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A young African-American martial artist learned a lesson that can guide him into manhood.

When the pupil, Bruce, struggled to break a board with his left fist and begins to cry, his sensei, Jason Wilson, used the situation as a teachable moment.

Wilson gently says, “It’s OK to cry. We cry as men.” He explains to Bruce and his other young Black students that in life one often has to push through resistance.

“Being a Black man in this country, you’re going to need mental fortitude. You’re going to have to be strong here (pointing to his head),” Wilson says in the video.

The sensei continued:

“And it’s good to cry so you can work through that emotion, so when it arises again, you can push it to the side, and do what you gotta do.”

Bruce was going through an initiation test to join the Cave of Adullam Transformational Training Academy in Detroit. The academy combines biblical teachings with martial arts to transform the lives of Black boys and young men.

The Bible says before David became king of Israel, he escaped to the Cave of Adullam where about 400 men — who were in distress, debt, and discontented — joined him. David guided them and became their captain.

The organization’s website states tht it “trains and transforms” boys and young men in Detroit, who are “emotionally distressed, physically in debt, and mentally discontented,” to become “comprehensive men of God.”

Wilson launched a GoFundMe campaign to support the organization’s efforts.

PHOTO CREDIT: Getty  |  VIDEO: YouTube

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Watch: ‘It’s OK To Cry:’ Martial Arts Instructor Teaches Powerful Lesson On Black Manhood  was originally published on newsone.com