In kung fu class, you line up by rank at the beginning and end of each session.  White belts, green belts, brown belts, black…and then the no-belts; the beginners who are so much so that they haven’t even bought a gi yet.

I was a no-belt when I used to go to the kung fu place.

One day, I watched as a green belt who had previously been injured and was returning to class for the first time in a while, walked up to the Sifu and asked for a white belt.  He traded his green for the white and took his place in line with the rest of the lower rank.

The Sifu explained that this was an act of humility — that he knew that he could no longer keep up with the green belt techniques he had learned in the past.  That he was opening himself to the idea that he may be relearning.

I asked, “had he kept his green belt, could he still be a step behind and practice with the rest of the white belts?”

Sifu said yes, but that this was arrogance.

I’m convinced that this applies in more places than the dojo.