Is Black Belt Next? Asked The Street Kid Tying His New Yellow Belt...

Mark Kennedy

Copyright © 2005-2007, Mark Kennedy

I managed to keep a straight face while replying, No, there are a few colors in between. The naiveté amused me. Yet in fairness, this group of 25 newly-minted yellow belts had been promoted in record time—just six weeks. It had been a special summer program for kids just out of juvenile hall, or expelled from district schools. An experiment.

So, I could see how they might think the whole process would be collapsed. On the other hand, I'd worked them two solid hours a day, four days a week, hour-for-hour at least the equivalent of a traditional program's three one-hour classes a week for 3-6 months. There was no gimme to it. This kid had conveniently forgotten all the hard work they'd done, although some of those around him—still sore, stiff, and blistered—burst into laughter at his question.

Yet I sensed a dark side to this mirthful moment as we stood in the afterglow of our hard-won achievement. Sure, on the surface this student's comment appeared to be merely a neophyte's inexperience. But 18 years of working with street-savvy kids kept me from dismissing the pall which had fallen behind my eyes. What was it?

The unsettling feeling lasted a day or two before I could articulate it. And it was this: there was a dangerous assumption underlying the kid's basic outlook on life. Too often adolescents who have been cut off for long periods from traditional routes to success begin to look for shortcuts. They may feel like failures in one or more areas of their lives: school, social activities, sports, dating, or maybe shame or hopelessness over their family or home situation. As I thought it over, the conviction grew that this boy may have actually believed there was a shortcut. And that was worrisome. Because I've found that the more kids feel on the outs from success, the more such shortcuts will seem acceptable, normal, even preferable.

So what might I take from this episode to make me better at working with and helping such kids through the martial arts? I believe this street-wizened teen learned by way of that summer that he would have to work for martial arts achievements—and maybe others as well. But he also saw that he could do it. He could be successful the old fashioned way. He didn't need a shortcut. He was capable. And as simple as this sounds, I have encountered hundreds, maybe thousands, of teens who don't believe they are capable. They may appear normal to adults, or even peers, but many teens feel a deep sense of failure in one or more areas of life. What a great challenge—and opportunity—for those of us who work with them, whether in the martial arts studio, the classroom, a church or civic setting, or across the dinner table.


Mark Kennedy, M.Ed., two-time alternative education teacher of the year and a nationally-certified black belt instructor, is the author of two books for teachers, martial arts instructors, and parents: Lessons from the Hawk (learning for all) and Dance of the Dolphin (creating a learning rich environment). Get free articles, info on how to reach all kids, original ideas, and solid links @ www.harmoniouswarrior.com (http://www.harmoniouswarrior.com/) or contact mark@harmoniouswarrior.com

That resonates with me because I see the same thing with many of my clients at work. Some have prison records, some have mental illnesses, some are simply "extremely down on their luck";for many, they share the same feeling that success eludes them.

I sometimes wonder if society as a whole is failing us because we are becoming more accustomed to the "I want it now" perception and not achieving that quickly enough, shortcuts are encouraged and resulting negative consequences are often overlooked or glossed.

Whatever happened to the old "work ethic" that served us so well and still is very much applicable in today's world? This work ethic is still alive and well, why is it not emphasized as much any more?

- Ceicei

Whatever happened to the old "work ethic" that served us so well and still is very much applicable in today's world? This work ethic is still alive and well, why is it not emphasized as much any more?
- Ceicei

A big part of the answer to your question, I think, is implicit in the size of private sector debt.

There is a huge fraction of the North American population walking around with completely mortgaged lives, typically under the burden of painfully high interest rates. At one point, I recall, the size of this debt became greater than the `national debt' that everyone seemed so upset about in the 70s, and it's never looked back since. That debt comes from the availability of credit for everything from gigantic flat-screen TVs to auto loans for high end imported autos—last time I was in Vancouver there seemed to be more BMWs and Mercedes on the street than any other kinds of car, and a lot of the drivers were a good few years still from their 30th birthday, it looked like—to mortgages for very substantial homes. The work ethic you're thinking of, Ceicei, originates I think from a time when there simply was no way of affording any of these things until you already had the assets to pay at least a major fraction of their up-front cost for them.

With all that credit out there—I typically get three or for solicitations from banks and finance companies in every mail delivery almost pleading with me to borrow pretty much as much money as I want from them, along with credit card offers from more banks than I ever realized existed—it's hard for people growing up in an era where everyone else seems to have every imaginable toy to adopt the deferral-of-gratification attitude that goes along with the `classical' work ethic you're talking about. Of course, that `everyone else' is also up to its eyeballs in debt, maxed out on credit cards they can barely pay of the principal on. So the cycle goes on...

It's not just kids on the street who look for shortcuts—for a lot of the middle class, it's the way they live...

Great article, I live it everyday with the kids I work with and I see the consequences they reap for trying to take shortcuts.