Week 1 of 16 · Test Cycle 1. This lesson is part of The Black Belt Mindset, the character curriculum every new Mile High Karate student begins with, by Grand Master Stephen Oliver and Grand Master Jeff Smith. Every week stands alone, so a student can start with any lesson.

Black Belt Success Skill Goal Attainment & Positive Self-Expectancy
Black Belt Quality Positive Self-Direction
Principle of the Black Belt Perseverance
Key Word TARGET
Live the Creed “I develop myself physically and mentally, based on the MILE HIGH KARATE SPIRIT.”

“A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at.”

Bruce Lee

The Big Idea

Pick a clear goal, write it down, and take a step toward it every day.

On this page: Read the chapter · Workbook lesson · For instructors: Mat Chat

Read: Aim Before You Kick

Before you throw a kick, where do you look?

At the target.

If you kick without looking, you might hit the target. You might hit the wall. You might hit your instructor! That is why every good martial artist aims first.

Life works the same way. If you do not know where you are going, you will end up somewhere. It just might not be somewhere you want to be.

Knowing where you are going, and steering yourself there, is called self-direction. It means you are the one holding the steering wheel of your life.

This week, you are going to aim at the biggest target in this school. Your Black Belt. And then you are going to aim past it.

There Are Only Two Choices

I have been teaching since 1974. I have watched more than 1,000 students earn their Black Belts at Mile High Karate. Here is something every one of them had in common.

They set the goal at white belt.

Not at brown belt. Not “someday.” They decided early that they were going to be Black Belts. They made it a definite goal, not a maybe.

Every new student and every new family makes a choice, even if they don’t know they are making it. There are only two choices. Choice one: train for a little while, then move on. Choice two: become a Black Belt.

There is no third choice. “Maybe” sounds like a third choice, but it isn’t. Over the years I have learned that maybe means no. It just takes longer to find out.

Here is the good news. Getting to Black Belt is not as hard as it sounds. For a young child, it is no harder than going from second grade to sixth grade. You don’t go to school wondering, month to month, whether you will finish sixth grade. You just keep going to class, and the grades keep coming. Karate works the same way. Come to class two or three times a week, do your homework, and the belts keep coming.

A Young Man with a Goal

In 1956, a young man from Korea got off a plane in San Francisco. His name was Jhoon Rhee. He was in America to train with the U.S. Air Force in San Marcos, Texas.

He did not have much. He did not have a school. He did not have students. But he had a goal. He wanted to share Tae Kwon Do with America.

He started teaching small classes. Then a club at a college in Texas. In 1962, he opened his first school in Washington, D.C. Later, he taught members of Congress. He became known as the Father of American Tae Kwon Do.

Years later, one of his students, a kid from Tulsa, would open Mile High Karate in Colorado. That kid was me.

Grand Master Rhee did not get there by accident. He aimed first.

What Is a Goal?

A goal is something you want to do or become, that you are willing to work for.

“I want to earn my orange belt by summer” is a goal.

“I want to read 10 books this year” is a goal.

“I want to walk two miles without stopping” is a goal.

A good goal is clear. “I want to be better at karate” is a nice idea, but it is fuzzy. “I want to know my first form by heart in four weeks” is clear. You know exactly what you are aiming at, and you will know when you hit it.

Every Goal Must Be SMART

At Mile High Karate, we check every goal to make sure it is SMART. Each letter stands for one word.

  • S is for Specific. Say exactly what you want. Not “a belt.” Instead: “my 1st Degree Black Belt.”
  • M is for Measurable. You can tell when you get there. A belt is easy to measure. It’s either around your waist or it isn’t!
  • A is for Attainable. It is possible for you, if you do the work. A Black Belt is attainable. Students from age 5 to age 76 have earned one at our school.
  • R is for Realistic. The plan fits your real life. Two or three classes a week, plus 15 to 30 minutes of home practice, fits almost anyone’s week.
  • T is for Tangible. You can see it and touch it. A Black Belt is something you can hold in your hands.

A goal also needs a date. At Mile High Karate, it takes about 48 months of steady training to earn a 1st Degree Black Belt. Then it takes about 30 more months to earn a 2nd Degree Black Belt. So if you start today, you can write down a real date for both. A goal with a date stops being a wish and starts being a plan.

The Four Black Belt Steps

We also teach four steps for reaching any goal. They work for a five-year-old and for a 75-year-old. They work in karate, at school, and at work.

