Blue Belt Blues..

[MJS]

Originally Posted by ldgman1970

Hi all,

After almost two years I finally got my blue belt and I have to say I came close to just giving up. When I first started Kenpo I was pretty gung ho and everything seemed to come easy but after I got to purple I kind of lost my momentum due to a combination of injuries and work stuff which kept me away from my studio for big chunks of time and the fact that all of the techniques seemed to be a lot more technical. Anyway my private instructor who was leaving the studio after two years suggested I test for blue because he felt I was ready. So I tested and I have to say it was my worse test.

I am happy I am now a blue belt but I feel like I have forgot a ton of stuff and that I need to spend some serious time reviewing everything I have learned up until now. I now am pretty darn confident I will work hard and continue on to black but I now know what everybody means when they talk about the blue belt blues.

First off, congratulations on your new rank!

As for the blues...I think that everyone, at one point or another during our training, we have those 'blues' moments. Work and other RL issues certainly can take a toll on us, mentally and physically. It does sound like you have lots of motivation to continue training, so I'm sure things will go well for you. One thing to keep in mind as far as testing goes, is to make sure that you really feel ready. While our instructors can look at our material and give feedback, if we don't feel ready, we could be faced with the situation you were.

Perhaps taking some time, talking to your instructor about any concerns you may have, would be a help.

Good luck and keep up the hard work!

Mike