The story of a White Belt mentality professional.

C is for CANDID

Here I am, age 7, the day I earned my yellow belt in Judo.

the event was declared a national holiday in Chile

The way I remember it is that a quick-but-devastating hip throw surprised my orange belt opponent and, to everyone's shock, I won.

It would be my first and only judo match to date.

Record: 1-0, undefeated.

Status: Retired.

What happened?

Tuition fees happened.

My Earth-shattering hip throw was ineffective against the gunpowder of neoliberalism.

But this is not about my beef against Milton Friedman.

This post is about

the white belt mentality.

Lil’ Yuki about to kick some ass

A white belt is essentially a novice.

Here, take a look at what I’ve tried with different levels of resounding unsuccess:

Music Production

Longboarding

Poetry

Filmmaking

Literary event production

Motion design

3D compositing

Video Mapping

Cross Fit

Muay Thai

Now, for context, let's say that Ja Rule is a white belt at organizing music festivals

And Trump is a black belt at scamming people

Now let's rate these puppies: 

You might be wondering:

Bro, where are your black and brown belts?

And my answer is:

You have great observational skills. Have you thought of working as a private investigator?

I'm sorry. That was unnecessarily snarky. I felt attacked.

What I meant to say is this:

No black belts.

No brown belts.

And that's ok.

“Amateurs might lack formal training, but they’re all lifelong learners, and they make a point of learning in the open, so that others can learn from their failures and successes.”

Excerpt From

Show Your Work!: 10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered

On his deathbed, Kanō Jigoro the founder of Judo asked to be buried in a white belt instead of a black belt.

He wanted to be remembered as a learner, not a master.

He also said:

If a 7-year-old white belt can hip-throw an orange belt opponent, he is "The One”

To my point, you white belt legends: be a professional beginner in front of as many people as possible.

In a world where jaw-dropping talent is hyper-visible, there's beauty in being a noob.

See you on Monday!

Matias.

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