Rites of Passage

In most primitive societies around the world there are very distinct and clear lines of demarcation that separate children from adults, young boys to men, men to warriors.  For instance in the Zulu tribe, young boys had to go out and kill a lion with a spear.  By themselves.  No small feat by any one's standards of a warrior.  Other cultures involve surviving rituals of circumcisions, being stung by bullet ants, the taking of local drugs for enlightenment and vision quests.  Being able to ride a race, jump a bull, Native American tribes included wrestling an Alligator into submission.

There still exists some rites of passage in our world.  The military has some.  Certain indoctrinations, tests of mental and physical ability as well as a test of one's determination and heart. Some are known to the public, others are closely guarded so as not to be destroyed or tainted by the the "politically correct" aspect of lowering standards to the common denominator.

I have always been a huge believer in these types of rites of passage.  They instill a sense of accomplishment and self worth that few other things in life can.  It helps the young warrior face upcoming challenges with more confidence in himself and his abilities.  Sure, he might survive without that test, just relying on training, but he and those who count on him will feel better knowing he has tested those abilities before and passed the test.

The martial arts have rites of passage.  Each martial art has it's own distinctive ways of testing it's students.  What one sets as it's standard might be just a normal class for another.  Each art and instructor determining what that level should be.  In my class we have pre-set physical standards that each student should accomplish.  We also have "personal" standards which are the character traits we are looking for in each student.  Those "personal" standards are developed in the physical practice of overcoming obstacles and achieving physical skills.  It's hard, its supposed to be hard. 

In Sayoc Kali, a system I teach and train in, there are many rites of passage, each progressively more difficult and challenging.  A simple rite of passage is getting your gear.  If it's important to you to study the system, you will get the right gear.  A simple test many fail.  These test move on to include some of the most dangerous and difficult rites of passage I have ever faced.  Once on the other side of each one of those tests I saw their inherent value.  It all made sense.  No so much before, but after I saw the true genius behind each one. 

In our program we have Jr. Black Belt for children and Full Instructor for Adults.  They are different standards because children cannot understand or perform the material on the level that adults can.  It's that simple.  If they could there would be no need for grade school, they would just go to college.  But they can't, so you have to stair step them towards those larger longer term goals.  That doesn't mean that the goals should be any less difficult or trying for the children.  It should be the hardest thing they have ever done.  They should be physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted when the test is done.  The parents of the children testing come up to me afterwards and always have the same comments, "wow, I didn't realize how much they knew!" or "I had no idea my kid could do that!".  And they watch classes regularly!  It's the rite of passage, the raising the bar and level of expectation.  It's the pushing to pass the test and become more than they were yesterday!

Rites of passage are important and are simply disappearing in our society.  Forced behind closed doors because of the fears of others.  It's something I spend time and careful consideration on.  It's an important part of my past and keeping them alive and utilizing them to make better people is an important part of my future.

Guro Harley
Mataas Na Guro