Step 1: Say it out loud. Tell someone your goal. Tell your instructor. Tell your mom or dad. Tell your class. When you say a goal out loud, it stops being a quiet wish and starts being a promise.

Step 2: Put it in writing. Write your goal on paper. At our school, we use a vision sheet. A vision sheet is a page where you write your goals and maybe draw a picture of them. Hang it where you will see it every day, like your bedroom wall or the fridge. A goal you see every day is a goal you remember every day.

Step 3: Train like a Black Belt. A goal without action is just a dream. Do the homework. Practice your forms. Come to class. Do a little every day, even when nobody is watching.

Step 4: Never give up. You will have bad days. You will want to stop. Black Belts have those days too. The difference is, they keep going.

Imagine a boy named Sam. He is nine. His goal is to break a board at his next belt test. He tells his instructor (Step 1). He writes “Break my board!” on his vision sheet and draws a picture of it (Step 2). He practices his kick every night (Step 3). The first time he tries, the board does not break. He tries again. And again. On the third try, crack (Step 4).

Now imagine his grandmother. Her goal is to walk a 5K with her family. She tells them (Step 1). She writes it on the calendar (Step 2). She walks a little farther every day (Step 3). On race day, her knees hurt, but she finishes (Step 4).

Same four steps. Different goals.

In Their Own Words

“I never thought that three years ago, when I started in Mile High Karate that I would ever be sitting and writing about my goals after I got my Black Belt. In fact, I never really thought that I would ever even get there… Well, I just kept working towards a goal that seemed so far away, getting closer and closer…”

Eric Murotake, Black Belt essay

Aim Past the Target

When you punch a board, your instructor will tell you something strange. Do not aim at the board. Aim past it.

If you aim at the board, your punch slows down right before it gets there. If you aim past it, your punch goes straight through.

Goals work the same way. Grand Master Rhee taught his instructors a hard lesson about this. He noticed that many students who earned a Black Belt quit about 60 days later. Sixty days. After years of training.

Why? Because the Black Belt was the end of their aim. They hit the target, and they stopped.

So he taught us to always aim past the next target. A student going for a Black Belt should already be thinking about the next degree. When you reach one goal, have the next one ready.

That is why at Mile High Karate we don’t just say “Black Belt.” We say ”Black Belt and beyond.”

Black Belt Success Skill

Goal Attainment & Positive Self-Expectancy. Winning Black Belts expect good things to happen, and then they work to make them happen. Over the long run, people usually get what they really expect. If you expect to quit, you will find a reason. If you expect to earn your Black Belt, you will find a way.

This skill has two parts. First, set a clear, written goal. Second, expect to reach it, and act like it. A student with this skill says “when I get my Black Belt,” never “if.”

Start today. Every time you talk about your Black Belt this week, use the word “when.”

Live the Creed

Student Creed: “I develop myself physically and mentally, based on the MILE HIGH KARATE SPIRIT.”

Principle of the Black Belt: Perseverance

Look at the very first line of our Student Creed. It says you develop yourself, body and mind. Nobody can do that for you, and nobody does it in a day. That is why a goal matters. A goal turns “I develop myself” into a plan with a date on it. The Principle of the Black Belt this week is Perseverance: you keep aiming at your target even when it feels far away.

Where Are You Steering?

Every day, you make choices. Play or practice? Snack or water? Complain or help? Each choice steers you a little bit. Self-direction means making those small choices with your goal in mind.

You do not have to be perfect. You just have to keep turning the wheel toward where you want to go.

From Grand Master Smith

Grand Master Jeff Smith has a simple way to explain goals. He compares them to walking toward the horizon, the far-off line where the land meets the sky.

In his words: “You’ll pick a point and as you walk towards that point you can see farther.”

Think about what that means. When you are a white belt, you can only see the next belt. That is fine. Pick that point and walk toward it. When you get there, something amazing happens. You can see farther. Now you see the next goal, and the one after that.

Grand Master Smith lived this. He picked a point: become a champion. He walked toward it, training six hours a day for almost 20 years. He won the PKA World Light Heavyweight title in 1974 and held it until 1980. Then he could see farther. He became a teacher, a school owner, and today he is Chief of Instruction at Mile High Karate.

You do not need to see the whole path today. Just pick your point and start walking.

Black Belt and Beyond

This week you are going to do what every Black Belt in our school did at the very beginning. You are going to set the goal.

