A Black Belt - It's Only the Beginning - Article 2

In our last episode where I said that the Black Belt was only the Beginning, I hinted that there were changes afoot. That achieving the black belt and creating a library of the katas was only the beginning.

As I earned my blackbelt, there was a part of me that said it was time to take a bow and retire with dignity. I thought about posting my new black belt pictures and then embalming the blog. Instead, I'm trying to relaunch my blogging and my training with new vigor and focus.

So here's the deal. I'll try to tell an interesting story. You try and follow it. Yes, I tend to jump around and I spell unevenly and and I sometimes leave out words. OK, my sentences are sometimes too long and I poke fun at myself so much that the self-deprecation thing gets a little tiring... And yes, although I have a shiny new belt and gi to wear to class, there's still the same 50 year old body underneath and a guy with more curiosity than knowledge about the martial arts. The fact is that I'm trying to ask  questions that I think we all wonder about...

• How to write about the questions that intrigue me while also telling a story that is readable and interesting to others? We've all at some point kept a journal or diary but then, in rereading it, realized that the writing was depressingly bad and boring. Can I both share some of my inner thoughts and tell a story worth listening to?
• How to balance exercise, my career, my hobbies, and my relationships? I struggle as most parents must, to balance taking care of my kids, maintaining my relationship with my spouse, earning a living, and somewhere in all that, keeping track of me.

My plan is this.  I'll shift this from being a record of my black belt class, mostly of interest to my classmates, to something of broader interest. I'll post less often and with less detail about the training. I'll try to speak more broadly about my thoughts and conditions with the martial arts more as my launch pad than the focus. The martial arts creates a common theme for many people who are struggling with self improvement or at least preservation as they hit their fourth or fifth decade.

Can I create a voice enthralling to many people? I'm not sure but my goal will mostly to help capture my thoughts and hopefully, they'll be of some interest or use to others.