10 black belts

There has been a bit of banter on martial art fora about my martial art goals over the past couple of months. I like the accountability of being open about goals. It is more difficult to quit when all of your peers are either cheering you on or betting that you will fail. I have been working towards my current goal for some years now: 10 black belts by the time I turn 40.

Why?

A black belt is significant, yet achievable goal, a good indicator of level of skill and easily measurable. Ten is just a nice round number, as is 40. After 40, I would like to switch my focus to teaching a little more. Without a goal, I find myself making excuses not to train if conditions are not perfect. This goal introduces a sense of urgency in my training routine. The 10 black belts is simply a way for me to set myself a tangible goal, which is important for my own motivation/development. My real goal is to feel like a black belt - just one!

My personal belief is that a black belt should be able to defend themself against strikes, throws, submissions and weapons. In my opinion a black belt may not be the strongest person around, but should have eliminated most of their weaknesses in the range of that martial art. Therefore I won`t feel entirely comfortable wearing a black belt until I feel reasonably confident in my ability to do so.  To be completely honest, I feel that I have pretty much reached this goal, but I still have some weaknesses. Weaponry is not a strong point and I have not yet reached black belt level in judo. I really want to achieve my black belt in judo, Koryu Uchinadi Kenpo Jutsu (KU) and also would love to get a black belt in BJJ at some stage. The BJJ will have to wait until after I have turned 40.

I should also say that I am not trying to earn 10 black belts in different styles, but I want to cover all fighting ranges. I currently only have black belts in four different systems: two karate styles and two jujutsu styles. I am counting dan grades separately in my count of blac kbelts. For example I have a 4th dan in one style of karate and a shodan in another. I hope to get my black belt in KU soon. In my tally, this will equal 6 black belts, not 3.
Again, I have a 2nd dan in Hakkoryu Jujutsu and a 1st dan in Doce Pares Pangamot jujutsu. I am one rank away from judo black belt and working towards earning my 4th dan in Hakkoryu, which is the minimum for teaching, and the last of the dan grades in this system. This, in my mind, will equal another 6.

Also, I consider my blue belt in BJJ to be pretty similar to a black belt, in terms of skill level, commitment, training time etc. It is not a black belt, but it is a satisfactory standard for me. I stopped Krav Maga at P5, which is the rank below a teaching (graduate) rank. I didn`t get my graduate 1, but if i had, I would also count this as a black belt in my own personal tally.

As I said previously, I can get away with this, because my tally is solely for my own motivation. Discussing it on a public forum may certainly seem like boasting, but this is one way for me to build accountability into my goal. If I kept it secret, I would have no-one to answer to, and it would be too easy to quit. If I don`t achieve my goal - feel free to give me hell!