TMAFC March Madness 2016 Black Belt Test

The newest TMAFC Black Belts of March Madness 2016

Very few who begin their martial arts journey make it to Black Belt. Very few who make it to Black Belt continue to rank. One meme I saw recently asked the question "How long does it take the average person to get a Black Belt?" and the answer is "An average person doesn't get a Black Belt." Truth is, a Black Belt is NOT something you get, or even earn, but something you become. With each new rank is an opportunity to grow into something even more than yourself, and it is the responsibility of the master instructor to help with this transformation.

The purpose of the way I do Black Belt testing is NOT to torture the candidates, or to put them through the ringer, nor just to see what the student can do, nor is it a showcase by any means. It is about pushing the student INTO the next level, transforming them into the rank they are to become, where they walk away feeling they can take on the world but also with lessons they will have the rest of their lives. We grow not only through the successes but through the struggles, but also knowing we can persevere beyond all odds, and if we dig deep enough, we will WOW ourselves.

The Zen candle burns for the entire test at every Black Belt test.

When I opened my doors of TMAFC in 2010, my friend and student Mike Grella had this professor in college who was absolutely in love with her little boy, William. He challenged her, saying "If you really loved your son, you would take him to this martial arts school." Well anyone who knows my mentor, Dr. Stiehl, no one beats her at a challenge when it comes to her son. Little William Stiehl began at my school the summer of 2010, little five year old with cute glasses, very timid and quiet, who barely come up to my knee, that's how small he was. Today William is higher than my shoulder, healthy young man, national champion, and has a winning streak regionally in forms.

In the fall of 2010, I was opened for half a year when a father and mother walked into my school when it was in Rochelle Park, looking for a martial arts school to try out. This young kid named Theodoris was very eager and had a lot of energy. He was looking to have fun. Over the years, you found that this martial arts training meant a lot more to this kid. He wasn't only enjoying it, but there was a sense of importance to it for him. Theodoris has now grown up, competes, helps with classes, and has a baby sister who also takes classes.

Rounding into the second half of my first year at TMAFC, a young boy named Tomasz Sadowy came in to try martial arts. My Black Belts at the time were really impressed with this little kid's ability and focus. He was quiet and calm, but when he was on the mats, loud and strong. Here we are now in 2016 and he was preparing for Black Belt testing, but had the flu the WEEK up to his test! He rested a few days before getting the okay before taking the test, but on the first day almost went home, sneakers and jacket on. Until he made a choice he wanted this bad enough to push through, demonstrating Black Belt attitude at it's finest. He did not miss anything on the test.

At my one year anniversary in 2011, a white belt named Anthony Guallpa came to the celebration. He was silly and rambunctious, but wanted to be involved! Over the years, he's found some good solid friends and always wanted to be the first to help any of them or anything in the school. There came a time he wanted to quit, where walking into the school was a challenge. His friends had supported him and encouraged him that they wanted him to join them for the journey. There was a point we did not know if Anthony would make it for the Black Belt test. But he made a choice, to do it. It is not in our abilities that define who we are but it is our choices. He committed to his choice and with a lot of hard work and perseverance, became ready and prepared for his Black Belt test.

William Stiehl

Theodoris Costa

Tomasz Sadowy

Anthony Guallpa

So I was already lucky. Lucky to have four really really good kids. They were raised well, they had strong principles, and great qualities of the human condition. So how to get the very best of them even further into becoming a Black Belt. These are the questions I always ask before preparing for a test. I don't just teach kicking and punching. However, I use martial arts as a tool to teaching life principles that will serve themselves individually and our world they waltz through.

Junior Black Belt testing is 3 days long for me. The first day was Thursday March 10. It was Forms and Conditioning, it took 3 and a half hours to complete. They began with 1000 jumping jacks, 50 burpees, the beginner forms, 5 minute horse stance, 50 burpees, four more forms, 3 minute plank, 50 burpees, two more forms, 15 side to sides in 30 25 seconds and then beating their time every time, 50 burpees, and all their ITF forms facing different directions. They also did a HaganaH military drill that I saw at last years conference which was running back and forth the legnth of the dojang with someone on their back (each person had to do this), squat jumps with their battle buddy there and back, wheel barrows back and forth, lunges one way and duck walks back. Every drill was ten 10 times there and back the whole length of the dojang. They ended doing all their forms in under one minute.