In your workbook, find the SMART Goal Worksheet. Sit down with your family and fill it in together:

  • The approximate date you will earn your 1st Degree Black Belt (about 48 months from when you started).
  • The approximate date you will earn your 2nd Degree Black Belt (about 30 months after that).
  • The benefits you want most, like confidence, fitness or leadership.
  • Your action plan: classes each week, testing every two months, and home practice.

Then sign the Personal Commitment, and have a parent sign too. Bring it to your instructor.

Why both dates? Because the 2nd Degree date is your aim past the target. When you already know what comes after Black Belt, you will never be one of the students who stops 60 days later. You will be a Black Belt, and beyond.

In Class This Week

Key Word: TARGET

Instructor: “Where are you going?”

Students: “Black Belt and beyond!”

You will kick a target while aiming at a spot past the pad, and you will call out your goal before each kick. Then you will tell a partner your Black Belt goal, starting with the word “when.”

How a Black Belt Does It

  1. Sets the goal today. Before tonight, tell one person, “I am going to be a Black Belt.”
  2. Makes the goal SMART. Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Tangible, with a date.
  3. Uses all four steps. Say it. Write it. Train for it. Never give up.
  4. Keeps a vision sheet. Goals go where they can be seen every day.
  5. Aims past the target. Before reaching one goal, a Black Belt is already choosing the next.

This week’s challenge

This week’s challenge: say your Black Belt goal out loud to someone every day for seven days, and take one step toward it each day.

Say It Out Loud

I am going to be a Black Belt, and beyond.

I know my goal, and I know my date.

I say my goal, I write my goal, and I train for my goal.

I am a person who never gives up.

Words to Know

  • Goal: something you want to do or become and are willing to work for.
  • Self-direction: steering your own life toward your goals.
  • SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Tangible; a test for a good goal.
  • Vision sheet: a page where you write and draw your goals so you see them every day.
  • Horizon: the far-off line where the land seems to meet the sky.
  • Definite: clear and certain, with no “maybe.”

For Parents and Adult Students

Adults set goals all the time, then let them fade. Use the same four steps you are teaching your child. Say your goal to someone who will ask about it. Write it where you will see it daily. Schedule the action. Plan for the bad days before they come.

Parents, young children supply the enthusiasm. You supply the long-term vision. A seven-year-old can’t picture four years from now, but you can. Ask yourself: “If my child were an 11-year-old Black Belt, with the confidence and focus that come with it, is that something we want for our family?” If the answer is yes, make it a family goal. Fill in the SMART Goal Worksheet together this week, sign it, and post the dates on the fridge. Then say “when,” never “if.”

Remember

  • Aim before you kick. Know your goal before you start.
  • There are only two choices. Maybe means no.
  • Every goal must be SMART, and every goal needs a date.
  • The four Black Belt steps: say it, write it, train for it, never give up.
  • Aim past the target: Black Belt and beyond.

Workbook Lesson: Week 1

Print the full workbook below, or answer these on paper. Young students can have a parent help them read and write.

1. Words to Know

  • Goal: something you want to do or become and will work for
  • Self-direction: steering your own life toward your goals
  • SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Tangible
  • Vision sheet: a page where you write and draw your goals
  • Definite: clear and certain, with no “maybe”

2. Fill in the Blank

  1. The first Black Belt goal step is: Say it out .
  2. When you break a board, aim the target.
  3. The fourth Black Belt goal step is: Never give .
Answers

1) loud; 2) past; 3) up

3. Think About It

  1. Write the four Black Belt steps for reaching a goal.
  2. Grand Master Oliver says there are only two choices, and “maybe means no.” What do you think he means?
  3. Why did Grand Master Rhee want students to think about their NEXT degree before they reached their Black Belt?
  4. Teens & Adults: Write your Black Belt goal as a SMART goal. Which letter (S, M, A, R or T) was hardest to fill in, and why?

4. Black Belt and Beyond: this week’s goal step

My SMART Black Belt Goal Worksheet

Module A: Goal Setting (SMART Goals)

Every Black Belt at Mile High Karate set the goal at white belt. Fill this in with your family, sign it, and give a copy to your instructor.

My Goal: To be a 2nd Degree Black Belt and live the Black Belt lifestyle.

Deadline: About 48 months from beginning karate to earn my 1st Degree Black Belt. About 30 months from 1st Degree to 2nd Degree Black Belt.

