(Approx 2 minute 35 second read)

A couple of years ago, I was going through a moment of madness – I seem to have many of them. I felt like I needed a new challenge and briefly considered swapping styles. A new organization had just been established, and I had a massive amount of respect for its very well-known head instructor, someone I had trained with back in the 1980s.
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On a whim, I sent off an inquiry about joining, not expecting much to come of it. To my surprise, I received a quick response. But when the email landed in my inbox, it set me back in my chair.
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This was the first sentence which was enough to stop me in my tracks: “We are not an umbrella organization of many differing styles that hands out dan grades according to the length of time one has been training in their respective organization.”
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Hello to you too. Nice start.
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Here’s the thing: I never asked for a grade; in fact, I didn’t ask for anything.
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I thought the email was unnecessarily rude, and it continued in a similar vein, as though I was seeking recognition or something I hadn’t earned. I wrote back and clarified that I would be more than happy to relinquish all my grades and start as a beginner if that was what they required. I didn’t want anything handed to me – I wanted to learn, to train, and to earn my place.
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The response I got was short and simple, to paraphrase: “Oh, okay,” followed by a request for $250 per year.
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I did receive an apology afterward, but after some reflection, I respectfully declined.
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That interaction reminded me of some hard truths about the martial arts. First, nothing is owed to anyone. If you want something – whether it’s rank, respect, or recognition – you have to earn it. This is true not just in karate, but in life.
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For me, joining a new group would have been about starting fresh, learning what they do, and training hard over time. I wasn’t looking for an easy way in or automatic validation of my past experience. Your prior training can help you, but it doesn’t entitle you to anything.
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I was also struck by how transactional the entire exchange felt. It made me reflect on the kind of martial artist I am and the kind of dojo I want to lead.
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Karate is many things to many people. It’s also about relationships – teacher and student, practitioner and art. When we reduce it to money or titles, we lose something far more valuable.
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Looking back, I’m glad I didn’t join, even though I have a huge respect for the master concerned. It wasn’t he who replied. It wasn’t about the money or the grade – it was about a fundamental mismatch in values. To truly belong to an organization, you need to feel aligned with its principles, not just its procedures.
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This experience reaffirmed for me the importance of humility in training. Even as an experienced practitioner, I believe in the power of a beginner’s mindset. I was willing to start from scratch, to prove myself, and to earn my place. That, to me, should be the essence of the martial arts.
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We’re often tempted to seek external validation – through ranks, titles, or affiliations. But at the end of the day, what really matters is how we train, how we treat others, and how we represent the art we practice.
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This experience was a reminder to stay true to those values. No matter how many years we’ve been training or how many dan grades we’ve earned, the journey is never about what we’re given – it’s about what we’re willing to work for.
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Written by Adam Carter – Shuri Dojo
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Photo Credit: With thanks to Seishin. Belt available from their website.