Day 2 was Friday March 11, Basics and Self-Defense. All Blocks, questions on Blocks and Strikes, All Kicks, questions on kicks, Kicking Combinations, partner kicking drills, then Speed kicking drills beating their time and objective each time such as 25 kicks in 15 seconds, 10 seconds, 9 seconds, I think they did it in 8 seconds (talk about speed!). That was one of four or five drills, and both sides they had to do. All bag and target striking and kicking techniques on the bag, they demonstrated all their escapes, self-defense, self-defenses in reverse order, and rapid fire self-defense where they were timed adding stress.

At any time if one made a mistake they all did push ups. Push ups are not a punishment, it's to get the students to physically shake it off and get their mind on track. You can't think about the mistake while doing push ups. Also the lesson of our choices can affect other people. But at the same time, unity. One struggles we all struggle, and we need to support. Many people get angry if someone's choices effect them. Not these boys! They were encouraging and supportive. In every shape and form, the test was contributing a lesson.

The judges on the panel for the final day.

Master Kevin Balon, 7th Dan, with the candidates for his judge's choice.

Master Samuel DeJesus, 5th Dan, working Theodoris on his judge's choice.

The final day, I never know what's going to happen. The boys are stressed as it is, but it's how they handle that stress or how they allow that stress to affect them that makes or breaks what happens on the test. I always hand pick my judges to contribute to the growth and lessons to give to my students. My mats are their mats that day. For the first time was my personal mentor Master Kevin Balon on the panel at my school. Also returning was another mentor, Master Samuel DeJesus who always brings something to the table! For the first time, newly promoted master instructor Master Drew Turner was on the panel for these boys. We also had my Black Belt Miss Samantha Volk who has known these boys since they started. And two of my instructors at TMAFC Mr. Guillermo Colon-Green and Miss Ann Marie Cooper.

We began with forms where they had to do all the Taeguek forms and selected ITF forms. You could tell at the beginning they were very nervous and would make silly mistakes which would not go by without being fixed and overcoming the stress and fear. There were several eyes on them and plenty of questions and challenges thrown at them to overcome the mental pressure while demonstrating proper technique. After forms, their general knowledge was questioned, and some did well under the stress, some had difficulty. But they learned the brick walls are not there to keep you out but to show you how badly you want something.

Judge's choice is a tradition that I personally get the most out of. It is the opportunity where my panel gets to really work personally with my candidates and they walk away with a lesson. Sam Volk loves breaking and had them learn to be able to face discomfort, breaking through their challenges, while receiving support and giving support. They chose their least favorite break, had to do it, while holding for each other. This is the first time any of them have held for each other as well. Tomasz actually chose one of the hardest breaks which isn't even in our curriculum and struggled, but with the support of Samantha Niblock who struggled with the same break at HER test, he finally persevered! Miss Ann Marie Cooper had given each person individually a task whether it was answering a question or a drill.

Master Balon challenged the boys in thinking outside the box and adjusting to a class like set up of doing techniques with different instructions, having to listen, interpret, and execute with confidence. He stressed that Black Belts "Don't give up that easily" and to push forward. It was really cool to see my students being taught by MY teacher, it was a really cool moment for me personally. He then asked them all about who motivated them to continue and what their goals would be. He was surprised that many said not even the 1st Degree Black Belt, which is their official next rank, but they were saying ranks even further down the road!

Master DeJesus knows exactly how to push my candidates beyond their potential, choosing another HaganaH drill from last year's conference, where three people were on top of them and they had to army crawl to the orange block. It was physically demanding and exhausting, but there is symbolism too. How many times in our lives do we feel we have all this weight on our backs but we need to keep moving forward and pushing through to our goals? The average person lays defeated, where the Black Belt perseveres and digs deeper within to move forward. It was definitely high energy in the room. Master Drew taught the boys a jump turning side kick which they were unfamiliar with and after seeing how well they took to learning the technique had them break a board with it. Mr. Guillermo Colon tested their focus by having each do a different form at the same time wanting no mistakes or they would have to do 100 jumping jacks.

