Brown Belt Disease
(you’re better than you think you are)
I have stolen this title from a friend. It was a name for a concept that I’ve experienced as an instructor and a student. Brown Belt Disease. It is the point in someone’s development as a martial artist where they are good enough to hurt someone. However, they are not yet good enough to not hurt someone. I will explain the scene. A brown belt (an advanced student, knocking on the door of black belt) is partnered with a lower rank. They are assigned to practice something. Maybe it’s techniques, maybe it’s sparring, it doesn’t matter specifically so long as they are throwing punches or kicks at each other. Somewhere in here the brown belt is going to accidentally blast the lower belt. At this point two things will happen. One, the lower belt will need to take a minute or two out of class because pain hurts. Two, the brown belt will be horrified at what they’ve done. Because this will likely be the first time they’ve hurt someone in class.
Here’s the lesson: You’re better than you think you are.
In the art we spend so much time learning little bits at a time we don’t have a clear understanding of how much we’ve learned in total. Or how much better we’ve gotten at it. We are constantly getting better. But our instructors are constantly improving as well. So it is so easy to not feel or see progress. Even as a black belt you will occasionally run into the problem of Brown Belt Disease. You’ll forget how far you’ve come. You’ll forget what it was to be a white belt. You’ll forget every little nuanced adjustment you’ve made to your techniques over the years. Because there have been so many small adjustments you don’t notice the collected impact. You are better than you think you are. Reflect for just a second on your first class. How many years ago was it? Mine was in October of 1993. What were you expecting? How did it feel? What were you taught? Who taught you? Remember white belt you, think about how far you traveled. No matter what belt you are, you’ve come a long way. You’re better than you think you are. Don’t be surprised by the revelation. Don’t need a surprise event to teach you that you’re good. Look at it. Recognize it. Give yourself credit for it and then keep getting better. Because think about a few years from now, how proud you will be, when you think of how much better you’ve gotten from where you are today. We learn humility to teach us about patience and calm. But once you’ve learned that give yourself permission to see how good you are. It isn’t arrogant. Not when you’ve learned humility. You have my permission to acknowledge your skill and talent. You are better than you think you are and it is time to realize it. It is dramatically easier to accomplish goals if you believe that you’re good enough to do it.
“He that knows and knows not that he knows is asleep, awaken him.” ~ Bruce Lee
Have thoughts about this topic? Want to share a personal experience? We’d love to hear from you!
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