  • Date I started karate: ________________
  • Approximate goal date for my 1st Degree Black Belt: ________________
  • Approximate goal date for my 2nd Degree Black Belt: ________________

Benefits I want most (check all that matter to you):

  • ☐ The ability to defend myself
  • ☐ Health and fitness
  • ☐ Total confidence
  • ☐ Being part of an elite team
  • ☐ The first step toward Black Belt mastery and life mastery
  • ☐ Learning an advanced curriculum
  • ☐ Developing leadership and public-speaking skills
  • ☐ A life-changing process

My personal benefits (in my own words): ______________________________

My Action Plan (check each one you will do):

  • ☐ Train consistently 2 to 3 times per week
  • ☐ Test regularly, about every 2 months, with 16 or more classes
  • ☐ Take personal responsibility to learn my material
  • ☐ Get proper nutrition, rest and exercise
  • ☐ Practice at home 15 to 30 minutes a day
  • ☐ Apply for the Black Belt Club when my instructor invites me

My personal action steps: ______________________________

Is my goal SMART? Specific ☐ Measurable ☐ Attainable ☐ Realistic ☐ Tangible ☐

Personal Commitment: I pledge to do whatever it takes to achieve my goal, for the betterment of myself and those around me.

Signatures: Student, Parent, Date

5. Activity: My Vision Sheet

Make your own vision sheet. Write your Black Belt goal and date, your next belt goal, one school or work goal, and one goal at home. Draw a small picture next to each one. Copy it onto a big sheet and hang it where you will see it every day.

6. Home Challenge: Say It Every Day

Every day this week, say your Black Belt goal out loud to someone (a parent, a friend, a teacher, a grandparent). Use the word “when,” not “if.” Then do one thing that day to train for it: practice a form, stretch, or do your karate homework. Write who you told and what you did.

Do it 7 days in a row. Track each day (Who I told / one step I took). When every day is done and a parent signs off, turn it in for an attitude stripe.

7. My Self-Talk

Write a sentence about your Black Belt goal. Start with: “I am going to be a Black Belt by…”

8. Live the Creed

Say the Student Creed out loud every day this week. Then write about one time this week you showed Perseverance.

For Instructors: Week 1 Mat Chat

A 3–4 minute line-up lesson built on the Hook, Teach, Story, Ask, Commit formula, with a discussion guide for every age on the mat.

Objective: By the end of this Mat Chat, students will be able to say their Black Belt goal out loud using the word “when,” name what SMART stands for, and explain why we aim past the target.

Prepare:

  • A kicking target or a hand-held pad to hold up during the Hook.
  • Copies of the SMART Goal Worksheet ready to hand out at the end of class.
  • Recruit a Black Belt or Leadership Team helper to model saying a goal with “when” during the partner share.

The Mat Chat (3–4 minutes)

Hook (0:00–0:30). [Hold up a kicking target.] Students, eyes on me. Before you throw a kick, where do you look? (At the target!) Right. If you kick without looking, you might hit the wall. You might even hit me! Every good martial artist aims first. Life works the same way. If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll end up somewhere. It just might not be somewhere you want to be. So today, we aim.

Teach (0:30–1:30). This week’s Black Belt Success Skill is called Goal Attainment and Positive Self-Expectancy. First, pick a clear TARGET and write it down. Second, expect to hit it, and act like it. Our key word is TARGET. Your biggest target in this school is your Black Belt. A good target is SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Tangible. A Black Belt is all five. You can even hold it in your hands! And every target needs a date. It takes about 48 months of steady training to earn your 1st Degree Black Belt. Grand Master Oliver has watched more than 1,000 students earn their Black Belts here. Every one of them set the goal at white belt. Not someday. Not maybe. He says there are only two choices, and maybe means no. So a Black Belt never says “if I get my Black Belt.” A Black Belt says “when.”

Story (1:30–2:30). Meet a young man with a goal. In 1956, Jhoon Rhee got off a plane in San Francisco. He came from Korea to train with the U.S. Air Force. He had no school. He had no students. But he had a target: share Tae Kwon Do with America. In 1962 he opened his first school in Washington, D.C. He became the Father of American Tae Kwon Do. But Grand Master Rhee noticed something sad. Many students who earned a Black Belt quit about 60 days later. Sixty days, after years of training! Why? The Black Belt was the end of their aim. So he taught us what we do when we break a board. [Mime a punch through a board.] We don’t aim at the board. We aim past it, so the power goes all the way through. Your Black Belt is the target. Your 2nd Degree, the Leadership Team, maybe teaching this class one day: that’s aiming past it.

