By Scott Campsall
On Dec.7, I am being promoted to 7th Dan in Karate and receiving the title of Kyoshi.
People keep congratulating me, but the truth is, I do not feel any different. I did not unlock a secret technique or gain sudden wisdom. I just kept coming to class.
I am not sure I am especially talented. I make mistakes, I doubt myself, and I still get frustrated when things do not feel right. But I have learned that real progress in martial arts does not always look or feel like progress. Sometimes, it is simply about constantly showing up until the small things start to add up.
Maybe that is why I am being promoted. Not because I am the best, but because I never stopped. I keep teaching. I keep learning. I keep trying to do right by my students, my instructors, and the art itself.
The title Kyoshi means “teacher of teachers,” but I do not think it means I have arrived. It means I am accepting a new level of responsibility. To guide others, you must keep working on yourself. To teach honestly, you must stay humble enough to know there is always more to learn.
So no, I do not feel different. But maybe that is the point. Real growth is not a sudden transformation. It is what happens quietly, over years of repetition, sweat, and service.
At Okami Kai, we often say Stronger Together, and I believe that now more than ever. This rank is not about me. It belongs to everyone who trained beside me, challenged me, believed in me, and trusted me to lead. Whatever I have achieved, I have done it as part of our pack, and that is the greatest honour of all.