Judging for the Mentor

Recently, my mentor Master Samuel DeJesus held a Black Belt test at his school in Rockaway, NJ. He had asked me to guest judge on the panel for the test. I was honored. He told me that there were six candidates testing, one of them being his mother! I knew it would be a very special test for him, although every test is, this one would hold a little more importance to him. I was more than happy, and quite excited to participate.

I told my Black Belts in class one day I was going to be judging the night before and they all looked at me and exclaimed "We want to go!" I was like "Oh! Um..ok!" And before I knew it we were a van full of Black Belts off to Master DeJesus's school for a Black Belt test! My other mentor, Professor Lisa Sargese, also came to take pictures and support the test. She goes every Thursday to do Qigong with Qi master, and Kung Fu as well, Sal Canzonieri who did a demonstration during the test.

I was on the panel with three other judges, apart from Master DeJesus. One was Sensei Cara Parmigiani who trains in I believe Juijitsu with Master DeJesus. She did an awesome demonstration during the test as well and I learned is in law school! Master Joe Nilon is Master DeJesus's Hapkido instructor who also brought a great element to the table. You can feel great strength and power from Master Nilon but was as friendly as ever when you interact with him. And there was also Sifu Dave Ferreira who I got along with excellently. We were very much on the same page on a lot of things and had similar views on the things we wanted to bring to the test for our candidates. 

From Left to right: Master Joe Nilon, Sensei Cara Parmigiani, Sifu Dave Ferreira (standing), Master Samuel DeJesus, and me.

My Black Belt crew got along wonderfully with the other students from Master DeJesus's school, and everyone worked excellently with each other throughout the test. The students had to show all their basic strikes and blocks, their kicks and combinations, they did required self-defenses, they performed their own self-defense routines, they did all of their Taeguek forms, they had to do several rounds of sparring, and had to do breaking at the end as well.  The test began at 11:00AM and did not end until 7:00PM. It was a long, tough test. But each one of the candidates really showed great strength and perseverance. Not to mention great endurance to do all they did in that allotted amount of time! OH! And in between everything, they did several rounds of conditioning where they did 50 push ups, 75 sit ups, 100 jumping jacks, and 50 squat jumps. 

Jenna was an eleven year old girl who was just so happy to be taking her test. She smiled and pushed on despite the struggle. She struggled on one of her board breaks but she never gave up. She overcame her fear of breaking that board and when she did it she had a great big smile on her face. Jenna showed great attitude. Sabrina is a young lady who has a great deal of potential. She pushed on through each task but as I kept watching her, after so many years of doing this you can see when a student is doing well and there are some underlying capabilities. I wish I could be there for the "OH!" moment she will have one day when she realizes what she can do. It's going to be fun for Master DeJesus.

Young Samuel was the youngest boy testing for his 1st Degree Black Belt. Sam showed in his face the pain he was enduring, the struggle he was going through, it looked like he was going to break down and say he wanted to give up. But you know what? He didn't! Sam brought me to tears as I watched him, because he really pushed himself beyond his limits. I knew he wanted to stop but never did he complain once, never did he stop, and never did he lose his determination. And that's what makes a Black Belt a Black Belt! I was so proud of him! Susi by far blew all of us away on the panel. I was looking at a miniature Nina Harkhani. This girl counted every count, answered loud every time, nothing stopped her. She was a runaway train with elite determination. And she had a dynamite attitude. It's always a treat to see a student bring that focus and energy to a test!

Mike Lair was the student I had to observe for his marks. He was an older gentlemen with a very placid countenance. He trains with Master DeJesus in Taekwondo but trains in a lieu of other disciplines with Sifu Dave. Sifu Dave is a very tough instructor in a lo of combative disciplines, so I was told Mike would be able to take a lot. However, Mike would be able to beat anything with his indomitable spirit. I discovered he was also, in fact, a cancer survivor. Immediately my heart was touched, having an experience of my own of overcoming physical illness. Mike knew he had this test down, after beating cancer, what could ever beat him? So Sifu Dave and I really did our best to push and beat down on Mike, to show he really can outlive any challenge that thwarts itself in Mike's way. he can tear it down.

And Sarah DeJesus, the MOTHER of my mentor! The honor it was to be judging her test. She was the oldest candidate at the age of 57. She is the perfect example of how it is NEVER too late to start martial arts, nor is it impossible. Sarah is a dedicated mother, helping Master DeJesus to every extreme when he started his own school. She refused to take any pay, spent extra hours to help that were not needed, just to be sure she was there for her son. She expressed she always wanted to do martial arts and was scared to start because of her age. I give any adult a lot of credit to put it in the time and effort to learn martial arts. I trained with many adult students who began training later in life. I belt tested with Mr. Ward when he was 45, or Peter Dunphy at 47, Mike Duke was in his fifties, John Vanderhee was in his thirties! Ms Gedman was an adult as well! 

I give Sarah credit because she does not only represent the adults. She does not only represent the "older" generation. She represents the women who train as well! I know so many awesome women warriors. For Sarah to do all those conditioning drills, sparring, self-defense, kicks, she went through it all with everyone else.And her son made it clear "Expect no special treatment!" I was silently crack up when he would yell "MOM!" and she's answer in an almost singing way "Yes siiir!" I was so proud of her.

Master DeJesus did a wonderful job, and I was honored to be there for my mentor. I was happy to have met new martial artists who have a great energy about them! I was privileged to got the know the candidates over their eight hours of testing. I was happy my own students came to show support, meet new students, and be apart of this good energy, and to continue to spread the good family nature and feel martial arts has to offer.

Yours in service,
MASTER TRENTO