5 Core Beliefs (from the Dream 100 website)

Over the next several weeks I will share great lessons from Kyoshi Dave Kovar's Instructor Boot Camp manual on the Mount Laurel martial artist's Dream 100 resource site. Familiarize yourself with the concepts and principles and do your best to incorporate them in your life, not just on the training floor but every where you go. These are concepts for life. If you want to find out more about Kyoshi Dave, go here.

Share, if not teach, these concepts to everyone you know.

Let's get started...yes?

THE FIVE CORE BELIEFS

There are 5 core beliefs that you must embrace if you aspire to be the best black belt, master, teacher (person) you can possibly be. They are:

1. You are the friendliest person in town...and where you are (the dojang, your job, or school, every where!) it is the friendliest place in town! Everyone should feel welcome. You say hello to everyone, greet everyone, if appropriate, shake their hands. What if every where you went there was someone there that would be responsible for insuring that you have a great experience? Wouldn't that be great? Well, guess what? You are it! You are that black belt training for mastery! So....every where you go lives must be transformed because YOU are there! No small task. That's why it takes a "master", yes?
2. You are the healthiest person (and cleanest) in town...and every where you live and work is the cleanest place in town. Think about it. Going to shop or business that is not clean does not instill confidence that you (or your children) will not have the healthiest experience or the BEST service in town! My goodness, it's dirty and with germs, simply because they did not see you as important enought enough to sanitize and clean.
3. You only train in and teach "great" classes, never just "good"...and all the classes you train in and teach / assist are GREAT classes...because YOU are there! Have it your purpose to train hard and to teach / assist the best classes you will ever teach / assist!
4. You are excellent at communication. The ability to communicate to students, parents, other instructors (and even to yourself!) MUST be an on-going endeavor. Master the art of communication.
5. Every day you spend quality time sharing your martial arts experience with someone new AND inviting them to find out more about martial arts. With all the GREAT things that are happening in your life because of your martial arts training --and there should be GREAT things happening!-- you must spend quality time "sharing/telling your story". You can do it in face-to-face in person, or through emails, letters, postcards, or blogging, Facebook, Twitter, video's, pictures, etc -- any and every way possible...get creative! I truly beleive that you (we) are a light in someone's world. There is a saying that says, "would you light a candle just to cover it?" As black belts striving for mastery, we become a light for many who are challenged just like we are with personal growth and development. Martial arts has become the environment the we have developed and continue to hone skills that bring us growth and significance. If we can be a light, even hope, to just one person, should we not let it shine?

This blog is part of the Ultimate Black Belt Test Program (www.UltimateBlackBeltTest.com), which is an undertaking of The 100. (www.The100.us), and a part of Peter Liciaga's Dream 100 Project.