Can you see William's hand reaching for the block?

Tomasz with all the weight on his back but needing to push forward.

Master Drew Turner, 4th Dan, demonstrating a new technique the boys had to learn quickly for his judge's choice.

Then the sparring matches began. They did two two minute rounds of sparring for warmup. Then rapid fire sparring. They had to spar for 5 minutes or more straight, every 15 seconds a new person would rotate in to spar. For the last 45 seconds, we would add 2 people creating a three on one scenario. This also became high energy and intensity in the entire room from the support on the side, the judges, the audience, all cheering and rooting, and yelling our their supports. I thought the ceiling was going to fall. Next they did all their self-defenses from our curriculum. After that, they had 5 on one attackers in a self-defense scenario, rapid fire. We were looking to see how intense, smart, and effective they were in defending themselves in real life scenario, but also how well they responded under stress. This is a true way to test self-defense for reality circumstances because if you cannot be smart and effective under stress, your are not prepared for the real world.

The final part was breaking. They had to break one inch boards, eight inches wide. There were 8 boards breaks total for this test and the judges and instructors helped to hold. One at a time, boom,boom, boom boom , boom! Breaking was never so smooth on a test. At this point, it didn't matter how physically exhausted they were, they saw the light at the end of the tunnel, and they were not going to let ANYTHING at this point stand in their way! 

As always the judges reconvene in a different room where we review what we saw on the test and how we felt each individual testing did and decide on the pass or fail. The character and perseverance these boys showed some adults don't have in their lives. And the judges agreed. I also ask for feedback and especially with mentors on the panel as for advice and improvements to make with the students and the general running of testing which they know I am ALWAYS open to. We came out and allowed the families to speak and final thoughts from our judges, and then had the traditional reading of the Black Belt oath. Then the belt ceremony. 

The reading of the Black Belt oath by Miss Samantha Volk

Theodoris Costa awarded his Black Belt

William Stiehl receiving his Black Belt. 

Tomasz Sadowy becoming a Black Belt.

Anthony Guallpa having his Black Belt tied.

These boys are 11 and 12 years old. Can you imagine walking away with the lessons they learned at their age? It's unbelievable. It's unbelievable the things they pushed themselves to do. There is nothing in their lives they will ever believe they cannot do. There is no fear they will not face. There is no challenge they cannot overcome. Their perspective in life will be positive and productive. They will know how to support others and receive support. They will ask the right questions, and they know how to dig deeper than any adult allows themselves to dig. This new generation of Trento Black Belts is truly a force to be reckoned with, from the first set of pure breds (the Niblock twins) , to these boys.

I am so proud of these boys. But I am also so proud of all my other students who took the day to come help, support, and cheer these guys on. I want to thank all the colored belts who helped, but especially our two instructors Miss Nicole Vidal and Miss Heather Marte. Also thanks to Miss Marte for all these pictures she took (They are all on Facebook). I want to thank the phenomenal judges who contributed so much to my students in becoming Black Belts. You guys MADE the test for them and it was an honor to have each one of you there. Thank you to the parents who have entrusted their children's care to me and allow me to train them. The pleasure has truly been mine. 

And a very special thank you to Danielle Niblock and Samantha Niblock for their unbelievable support, encouragement, and guidance to the boys who tested. Without them this would have been a very different test. There were times they even jumped in doing the test with them! I am so proud of you girls for all you did this week and you represented servant leadership to the max! 

It has been an honor to watch these boys grow up and I really look forward to what the future does hold. They shined bright like candles, and may they always remember that a true candle always keeps their light lit bright, but if ever a time it dims, they have their brothers to help support them and keep it lit. (BOWS)

The candidates bowing out to Master Balon

The phenomenal panel of the March 2016 TMAFC Black Belt Test and Black Belts.
(from left to right: Miss Samantha Volk, Master Kevin Balon, Mr. Guillermo Colon-Green, Miss Ann Marie Cooper, Master Andrew Trento, Master Samuel DeJesus, Master Drew Turner, (bottom) Miss Samantha Niblock and Miss Danielle Niblock.

Yours in service,

MASTER A TRENTO