Many ask us why we hand out so few Black Belts. Why, on average, do only 1 out of 100 students reach Black Belt? Is it due to difficulty? Because it takes so long? Because of our age restriction?
The answer is actually yes—to all of the above. Like any true success or high-level achievement, it takes time, focus, and skill. True skills take a lot of time. Proficient skills take even longer.
The beautiful part about martial arts is that you can train for your whole life. You can even compete on a local, small scale. But getting to Black Belt? That’s rare—and for good reason.
Look at any other “traditional” sport.
For most athletes, their careers end in high school. The odds are against you—because elite performance takes years of dedication. Martial arts is no different.
Martial arts teaches a long list of life skills beyond self-defense. It complements other sports by improving coordination, focus, flexibility, strength, stamina, and handling pressure.
At an early age, martial arts students learn:
We often hear parents say martial arts helped their child find their voice and confidence.
So why do so few make it? Because it’s hard. And it’s supposed to be.
It takes:
It also takes maturity, which is why we only award Black Belts to students aged 16 and up.
We’ve never seen a truly quality school that churns out a large number of Black Belts. It should be a challenge. While we believe every student who reaches Brown Belt can make it to Black Belt, not all do.
Life happens. School, work, family, and other hobbies can interfere. The good thing is—you can always come back. Your journey doesn’t have to end just because you paused.
We look forward to tying on more Black Belts in the future. We’ll always hate seeing students move on—but those who stay and fight for their goal? Nothing will ever take that away. And they will always have a place to train with us.
Nate Church
Founder/Head Instructor
