Perseverance.
As one of our students walked out the door after testing, they made the comment "Wow, that was easier than I expected! My boards broke the first try."
Is anything about belt rank testing "easy"?
Does board breaking really seem "easy"?
Was this student being braggy?
No, no and absolutely not.
This is a student who knows exactly how unforgiving boards can be, both during class and during testing.
We tell Brown Belts and higher they can practice board breaking every time they come to class, and this testing cycle, after every class this student asked us and their parents for permission to stay and work on board breaking using our rebreakable boards and board stations on their own.
After every class:
thud thud thud thud thud crack thud thud crack
next class: thud thud crack crack thud crack crack
next class: thud crack thud crack crack thud CRACK
next class: crack CRACK thud CRACK crack thud crack
next class: crack CRACK CRACK crack thud crack CRACK
next class: CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK
and so on through the entire 8 weeks.
This student didn't just hope they would break their boards at testing.
And the boards we use at testing didn't get easier to break.
When this student said it was easier than expected to break their boards at testing, they weren't bragging, but were recognizing the positive consequences of their own decision to persevere and practice, practice, practice.
Isn't that what we all want our kids to learn?
That the effort you give, impacts the results you get.
