It’s an honor reserved only for the most dedicated, those who have committed themselves to martial arts, teaching others while bettering themselves physically and spiritually in the most humble of fashions. Two weeks removed from the Washington Karate Academy’s 30-year anniversary celebration, the local dojo had yet another ceremony, this time for its Sensei.

As his students looked on, his most veteran pupils standing by his side, David Warren unknotted his tattered black belt, three-and-a-half years of wear and tear, folded it up and bowed to Sensei Mack Macaluso, a true 10th-degree black belt based out of Greenville. Macaluso bowed to Warren and handed him over a red-barred, jet-black sash. The pair, both who follow Shorin Goju Ryu methodology, exchanged a solid handshake.

“You get a lot of people who stay in the system, but what I like about David is that he’s added to the system,” Macaluso said. “He’s studied the mechanics of everything, which a lot of them don’t do. That’s another reason why I promoted him — the way he’s improved the system and ultimately his school. Just because you belong to a system doesn’t mean you have to go step by step by step. Like anything else, if you study hard enough, there’s always a better way to do things.”

After being promoted to sixth-degree black belt (Rokkudan) in 2005 by Sensei Charles June of the June Karate Institute in Greenville, Warren earned his seventh-degree black belt (Shichidan) in 2008 and eighth-degree in 2011, which was awarded by Michael Willet of New York and Macaluso.

Warren received the promotion due to his continued obedience to the same system for nearly 30 years, since opening the Washington Karate Academy in 1985. As the dojo’s Sensei, Warren has selectively promoted a total of 26 students to the rank of first-degree black belt, or Shodan. It’s his dedication to not only the art, but its history that has students striving to become better.

For those students who want to work their way through the ranks, “I would tell them not to give up, don’t quit and persevere,” Warren said. “Keep training, that’s all I’ve done. There hasn’t been any magic that I know of. I consider myself an average, plain, simple guy. I’m not anyone special and not better than anybody, so I figure if I could do this, anybody can do this.”

Warren has trained willing students from all walks off life — doctors, lawyers, politicians and students from elementary to high school. While the reasons for joining the ranks vary, those who submit themselves to the art come out stronger on the other side, both physically and mentally.

Personally, martial arts have been more than simply a career choice for Warren. It’s been a vehicle to grow spiritually, while helping others grow confidence and self-defense skills.

“The journey has been adventurous, exciting,” Warren said. “I’ve been able to travel, worked out with martial arts celebrities from Las Vegas to here to South Carolina. I’ve learned a lot and learned from my own students. Any teacher who can’t say they learn from their students is probably not a good teacher. I never thought I would get this high.”

Warren admitted that he was never striving for high belt rank. That was never the objective. Rather, he enjoys the ride.

“It helps me to feel good that I’m trying to do some good for other people, whether that’s educationally, spiritually or helping them to have confidence, do something they never thought they could do. It’s been a very rewarding career,” Warren said.

Macaluso agrees.

“As hard as he’s worked all these years and watching him teach classes, I know what he’s doing,” he said. “He deserved to be ninth-degree.”