On Friday December 13th, Mr. Husain, Mr. Powell, and Mr. Lehman all tested and (passed) the test for their fourth degree black belts. Check out some highlights as well as Mr. Husain's statement below.
Last Friday, I tested for fourth degree black belt. This test was very special to me for a few reasons. I received my third degree black belt in 2007 at a joint school test between Paragon Academy and Excel Academy in Rockford, IL. By normal conventions, I was 13 years overdue for this test, and I honestly wasn’t sure that it would ever happen.
During the 17 years following my third degree test, there were numerous events that threatened to derail my martial arts career from broken bones in my ankles to losing my first wife to brain cancer. The first major hurdle, however, was moving away to college. The first week of my freshman year at UW Madison, I ran into Joesph Bein on State Street. We had known each other for a few years from competing against each other at tournaments and he invited me to train with him at his current school. Over the next few years, he’d drive me from my dorm to practice several times a week. It’s safe to say that without that, I certainly wouldn’t have maintained my level of involvement in martial arts.
One of the things I love most about the martial arts is the sense of community it creates and how the scale of that community is both massive and small. I have martial arts family across the state, across the country, and across the globe, yet somehow, everyone knows and supports each other. Among the panel members for this black belt test were individuals that I have trained with and competed in tournaments against for decades already, competitors that I have judged at many tournaments, students of mine that I had awarded ranks to, a student of Master Gonzalez (who awarded me my third degree black belt in 2007) who I’ve watched compete from a young age and become a dominating force, people that dropped off care packages while my wife was in radiation therapy, folks whose weddings I had attended had attended mine… I could go on. Most importantly though, this panel consisted of some of my best friends.
Martial arts has played a heavy role in making me the person I am, but it isn’t because of the training or tournaments won or lost. It is because of the people I’ve learned from, trained with, and taught. I will forever be grateful for these relationships.
To every member on the panel, you didn’t just promote me to a new rank but made and shaped me into a fourth degree black belt.
Special thanks to Mr. Joseph Bein and all of Empower Martial Arts.
I am honored.
Jeremy Husain
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