AFTER more than a decade of involvement at Portland Kyokushin Karate Club, instructor Deb Millard became the dojo’s third student to obtain their Black Belt after undertaking an intense six-hour grading in Geelong last Saturday.

Having started her karate journey in Portland in 2013, Millard took over the reins at the dojo last year after long-time owners Shihan Ron and Sempai Debbie Jorgensen said goodbye to the karate club.

Millard said her grading as a Black Belt was the culmination of eleven years of hard work.

“I was pretty pleased to have been successful,” she said.

“It was a long and hot day - it was about 37 degrees in Geelong, and we went from 10am and finished at about 4pm.

“Sometime in the first 12 months when I had first started karate, I had told Shihan Ron that I would make it to Black Belt one day.

“He reminded me of that comment on Saturday and was pleased that I had kept my word to him after this time.”

Having climbed the ranks through the discipline’s 10 kyu gradings, Millard was invited to take on the grading for her Dan or Black Belt, which consists of a vigorous combination of techniques and exercises.

Following initial exercises, Millard had to complete 30 repetitions each of the many Kyokushin techniques she had learnt, from beginner techniques to the more advanced techniques.

Millard’s combinations of these techniques were then tested, before performing 36 series’ of moving techniques completed in patterns from 20-35 movements, knowns as kata, but even then there was one more challenge for Millard to overcome.

She needed to successfully make it through 20 one-and-a-half-minute individual contact fights against other Black Belts in a row, which Millard said was usually one of the more intimidating parts of the grading process.

“Normally the fights at the end are the most daunting part of the grading,” she said.

“You fight against 20 Black Belts in a row who are fresh, and you just have to keep going.

“But on the day the hardest thing ended up being getting through all of the basics and kata just because it was such a hot day.”

Millard said that one of the main life skills she had learnt from her time at the dojo was “when things get hard, you don't give up.”

“Karate is about perseverance and pushing through the things you think that you can't do,” she said.

“It helps you find out that you actually can achieve the goals you set if you keep trying.”

Millard said one example of her resilience through karate was fighting through the COVID-19 lockdown period.

“When I had made it to my green belt, I felt as though I was a bit stuck on that one for a very long time,” she said.

“It didn’t help that had also aligned with when COVID hit, and we moved to online training sessions.

“I wasn’t very good at the online stuff - I was in a small house and often found myself kicking walls or desks.

“I found myself thinking that I had hit a level I couldn’t progress from and found myself questioning if I was too old for all of this.

“A lot of people gave up sport and didn’t return after COVID, but I was able to return to a similar level of fitness and continue on with it.”

From the outside, martial arts can appear to be a sport based solely on individuals, as two competitors fight each other one on one, but Millard said without the support of her team and supporters, she wouldn’t have made it this far.

“In karate being a part of a team is everything,” she said.

“You wouldn't be able to achieve any of it without all of the other people that are there either helping or supporting you.

“I received so much support from Shihan Ron and Sempai Debbie, as well as Natalie Jorgensen from the Warrnambool dojo and the entire Portland team.

“A few of the team were there for some or all of the grading, and had made up shirts wearing Team Deb on the back.

“Even when you’re fighting against someone, it can be very intense but when it’s all done you’re hugging and chatting with one another.

“People in this sport just want to see you grow, they want you to be better and sometimes they’ll even push you out of your comfort zone so that you can go further.”