Do the Thing

At most martial arts schools, rising to the level of black belt requires a test that can take several hours. At Studio Naga, the black belt test is a 48-hour ordeal with no sleep. Students are running on pure adrenaline by the second night when they are blindfolded in the dark and taken to an unknown location. That's when it's time to fight. The blindfold is removed, revealing a dark path with a flickering candle at the end. Along the way, attackers jump out from the shadows. The black-belt candidates muster all of their focus, courage and strength to find a way through. Night training. Photo credit: Vanessa Lowe.