I had a great blog written out with a lot of detail about what we did… and, being a total genius, I accidentally deleted it.

So instead, here’s the distilled version—the best of what we learned.

Colored belts are actually a relatively modern concept, dating back to around the 1950s. Before that, all belts started light and were typically kept for life.

You began as a clean slate—ready to learn, fully aware that you knew nothing. No ego (or at least less of it).

Over time, with training, your belt would darken. It became a dingy brown—reflecting experience. You knew some things.

As years passed, that brown deepened. You still knew some things—but now you understood them more deeply.

Eventually, the belt became black—filthy, worn, and saturated with experience. You were immersed. There was no trace of the beginner left.

And then something interesting happened.

The belt began to fray. The white threads started to show again. Over time, the belt faded—returning to white.

But this wasn’t the same white as before.

Now, you simply know.

No ego.

The Cycle:

• White Belt — Beginner’s Mind (Shoshin)

• White → Black — Discipline, practice, technique

• Black Belt — Technical mastery

• Black → White — Transcending technique, deeper understanding

• White Belt — Return to beginner’s mind, full circle

Let’s all be the best White Belts we can be.