Suzanne earned his black belt in Chon Tu Kwon Hapkido, a Korean martial art, after four-and-a-half years of training under Schiller.

“Generally it takes between three and five years (to earn a black belt), if somebody stays with good attendance and they’re dedicated to coming to class, that kind of thing, doing extra classes and extra preparation. Four and a half years is pretty good,” Schiller said.

There are nine belt levels — and nine tests — that a student must pass before they can obtain their black belt. Each ascending level represents a student’s progress mentally and physically as a practitioner of their particular martial art, from a novice’s white belt to an expert’s black belt.

In Hapkido, a hybrid martial art that originated in Korea in the first half of the 20th century, this means the student is able to defend himself swiftly, intentionally and relentlessly.

According to Schiller, Hapkido — a word which roughly translates to “way of coordinated energy” in English — is used “mainly for self-defense in protection,” making the martial art particularly suited to law enforcement, military and those who want to be prepared to defend themselves.

“It basically is a controlling kind of art, where you can take control of a situation that may be out of control or a person who’s out of control,” Schiller said.

Hapkido practitioners use techniques that apply pressure to their opponent’s joints — fingers, wrists and elbows, mainly. Students also learn how to effectively hit and kick, as well as defend themselves against a variety of weapons — from bats to guns to knives.

There is a curriculum for every belt level in Hapkido and a corresponding belt test. The black belt test, however, is holistic. It examines a student’s proficiency in all Hapkido skills, including weapons defense and ground fighting. In Schiller’s dojo, he tailors the test to a student’s demonstrated strengths and weaknesses, pushing them into unfamiliar territory. At the end of the test, he unleashes one final surprise: the rest of the class.

“At the end with the black belt (test), I’ll let the rest of the students in the class attack him,” Schiller said. “I don’t mean literally ripping skin and all that. What I mean is, I let other students go after him in any way they want to so that he’s not prepared for any of that. That’s all free intuition and response, and this is after an hour-and-a-half of tests. So, by that time, he’s been going for 90 minutes and he’s pretty tired, which is one of the reasons why I do that at the end. I want a person to know what to do when they absolutely have no gas left.”

Suzanne, one of Schiller’s most accomplished students, took on the challenge. By the end of the grueling 90-minute test, he had earned his black belt, which was presented to him by Placid Martial Arts black belt instructor Ives McCarty and Schiller.

A black belt, according to Schiller, is far from the end of a student’s learning. Rather, it represents the beginning of a lifetime of improvement.

“Sometimes I tell my students, once you get a black belt, you’re in kindergarten,” Schiller said. “They get frustrated when I say that, but it’s like, that’s when you really start your learning.”

Suzanne started his education at 16 when his father brought him to watch one of Schiller’s classes. He signed up for Hapkido soon after. In the ensuing years, he did something highly unusual: He stuck with it.

“Those people that earn a black belt in any martial art are probably … 3% of all those people that start,” Schiller said. “So, it’s a very unique achievement and a very specialized achievement. Only 3% of all those people that ever do martial arts ever get there.”

Suzanne continued to test for his next belt levels, all the while demonstrating his dedication to martial arts, according to Schiller.

“A lot of people come and go and they make the same decision (to sign up), but a month later, or six months later, or a year later, they decide ‘I don’t know if I want to keep doing this,'” Schiller said. “(Suzanne) was one who stuck it out, never quit, always there regularly.”

“He found something, I think, in studying this — a challenge maybe, an inner challenge, maybe a mental challenge and a physical challenge — and it excited him. He used that enthusiasm and that dedication and excitement to achieve something that’s pretty rare,” Schiller added.

There is still plenty of advancement left for Suzanne. The black belt he received earlier this month put him at the level of “first dan” — pronounced like “dawn,” this means “first degree” in English. For comparison, Schiller is a seventh dan and McCarty is a fourth dan. The amount of training required to attain the next dan level is equal to the same number of years as the degree. This means that next year Suzanne will be eligible to test again and earn the level of second dan. In two more years, he could test to become a third dan, and so on. The level of tenth dan is reserved for the founder of a martial arts style, and according to Schiller, nobody surpasses the grandmaster.

Though Schiller has been practicing martial arts for over 40 years, he still considers himself to be a learner like Suzanne. According to Schiller, with a black belt, well, under his belt, Suzanne is about to begin a new phase of learning.

“What the goal is, as a black belt, it’s a huge milestone. … That’s when your real serious study and your real serious learning takes place,” he said. “It’s almost like going through school and getting to fifth grade and then going to middle school, where you really start learning a little bit more depth of study in mathematics or in science.”

Suzanne was unavailable for an interview. Schiller, however, anticipates that Suzanne will continue to both learn and teach at Placid Martial Arts, which is based at the Fitness Revolution gym in Lake Placid.

“He’s very excited, very proud of what he’s accomplished. And he should be. I’m very proud of him,” Schiller said.