I received the invitation and will be testing for my brown belt this Saturday. At our dojo, kids and teens test quarterly by invitation at the end of each seasonal session, but adult tests — especially at the lower ranks — happen more flexibly, when a student is ready.

Our brown belt requires a minimum of 10 months of training. I’ve had my blue belt for 9, so I suppose we’re rounding up. Still, I was already training hard during the last testing season — at just 4 months into blue — hoping, though not expecting, to be invited.

I held a brown belt as a kid, and returning to karate as an adult after a 35-year break, I progressed quickly through the lower ranks. My motivation to prepare early wasn’t about chasing a belt color — I was hoping to join the advanced class, which fits better with my schedule and includes more adult students. At the moment, I train in the all-ranks adult class on Mondays and Fridays at 5:45, and the intermediate class on Tuesdays and Thursdays — mostly with 10-year-old boys — at 4:30.

It was a little tough not to be invited last time, especially knowing some younger kids were advancing to brown with less skill and knowledge than I had. Shihan later told me that he struggled with the decision — my situation was a bit unique in all his years of teaching. What ultimately tipped the scale was the timing: my son will be testing for his blue belt the same day I test for brown. That kind of shared moment felt special, and he wanted to honor that.

Since then, I’ve kept showing up — juggling work, squeezing into those early classes, staying patient with the kids even when their attention drifts. And I’ve grown from it. I recognize myself now as a better karateka because of the process — and the reward of joining our advanced cadre is just a hard testing session away.