Alison<p>Today I was promoted to Yodan, which is a 4th degree black belt. I train at Tracy's Karate and got my 1st degree black belt in 2016, on Friday 13th May. </p><p>My instructor says everyone's black belt test will make them think they're going to die, and the mark of a black belt is that you keep going. I remember thinking that I would never finish the test, that the rest of my life would be in that room, and that was OK. I kept going. I am a black belt.</p><p><a href="https://social.coop/tags/Karate" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Karate</span></a> <a href="https://social.coop/tags/Kenpo" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Kenpo</span></a> <a href="https://social.coop/tags/MartialArts" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>MartialArts</span></a></p>