How My Journey To Black Belt Has Changed My Life By Rafael Fernandez for Junior Black Belt Grading December 2023
Hello everyone my name is Rafael Fernandez and today I am challenging
for my junior black belt. This speech is about how my journey to black
belt has changed my life. Engaging in my journey to black belt has
transformed my attitude towards family instilling essential qualities and
values such as patience, honesty and commitment into my home life. It
has also changed my attitude towards school work as I am more focused
and resilient when things don’t work out the way I planned. It has made
me more determined to succeed.
My understanding of the dojo values is that I appreciate the things I have,
and help people when they need it. These values have made me a better
person. I learned as a Kindymite (5-6yrs) and Dynamite (6-9yrs) to follow all the powerful
words or words of the month and now it has helped develop my
philosophy and character. I am now confident in how I face challenges and
persevere through tough times. Throughout my journey, I have
accomplished a few things that I am proud of. For instance, I have
achieved my black belt in both Kindymites and Dynamites. Additionally, I
have also earned my Shodan in Dynamites.
Some leadership skills I have in karate are assisting in classes at the dojo
to help other students and demonstrating key concepts with kata and
basic techniques. I started karate when I was 3 so I don’t remember life
before Karate. Even though I don’t, karate has still changed me as a
person. Being part of this community has helped me develop my
leadership skills and prepared me to take on new challenges. As a result
of this growth, I decided to put myself forward as a candidate for school
councillor, and I am proud to say that I am now serving in that role at
school.
My goals in life are to have a positive growth mindset, to persevere,
always to challenge myself and work hard to succeed in whatever my
future holds.
I am grateful to everyone who has helped me throughout my black belt
journey. I want to thank my whole family who has played their special
part in getting me to where I am today whether it is telling me to never
give up or helping me with my bunkai. I would also like to thank my
karate family, Sensei Kelie, Sensei Anna, Sensei Romany, Sensei Rhee and
Kyoshi. A special thank you to Sensei Anna my black belt prep teacher
who has helped me improve, grow and develop my karate skills and
technique. Thank you everyone for listening to my speech you must be
getting tired of my voice by now so goodbye and thank you.