David Zacker Founder and Head of TSDMASDavid Zacker states that his greatest accomplishments come from teaching his students. This is his only true reward, to stop teaching is to stop breathing and I will teach until my last breath. Then you will be guided by the midnight blue sky.
Beyond
The Belt
A
message to the masters
By David A
Zacker
This is a
message to all of you who hold and cling tightly to the belt around
your waist with the gold edges, red center, red and white blocks,
That belt that singles you out above all the rest. The military type
bars running down the sides, You even have your name swen on the
belt, I guess so everyone will either know who you are and how
important you are or so that YOU know who and how important YOU are.
It's time
for a reality check, time to come down all of us from the mountain
and get the clouds out of our heads, we are not king of the hill.
It's time to step down from that rock and plant our feet back on
solid ground. There is a story in the greatest book ever written
where in my opinion the only one entitled to the term master met a
group of people who were about to stone a women to death, He said to
them any one of you who are without sin cast the first stone, one by
one they let go of the stones in their hands and fled. Now I am
certainly not throwing any stones, I too have stood atop that
mountain with my head in the clouds, But now have come back down to
earth and stand on solid ground. How many stones do YOU hold in YOUR
hand?
Do you
reading this have your wall of fame? plaques, certificates, awards,
rank certificates, hall of fame, pictures of you shaking hands with
or standing next to a celebrity? Oh I know I have been guilty of
this, look let's show the world who and how important I am. Ah the
wall of fame. Hear the words of former president Ronald Reagan who
said, Tear down that wall! I have and they sit in storage. broken
frames, broken glass, just another reminder for me of who I am, who I
was, and what I have done. And for who's glory? Only one's self.
Friends, none of this matters only to you and the ego attached. What
truly matters is those who's lives you have touched and changed for
the better through your teachings. Your students do not care how many
gold bars are attached to your belt or what hangs upon your wall all
they care about is YOU and the life changing good you are doing or
have done for them. We have to stop trying to impress the masses,
those who are miles, states and country's away and most importantly
stop impressing ourselves and remember why and how we got into the
martial arts lifestyle in the first place. Look to and at your
students, is it like looking in a mirror? A reflection of your former
self at one time?
We are
obsessed with titles and rank, I understand in today's unstable world
of finances that marketing is important. But obsession with titles
and rank places you on stage, in the spotlight, where only YOU are
the star of your very own show and the audience is your peers and
colleagues rather then the one's who count,- your students! Kind of
like playing and I said it before king of the hill, only now it's
king of the stage.
Truly the
majority of prospective students and parents look around not at
what's hanging around your waist or on your wall but at your students
and they sit and watch a class or a few classes, they talk to other
parents. The belt or paper doesn't make the master. Well for me
masters the curtain has been drawn and the house lights have gone
out, I refuse to take a bow and quietly leave THIS stage for good.
All rank and the titles attached do is lead to power, power leads to
greed, power and greed lead to nothing but negativity, This
negativity leads to destruction within the martial arts all fueled by
ones own ego. This leads in turn to back biting, bad mouthing, and to
the birth of satin's glory, politics.
I was on
line recently on a network where your friends get on and post various
things on their or your wall.
Twice in one
day I received a post on my picture profile one from a former
student who way back then I was not called Master or Grand Master,
back then I was young and had no bars or titles attached to my belt
or ego, This now grown man thanked me for setting him on the
right path
years ago, and for turning his life around, he said I was the best
Instructor he ever had, Me? Who at that time was no where's near or
close to a title of master? That same day a parent of another
teachers student thanked me for taking the time to talk to and help
her son at a tournament I put on a few years back, Neither one cared
what rank or title I held it wasn't about that at all. I had another
grown man a few years ago who kept starring at me in the cell phone
store my wife and I were at. I felt a bit uncomfortable and when we
were leaving he stopped me and said, Your Dave Zacker aren't you? I
said yes sir. He said you taught me karate when I was just a kid a
long time ago and I have never forgotten you. You helped me through a
bad time in my life and gave me direction. Today I am a husband and a
father and finished school and have a full time job. Thanks for
setting me on the right path in life. Yet another story where a
woman approached me a few years back and said you taught my son
karate when he was just a little boy in Detroit, I remember you. And
so does my son. She told me her son Martin is now serving his
country in Iraq and thanked me for teaching him so many years ago.
And I remember Martin, my little red haired kid from the past. A
couple years ago I received a letter from a young man who said he was
glad to see I was still teaching karate. He too thanked me for being
there in a rough time in his life, he stated how I was more then an
Instructor and how I even took him fishing, he went on to tell me he
ended up with a good life and also ended up being a two time world
kick boxing champion and how he remembered the duck walks around the
gym floor. And kicking the heavy bag until his feet bled, he said all
the blood, sweat and tears paid off. I know you masters and grand
masters if that's what you choose to be called also have similar
stories and isn't that what it's really all about? So many letters
and stories over the past years of thank you's for being there in a
rough time in the students life and setting them on the right path.