Ask (2:30–3:15). Let’s check. Where do you look before you kick? (At the target!) When we break a board, where do we aim? (Past it!) What word does a Black Belt use, “if” or “when”? (When!) Hands up if you already know your Black Belt date. Great. Now turn to a partner and finish this sentence: “When I get my Black Belt, I will…” Go! [Give them 20 seconds.] I heard some great targets out there.

Commit (3:15–3:45). Here’s your seven-day challenge. Every day this week, say your Black Belt goal out loud to someone: a parent, a friend, a teacher. Use the word “when.” Then do one thing that day to train for it. Take home your SMART Goal Worksheet, write your 1st and 2nd Degree dates with your family, sign it and bring it back. That date is your target. Black Belt and beyond is your aim past it. Where are you going? (Black Belt and beyond!)

Call and response

Instructor: Where are you going?
Students: Black Belt and beyond!
Key Word: TARGET

Discussion Guide

Aim: Help every student, at every rank, name a definite Black Belt goal with a date and start talking about it with “when,” not “if.” Older students should also see that aiming past the Black Belt is what keeps a goal alive.

Little Dragons (ages 4–6)

  1. Show me where your eyes go before you kick. Can you point at the target?
  2. Can you say “When I get my Black Belt” with a big voice?

Kids (ages 7–12)

  1. What is one goal you have at school or at home besides your Black Belt, and what is your first step?
  2. Why do you think Grand Master Rhee wanted students to think about their next degree before they even got their Black Belt?
  3. Who is one person you will tell your Black Belt goal to this week, and what will you say?

Teens and adults

  1. Think of a goal you set and let fade. Which SMART letter was missing?
  2. Grand Master Oliver says “maybe means no.” Where in your school, work or family life are you living in “maybe” right now?
  3. What is your “aim past the target” after Black Belt, and how does knowing it change how you train today?

Listen for:

  • A clear target with a date, not a fuzzy wish.
  • Using “when” instead of “if” about the Black Belt.
  • Aiming past the target: the next goal is chosen before the first one is reached.
  • A small daily action, not just a big dream.

Follow-up questions:

  • What would saying your goal out loud look like at dinner tonight?
  • How will you know you hit that target? What exactly will you see?
  • What is one thing you could do in the next 24 hours to move toward it?

Coaching cautions

  • Some students and families have not filled in a date yet. Never ask anyone to state a date in front of the class; invite them to work it out with family on the worksheet.
  • Keep “maybe means no” warm, not scolding. Aim it at the decision, never at a student who has missed classes or is new.
  • Little Dragons may not grasp 48 months. Use “when you are bigger” or “after lots of belts” instead of numbers.

If the room is quiet: Have the Black Belt helper go first with “When I get my 2nd Degree, I will…”, then do a fast pair-share where partners say only their next belt color with “when.”

Into the Mat Drill

  • Mat drill: Aim Past It: hold kicking targets and have students strike while focusing on a spot six inches behind the pad. Before each strike, the student calls out their goal (“Black Belt!”). Finish with each student saying their Black Belt goal to a partner using the word “when.”
  • Leader role: A Black Belt or Leadership Team helper models the partner share first and then holds a target for any student who needs a partner.
  • Open next class: Open the next class with a hands-up check: “Who said your Black Belt goal out loud to someone, using ‘when’? Who brought back a signed SMART Goal Worksheet?”

Black Belt and Beyond: Module A: Goal Setting Process (SMART Goals)

Checkpoint: Progress Update: about 2 months (16 classes) before graduation

  • Hand out the SMART Goal Worksheet. Teach SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Tangible) in 60 seconds using the Black Belt as the example.
  • Students fill in approximate goal dates for 1st and 2nd Degree Black Belt; parents co-sign the Personal Commitment.
  • Keep a copy in the student file and book each family’s 2-month Progress Update.

Adult and parent tip: Parents: say “when you get your Black Belt,” never “if.” Post the goal dates on the fridge. Adults: write your own Black Belt date where you will see it every day.

Teaching tip: Hold a target and ask a student to kick it with eyes closed, then with eyes open (safely, slowly). Use it to show that aiming first makes all the difference. Then have each student say their Black Belt goal out loud using the word “when.”

Download the complete books (PDF): The Black Belt Mindset · The Workbook · The Instructor’s Manual

All 16 lessons · Week 2: Never Quit →

Train at Mile High Karate Thornton, 3979 E 120th Ave, Thornton, CO 80233. Call (303) 280-1839, or see class schedules and enrollment at ThorntonMHK.com.