Monthly Martial Arts Grading days
At Centenary Martial Arts, we have monthly Martial Arts grading days with one grading belt ceremony at the end of the day. You may ask why we do that. It’s important, not because other schools do it, but because it reinforces the culture within our school / club.
Why only One Grading Belt Ceremony?
Within our school we continue to talk about the most important person on the mats being our training partner. We talk about Loyalty and Mateship and being available for our training partner if they need our help. I would like to think that every person within Centenary Martial Arts, regardless of age, belt colour, etc, knows that they are not in this Martial Arts journey on their own. That is really important!
Life long friendships have been forged whilst sharing a common cause, challenge or hardship. Soldiers going into battle together. Netball players working through a season and taking out the grand final. Uni students helping each other through their studies and earning their degrees. Martial artists working through the challenges of learning and grading to a new belt colour, knowing that everyone is sharing the journey with them.
I want every Bilbie, Wallabie, Falcon, Teenager or Adult, who steps onto the mats to grade, to know they are not alone. We are there sharing the journey and supporting them. I want everyone to know that the Bilbie Orange Belt, is just as important as the Adult Red belt. Lets face it. A Black belt is simply a white belt who didn’t give up and kept telling themselves, ‘I can do this’.
That’s why at the end of each grading day, all new belts awarded, will be entwined and done at the same time. For example, a Bilbie orange belt, will be awarded between an Adult orange belt and a Teenage orange belt. That tells everyone they are equally important and we are in this together. Not to mention the awesome photos we will get, showing a cross section of our school.
Our Culture
As the Chief Instructor for Centenary Martial Arts, I am passionate about our school being something special. Something that we can all be proud of.