It did not matter what belt or title was held only the lesson taught
between teacher and student. This is far more rewarding then any
piece of cloth or paper. You see we teach far more then karate or
martial art's. These letters are award enough aren't they!. Where in
the world did the title master or grand master originate from in the
first place? A lot of you old timers will relate to this, It use to
be that no one knew you were in karate, not your classmates, not your
co workers, not even your pastor, Not many knew you even were a black
belt, We were humble just like we were taught to be. But IT TOOK
TIME! At first as white belts we so wanted that next belt, our goal
was black belt. I can recall being a kid riding my banana seat bike
(remember them?) with the sissy bar on back to the training hall. It
was dark outside and in the darkness my purple belt looked black. I
folded my uniform neatly and wrapped my purple belt around it, tied
my black looking purple belt to my handle bars and was off to karate
class thinking I look cool like a black belt. I hadn't learned the
lessons being taught yet. I had not matured yet. Have we still today
not learned the true meaning of what we were taught,? Has any of us
truly mastered this art? Have we gone back to being that new kid in
the training hall all over again,? forgotten the lessons learned? I
no longer desire to be attached to such titles or the ego that is
born from them. All that matters is our students, and they do not
care about the belt around your waist nor the awards hanging on your
wall they only look up to you and care about you! Teachers we have
been given a gift, a talent, and it's up to us to pass it on.
It's not
about us it's about THEM! the students, the parents within your own
small circle.
Years ago I
wrote how Tang Soo Do does not care if you are rich or poor, in good
health or in failing health, Tang Soo Do doesn't care about the color
of your skin. It is a lifestyle, A Do or way of life. Well masters
Tang Soo Do certainly does not care what rank you are or title you
claim, Nor does Tang Soo Do care whats hanging on your wall or in
your trophy case. This is Tang Soo Do in it's purest form. Hwang kee
knew this, yet we all failed to see. Myself included.
It's time
folks for us to get out of the mirror, get away from looking at our
wall of fame, That belt doesn't even hold your pants up or keep your
top closed. You have those string ties for that don't you? We are all
different, to so many it's important to wear the belt all decorated
like a 5 star general and to build another wall for all your
accomplishment because your current wall is full. You earned it it's
yours to do with as you please. Just remember what's truly Important.
Those in your circle, those you teach and mentor, Those who you
consider friends, they could care less about what belt you have or
whats hanging on your wall. With this said I no longer desire to
glorify myself or feed my own ego. The lights have not merely dimmed
they have gone out and the curtain has closed. There will be no
curtain calls, This is the final scene. My name is David, Teacher,
Instructor, Senior Instructor Etc. Feel free to call me by whatever
title you desire if this is your will and out of respect for me, but
understand I choose to not use the term master or grandmaster when
referring to myself. As for rank? Not mine thank God, My goodness
people the numbers keep climbing and soaring to new heights, 11th
Dan, 15th Dan, 20th Dan and higher. Think about
rank for a moment, And think about life also. Hwang kee used the
picture of the baby for white belt. When we are born we are
flexible, bodies perfect and no ego. They haven't been taught yet or
learned bad habits. The white belt is a new beginning, They are
pure, they do not even know how to tie their belt. They have to be
taught many things with the hopes that trough the training that
follows they develop a perfect balance between mind, body and spirit.
A freedom to be humble and walk in peace with no fear only love for
one another and for all life. This is the ultimate goal, NOT
material awards and EGO. A way to achieve this would be to let go of
all attachments to the material worldly things that give birth to
power, greed, politics and ego. Look at the ranking system, This is
a major part of it. We start out as white belt, no grade or rank is
attached to it. The lessons have not yet been taught. The Gup / Kyu
grades start where? At 10 and go down from there. From 10 all the
way down to 1. What comes after 1st gup or kyu? Black
Belt correct? By this time the lessons have been taught and the
basics fine tuned and honed. But its a new beginning, The real
training now takes place and with it the life lessons that lead to
balance and harmony of the mind, body and spirit. One way to achieve
this would be at black belt level to go to O zero. Gup / Kyu grades
counting down from 10 to 1 and ending at O with the black belt.
Politics, Greed, Ego could find no place within this system. They
could not be born. BUT could your own ego allow you to follow this
system? Again, look at the stones in your own hand.
UNDERSTAND
THIS!
I'm
grateful for the years of training and teaching and rank earned but
for me now it's about family, that circle again. My students and
members I guess you could say I'm like their father and this is our
house and in my house I choose for myself as head of the house the
circle, Indicated by the number Zero, A complete unbroken circle
that cannot be undone or broken and the Gup / Kyu / Dan rank with
numbers for MY students and MY members only until one day one of
them may decide to take the unbroken circle for themselves, O. You
also may choose the circle if you wish to do so but remember master
or grand master is not attached to it.. Thank you for the many awards
over the years but please do not nominate me, call me, or surprise me
with any I have more then enough collecting dust. I harbor no ill
feelings against anyone, I love all who have stepped foot on a
training hall floor, All of you! In closing understand this, I have
but one master Jesus Christ and one Grand Master his father, my
father and yours, GOD.
I am a
teacher of martial arts and always a student.
David Zacker