“PURPLE IS THE SYMBOL OF MOUNTAINS AND THE STEEP PATHS THEY PRESENT. AS THE STUDENT MOVES ON TO HIGHER LEVELS OF ACHIEVEMENT, HE HAS DIFFICULT TASKS TO MASTER. PURPLE CAN ALSO REPRESENT THE SKY AT DAWN, A SYMBOL OF THE CHANGE THAT A STUDENT UNDERGOES AS HE TRANSITIONS TO THE ADVANCED LEVELS OF MARTIAL ARTS.”
~GWEN BRUNO, LIVESTRONG.COM
When we became purple belts, we were no longer the newbies, the novices, the uninitiated. There was a whole group of people below us now: beginners learning the basics as we had months earlier. We had settled into a comfortable slot, the group and I; if all went well, we realized we could possibly get our black belts together. We started hanging out even more and developing a camaraderie that I’d honestly never experienced in my life. I was part of something.
Finally, I belonged.