White to Black Belt — Twenty-Five Haiku

CEJames & Akira Ichinose

White Belt

1.

White cloth, empty cup —

the dojo floor awaits me;

bow before you learn

2.

Bare feet on hard wood,

sensei’s voice cuts like kiai —

I am nothing yet

3.

First kata stumbles;

hands forget what eyes have seen —

begin again. Bow.

Yellow Belt

4.

Yellow — a pale dawn;

basics carved into the bone —

sweat is the teacher

5.

The punch corrected

ten thousand times — not enough;

the ego bows first

Orange Belt

6.

Orange belt tied tight;

still the hip does not rotate —

sensei sees it all

7.

The makiwara

speaks what the mirror withholds —

knuckles know the truth

Green Belt

8.

Green like new bamboo,

bending is not breaking yet —

patience, young willow

9.

The form now flows smooth;

still something beneath the form

still waits to be found

10.

Sparring partner bows —

two mirrors facing each other;

nothing is hidden

Blue Belt

11.

Blue as the deep sea —

I thought I could see the floor;

it has no bottom

12.

Kime — the moment

when breath and body become fist;

all silence after

13.

Hara does not lie;

the center knows before thought —

trust what has no name

Purple Belt

14.

Half the way behind,

half the mountain still above —

rest here, then climb on

15.

Old kata returns;

now I see what was always

there in the first step

Brown Belt

16.

Muscle learns by night

what the daylight mind forgets —

the body remembers

17.

Brown earth holds all roots

beneath the visible green;

the real work is here

18.

The sensei is still,

watching what I cannot see —

I train through his eyes

19.

Now chinkuchi waits —

not force but focused intent;

the stone fist blooms soft

20.

Three years, ten thousand

repetitions still untrue —

begin the count again

Approaching Black

21.

Before the panel

my whole life becomes one punch —

let the punch be clean

22.

Fear is the last test;

beyond it, nothing to prove —

only what remains

Black Belt

23.

Black belt — not an end;

the white belt you began with

turned dark with the years

24.

Now the door opens

onto a longer, harder path —

bow again. Begin.

25.

Karate-jutsu —

the way of the empty hand;

your hand holds nothing

The empty hand holds everything.