As I watch the Judges at the testing tables and young instructors in our organization teach and judge others. I’m envious of their confidence and having all the answers. When they speak on subjects of the art, there’s so convinced of the rightness in what they say , how can they be so convinced that they are right? How is it that they belief that’s the only right way? . Me on the other hand the older that I get and the more time I spend in this art the more I realize that there’s many ways to achieve a goal. The oak tree is strong but with a strong winds it will break, where the Willow will bend in the wind. I find myself becoming less of an oak and more of a willow . Realizing I don’t have the definitive answer and that I can learn more by being open to different ideas. You see I have been around long enough to have seen the Judges test for their rank. I find that some of the Black Belts have a different Standard depending on which side of the table they’re on, If they’re on the testing side of the table they look for considerations like, my age, my physical health, my past injuries and my inability no matter how hard I train to look better than I do. Then that same judge is sitting at the judges table and all of a sudden the expectations for that rank have gotten so much harder for the person that they are judging. The the standard should be the same. If you would like the judges to take in consideration your age your physical health your history of injuries. It becomes very hypocritical for you to expect more out of the person you’re judging then you expected out of yourself this is a problem. If I had a Wish for all the judges I would wish that they would video them selves when they were testing for that rank and then review their abilities, it might make them be a better judge the next time they sit at the table. Remember we are not curing cancer, we’re trying to build better people through the art and the training. People with compassion honor dignity that’s our number one goal I’ll sacrifice a good front stance for a person with dignity and integrity how about you
JE
