Perseverance Picture Revealed

Here is our “group” picture after our dojo’s very first ever online belt rank testing procedure. The student who is third from the left tested for the rank of blue belt. This is a picture of perseverance.

Within a week of this test, much of the equipment from the dedicated dojo of these karateka was sold to new good homes. They all continued to come to terms with their dojo’s restructuring into private martial arts lessons. They missed seeing friends in person. Some of them dealt with figuring out constructive ways to use their time within stay-at-home limits. Others dealt with finding precious time to research and support the best new path for their dojo.

Also within that same week, they all tried to support their families in dealing with changes to their work situations and with dealing with their small businesses. All of these karate practitioners negotiated online karate classes and dealt with ways to keep on their training paths. A beloved, old, sick pet was euthanized. A friend, mentor and instructor passed away from cancer.

And they used perseverance and figured out how to do what they needed to do. And that was despite unanticipated as well as anticipated obstacles and constraints. It was time for the kyu rank to test. So she tested, and she passed. When one student moves up in rank, the whole dojo advances. Congratulations to everyone at East Valley Martial Arts – Kenshin Kan. Keep on cultivating perseverance!

-Jenifer Tull-Gauger