2008 Woodie Awards
Finding Inner Peace
When classes end, the true training will begin for one student as he prepares to earn a black belt.
Danny Reyes
Issue date: 4/27/06 Section: News
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The sweat steadily begins to drip down the brows of pupils inside the jujitsu dojo (mat room, located in the Dennis B. Perryman Athletic Complex).
On Tuesday evenings the mat room transforms into a sanctuary of sorts.
Before entering, all must bow; a sign of respect, to one's self, the sensei and fellow peers. Once the threshold has been crossed, what a person was prior to entering is left behind so a new person can surface: someone full of focus, determination and dedication.
For Lance Garrison, Holcomb, Kan., the dojo serves as a place to hone his skills in preparation for something many who enter martial arts dream about: a black belt.
Garrison hopes that his hard work and dedication will pay off when he travels to Kansas City, Mo., on July 13.
"I'm not even into the summer and I'm already thinking about that [test] quite a bit," Garrison said. "I'm nervous. We test on Thursday and spend the next few days hoping we passed."
The nervousness may be caused by the fact that Garrison will test in front of their Grandmaster Taika Seiyu Oyata. Garrison says, before being allowed to test, Grandmaster Oyata must know the individual on a personal level; not just anyone may test for a black belt.
"He [Grandmaster Oyata] will not test someone unless he has a general idea that they aren't just doing it [karate] to be a jerk," Garrison said. "He's big on the, 'being a good person' principle."
Kent Kolbeck, instructor, says to reach the rank of black belt, students usually train anywhere from four to five years. In his fifth year of training, Garrison credits his two older brothers with introducing him to the world of karate.
"Both of my brothers went through here [GCCC], "Garrison said. "[They] thought it was a really cool class and they enjoyed it. I wanted something to do and I took karate. It's just something I really got into."
The class, taught by Kolbeck, is entitled, "jujitsu", but in actuality it teaches students "RyuTe RenMei". Kolbeck says this is because at the time of the classes' inception, the state of Kansas only recognized "jujitsu" as a self-defense class.
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