Our son gets his black belt tonight...

[azasadny]

Dan (17) has been in Tang Soo Do for 10 years now and he tested for his black belt last month. He gets his black belt at a ceremony at the studio tonight and we're very proud of him. Master Longton is a very good man, lots of integrity and excellent attitude. We're very fortunate to have a high quality martial arts studio near us and Dan has been very diligent in his studies. This is a "real" black belt, not one of those "pay me the $ and you'll get your belt" kind of things...

[Oh Haha]

Way to go, Dan!!


You must be very proud, Art.

[Rick Lee]

I watched three folks take their Tae Kwon Do black belt test when I was kid. Man, they got the $hit beaten out of them. One of them didn't make it.

[The Gaijin]

That shows a lot of hard work and dedication. Congratulations to your son.

[speeder]

You should be really, really proud. To get a legitimate black belt at any age is such an accomplishment, at 17 it's just extraordinary.

[BRPORSCHE]

Congrats to your son. I got my yellow in Tang Soo Do when I was 18 through football. I couldn't imagine getting a black belt. White kicked my arse!

[azasadny]

Thanks, guys! Dan has really applied himself and has taken this very seriously. He's also serious about his school grades and his guitar playing. We're very proud!

[cantdrv55]

So when Dan gets his next "belt" he'll be Master Dan - black belt first Dan?

Congrats by the way.

[JavaBrewer]

Originally Posted by azasadny

We're very proud!

As you should be! Congratulations to Dan and his parents

Hopefully down the road my son will copy Dan in getting his black belt.

[dan88911]

Congratulations to Dan. Years from now if he continues his training or not for whatever reason. He will carry the mental and spiritual reward for having achieved the rank of Belt Black.

[s_morrison57]

Hi
I have a totally different take on this , congrats to Dan - not for the black belt but for sticking with something and following it to the end , rare for someone your age. I'm just wondering if the effort needed to get this belt could have been used for something more positive than being able to kick the crap outa 99% of the population. Self defence you say - I'm over 50 and have worked in 21 diff. countries, in some really bad places and never felt I needed the ability to defend myself, mind you I'm big so my size is a deterent but this type of training is for aggression . I took boxing and Karate when I was 13-15 , not for the work out or to learn the skill but so I cou;d defend myself and hurt people when I was playing hockey, thats the only reason I wanted those skills and its my worthless opion that the reason most people learn these skills is to be aggressive. The people who learn these skills are chicks, wimps or guys who want the ability to " rip your face off any time I want ". So how does this work in the RW (real world), maybe so your tough enough to hold your job as door man/bouncer at a raunchy drinking establishment? Hey the Angels are always looking for tough guys so they can TCOB, and when you end up in jail nobody will have sex with you unless you want it.
Sorry for the twisted rant , congrats Dan for following through, Mom, Dad, I'm sure your proud knowing your son has the ability to hurt people, I sure hope your still not breeding. Stay south of the 49th.

[Gogar]

He is "U Don Ja Nim" Dan. Congrats! In another life, I did that stuff.

[Tidybuoy]

Originally Posted by s_morrison57

Hi
I have a totally different take on this , congrats to Dan - not for the black belt but for sticking with something and following it to the end , rare for someone your age. I'm just wondering if the effort needed to get this belt could have been used for something more positive than being able to kick the crap outa 99% of the population. Self defence you say - I'm over 50 and have worked in 21 diff. countries, in some really bad places and never felt I needed the ability to defend myself, mind you I'm big so my size is a deterent but this type of training is for aggression . I took boxing and Karate when I was 13-15 , not for the work out or to learn the skill but so I cou;d defend myself and hurt people when I was playing hockey, thats the only reason I wanted those skills and its my worthless opion that the reason most people learn these skills is to be aggressive. The people who learn these skills are chicks, wimps or guys who want the ability to " rip your face off any time I want ". So how does this work in the RW (real world), maybe so your tough enough to hold your job as door man/bouncer at a raunchy drinking establishment? Hey the Angels are always looking for tough guys so they can TCOB, and when you end up in jail nobody will have sex with you unless you want it.
Sorry for the twisted rant , congrats Dan for following through, Mom, Dad, I'm sure your proud knowing your son has the ability to hurt people, I sure hope your still not breeding. Stay south of the 49th.

Although I'm not an expert, I think there is far more to martial arts than fighting and absolutely nothing remotely similar to your vivid rant.

[azasadny]

Dan didn't get into martial arts for the "kicing the crap out of others" aspect, but for the self-discipline, focus, concentration and perseverance aspect. I do not encourage team sports because there are already enough team events in our kids lives and I want them to achieve significant accomplishments on their own. Dan is very serious and he is also an accomplished guitar /bass player (he just learned the guitar part to "Green Grass and High Tides" by the Outlaws) and he's an A student and member of NHS at his school. Dan also knows how to handle a rifle, pistol and shotgun and he helps the older members of our family with their lawn and house maintenance... . Thanks to you guys for your support, I showed Dan your posts and he's very appreciative.

[Gogar]

s_morrison, I think your response demonstrates an extremely superficial understanding of martial arts. That's like saying that fencing is about learning how to stab people.