The rank of 1st degree Black Belt in Hapkido today. Hapkido is one of the more realistically useful traditional martial arts, so it has been a fun process. I believe I will continue further with it. It's hard on your body at times, but if it weren't, it wouldn't be any fun.
It's really weird thinking that I have two different black belts now, but believe me, the more you know about unarmed combat, the more you realize that there's so much more to learn. A black belt doesn't mean that you're invincible; it really means that you have mastered the basics of a particular style, and that perhaps you have an advantage over an untrained fighter...
As it stands now, my training will proceed like this:
Taekwondo: pursue a 3rd degree black belt (almost complete), then stop with official rank
Hapkido: pursue a 2nd degree black belt
Gumdo: work toward black belt, but I'm in no hurry
Jiu-Jitsu: I have no official rank in jiu-jitsu, but will continue with it and some mixed martial arts with some talented fighters I know.
I haven't had occasion to be in a 'street' fight since I started training back in 1998; if anything, the martial arts have probably made it less likely that I ever will. It really has to do with controlling yourself, particularly emotions and self-discipline. Everyone should give it a try. You'll be glad you did.
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