Warrior and Her Ways

by

Winooski Middle School Student

September 2006

A warrior means so much to so many, especially in the martial arts world.  When I think of a warrior, I see a thin young man, hair back in a ponytail, and a nice black uniform. I also see a nice skin complexion, confidence. I see him standing in a world like nothing’s there, ready for anything, anybody, or the obstacles that may come his way. I can smell a fearless boy with courage and a whole lot of confidence. He is strong and ready for a battle and possibly his last fight. I can touch the sword and feel how good it feels to be in my hands. I feel, as I am the boy, self-assured and brave.  I can taste how good it would feel to be a warrior like this boy.

This warrior in my head reminds me of Bushintai-Do because of the “Iron Man” on the school patch. The meaning of Bushintai-Do is the way of the warrior in mind and body. The Iron Man on the patch stands in a half circle and is like a shadow. He reminds me of a warrior because he doesn’t have 

a face. A warrior with no face to me means you are ready, like the boy, to battle the struggles, people, and things that come your way. A warrior could be anyone. For example, my grandma can be a warrior at church because she believes in the way of God and the church. Or someone who’s learning how to read, they’re learning something new.

Being a warrior also is not just being physically strong, but mentally strong.  When you’re physically strong, you’re built and athletic, but it is more than that. You’re not physically strong, if you’re not also mentally strong. Mental strength is using your head and your heart the most, and not just your muscle.

How does martial arts relate to being a warrior? Martial arts relates to being a warrior because it helps you make it through the struggles when times are tough. It prepares you for where life will take you and through many obstacles. It prepares you physically and mentally because it gives you faith when you need it most. I think martial arts can create a strong warrior for any situation. I have to be a warrior on the football field because I have to be ready for a hard hit or a new play. I have to know the way of the team, like I have to know the way of the dojo. In math I have to be a warrior to learn new concepts and to be a better mathematician. At home I have to be a warrior to learn new things about my family every day.

Warrior means in English:  a person who is or has been in warfare. But to me a warrior is someone like the young man, the Iron Man and, of course, my sensei. Bushintai-Do has taught me the way of the warrior in mind and body, and I think has formed many warriors over the years.

Nancy Keller, Teacher

Winooski Middle and High School

Winooski, Vermont

Education Coordinator

Bushintai-Do Programs, Inc.

Milton, Vermont

Why Martial Arts for Children

Bushintai-Do for the Middle School Classroom

There are many reasons to consider martial arts for children. One of the best reasons was illustrated to me in an exchange I once had with a former student. It had been a random meeting at a public place, when I struck up a conversation with a young couple. We had chatted briefly, and the young man asked my name. When I told him, his face brightened and he said with a smile, “You taught me Kempo!”

This happens occasionally, and it is often hard for me to place the former student. In this case, the young man told me he had been part of a class I had taught at a local school ten years earlier. I didn’t recognize his name at first, but remembered the program. My goal going in had been to help the kids develop self-esteem, learn the value of hard work, and the importance of respect and self-control. Until that day, I had considered the effort a huge failure.

I’d like to say that in our brief chat, he told me that martial arts had changed his life for the better; that he had taken the lessons learned on the mat and applied them to everyday situations, allowing him to become a successful adult in spite of his troubled childhood. Not only did he not say that, he didn’t even imply it. But it was clear that the experience, which I remembered as a negative, had meant something positive to him. His choice of words, “you taught me,” not “I was in your class,” seemed significant. And as I considered that, I remembered him. Chris. He was an enthusiastic and hard-working student, and I had forgotten about him. I had let the negatives of the experience outweigh the positives--something I vowed not to do again.

We want so much for our children. We want them to have every tool we can give them, to help them through the day-to-day challenges of their present, and along the great unknown path of their future. I hope that we can help build a foundation for your child’s academic, professional, and personal success. I hope we can help our students’ develop a lifelong interest in learning, and an appreciation for a healthy lifestyle. I hope their fighting skills will be there if they are ever needed, along with their compassion and self-control, which will always be of use. I hope they can get all of the benefits of the martial arts, and apply them every day of their lives.

And, if nothing more, I hope that someday, long after the martial arts belts have been thrown out or moved up to the attic, if I meet up with your child again, his or her face will brighten at the memory of learning martial arts.

David Quinlan, Founder and Lead Instructor

Martial Way Self-Defense Center
and Bushintai-Do Programs, Inc.

Milton, Vermont