Black Belt Ceremony
Went to a black belt ceremony Sunday. Quite interesting that they have a ceremony that includes ritual purification, pseudo spell casting, etc. and then the announcement that "nothing about this is religious." Hee hee. Maybe to THEM. It was basically an initiation rite. There was a straight path marked by rugs where the grandmaster sat with another master at his side behind a very low table. Students were called, they were flanked by higher ranked people, who then escorted to a table where another person poured a cup of "pure" water that they drank, then went before the grandmaster, where they knelt and bowed. During this time, someone read what the person's goals were, what they got out of Tae Kwon Do, and some other information. The grandmaster gave them a new uniform, certificate and their black belt. Then they stood and the three of them walked backwards to the start of the path. The student then went and knelt at another low table where their parents or spouse witnessed a "contract" where the student stated their next goal that they were trying to attain.