I am only the 20th individual to be promoted to Shodan, 1st Degree Black Belt, since my dojo opened its doors, approximately 33 years ago.

This is a dojo that has between 100-200 members at any given time, and since 1974, literally thousands of people have trained there; and possibly tens of thousands.

Obviously, this organization doesn't dispense senior belts with ease or any degree of frequency!

So, what does it take to succeed?

The facile explanation is perseverance. Certainly this is a factor.

But I think the answer is being willing to do whatever it takes to succeed, and this entails MAKING AN IRREVERSIBLE DECISION.

Most students of martial arts are dabblers, attending a class here and there, opting for variety of influences, instead of going as deeply as possible into a single style.

They're tourists, passing through the portals, gazing this way and that, scanning the scene, peripherally. They're not focused.

And because they pass-through everything in their lives, including most interpersonal relationships, they are never fully where they are, when they're there.

So, nothing settles in them.

They're in a state of flux, a state of indecision.

Contrast this with any movie you've seen that portrays a warrior.

"Braveheart” showed William Wallace as a man completely committed to a free Scotland; he'd accept no compromises or bribes.

The original "Day of The Jackal,” portrayed an assassi

n who was so bent on finishing his mission that he ignored warnings that his cover had been blown, and he was walking into a trap.

If you want to scale the martial arts pyramid, you can, and there's a simple way to do it.

Make an irreversible decision to do so!

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