2016 is almost in the books.  It's been an eventful year in world events but closer to home, what have been the hightlights for Bearsden Martial Arts Club?  I asked my club mates for their personal favourite moments.
 
Perhjaps unsurprisingly, gradings were highlights for many.  Scott M had his first grading over the summer during a course in Greenock, saying he will never forget his first one.  Just wait until the next one, Scott!
 
Diana loved this year with her highlight being getting to the end of it and feeling that she is making "steady progress even though I am even more acutely aware of the known unknowns and this has really boosted my confidence".   It's always nice to feel progress is being made and I'd like to congratulate Diana on not one but two successful gradings in 2016 and she begins the new year as a blue belt.
 
For David, his highlight was seeing the progress that everybody has made over the year and the grading in November.  He's far too modest to mention it but many of us were delighted to see David finally get his black belt.  It's been a long time coming and it was thoroughly deserved for such a good guy.
  
Training and grading for first Dan was Emma's top moment and she specifically included the training part as first Dan is more than just a weekend course.  It's a process with ups and downs along the way.  Similar to Diana's growth in confidence, Emma pointed out that the praise from Hugh, other instructors and fellow martial artist has given her a huge spring in her step and also the feeling that she is capable and worthy of the grade, even when there were times she doubted her own ability.  I could not  put it any better myself, as that pretty much word for word my own highlight.
 
From a period of injury and low confidence in 2015, this year's training has been so good for me with many challenging but enjoyable sessions over the year, culminating in the grading in November.  As mentioned in the last article, my enthusiasm for training has been renewed and my fitness level has been better than it has been in a very long time. 
 
Previous articles have covered the joy so many members get from seeing others develop their skills and this was reflected in many comments.  From our new black belts, junior black belts, kyu grades and kids coming through from beginners, it really is satisfying to see everybody improve.  We have a club Facebook group and the supportive and congratulatory messages to each other before and after grading is genuinely heartwarming.
 
Hugh continued this  theme, with one of several highlights.  From a club point of view, so many people graded over the year and in particular the National Course in November that Hugh takes great pride in seeing the club develop their skills.  It has also been a good year for the club in terms of membership numbers, across both our junior and adult classes.  On that last note, we cannot rest on our laurels and will be looking to grow membership further in 2017. 

It might not be training related, but Hugh also mentioned the club's Christmas night out!  We might spend time hitting and choking each other, but we are actually quite a sociable bunch.
 
The final highlight was from Jamie and is perhaps the most inspiring, motivational story of the year.
 
Alan Dunn, who trains in our Greenock clubs, was awarded a special 2nd Dan at the spring Adult National.  A keen and passionate martial artist, his progression was put on hold by a massive motorcycle accident.  As soon as he could move in a wheelchair, he turned up at Billy Haggerty's door asking what can I do?  And he kept coming back, getting on two canes, then one, then a stick, until finally walking freely which was nothing short of a miracle.
 
He still struggles but that does not stop him from training and coming to courses.  Shoto Budo literally saved his life, and Alan being awarded for his sheer determination was one of Jamie's most heart warming and emotional moments of my year.  I agree and that is a story that we can all be inspired by.  Just amazing.
 
So that was 2016.  We enter 2017 with a healthy club, lots of freshly graded members and our journey continues.  Who knows what the new year will bring but let's hold on and enjoy the ride!  

I've now been a black belt for a month but as my first dan grading approached, I wondered how I would feel afterwards.  Would it feel like an achievement, an anticlimax, a culmination or a step along the way?

The quick answers:

1. It certainly felt like an achievement. 
2. It definitely wasn't an anti climax. 
3. It's definitely not the end of the journey
4. There is a lot more to learn

Let's look at each of these in a bit more detail.  It did feel like an achievement.  It has taken a while, there have been interruptions for work, injury and life in general, but to get through the course and perform in the grading felt great.  I have said before that I consider martial arts to be a personal challenge and to meet this particular one, one that had built up a daunting aura over time, was so rewarding.

After all the training and the formal grading, your reward is a certificate and a 290 centimetre length of black cotton that Greaves Sports will sell you for five pounds.  It might not be some elaborate trophy but it certainly did not feel like an anticlimax.  In fact very much the opposite, putting the black belt on for the first time felt . . . a bit weird.  In fact, a month down the line and it still feels weird.  For me, it symbolises the time and effort I have put into Shoto Budo and also what it has given to me in return. 

It definitely is not the end of the journey but it does feel like a significant milestone.  After all, if I train in Shoto Budo for the rest of my life, I'll never get another colour of belt.  There has been a perhaps unexpected benefit: I feel re-energised in my training.  My frustration with injuries and lack of progress (perceived or otherwise) have been banished to the past and replaced with a desire to continue learning and to move up again.  Who knows when that will be but I have a renewed enthusiasm for my martial art, all thanks to this length of black cotton.    

There is so much more to learn.  It was interesting to see the reaction of my work colleagues; on more than one occasion the phrase "better not argue with Scott, he's a black belt now" has been uttered in meetings.  It's not that in the space of a grading I suddenly learned a whole range of new skills or some previously secret techniques but to the wider public, the black belt clearly maintains its mystic status as being a symbol of being a martial arts expert (I'm definitely not).  Most of my colleagues were surprised that there are another nine dan grades after the one I had just achieved.

Training with so many talented people both at the course and in my club shows just how much more there is to learn and how great is the scope to improve.  I might have been training for nine years but I feel like I have barely scratched the surface.  It's clear that a first dan black belt is far closer to the start of the journey than the end. 

Watching our higher dan and Meijin grades train is both hugely impressive and inspiring.  It is also notable how much knowledge our Meijin grades have when it comes to the fine details of what works, how and why.  For example, during the course, Emma and I were practising a technique taught to us by Markus and Marko (very skill third and fourth dans respectively) but when one element was not working for either of us, a small detail from Richard Price (3 Meijin, or 8th Dan) made all the difference.  That is a level of skill, knowledge and vision for everyone to aspire to.

So to answer the opening question "now what?" is actually quite easy. More training, more learning, more fun and, hopefully somewhere down the line, second dan.  Without question, I am really looking forward to enjoying the next leg of my martial arts journey.