When you take up karate, you imagine the black belt, impossibly far off, as the end of your journey and the pinnacle of achievement. Pretty soon, you'll be told that grading to black belt is merely the beginning of the real karate journey.

Yesterday, I embarked on that journey. At the end of a senior grading lasting over three hours, in which we were tested and punished as we demonstrated our understanding and capability through strikes, blocks and kicks, through the various kata, sequences of memorised moves, and through kumite, sparring, I was presented with the black belt of a shodan-ho.

I started going to karate classes in 2002. It’s possible to reach black belt in seven years; I’m not actually all that good at karate. I certainly never thought I’d make it this far.

Technically, shodan-ho is a provisional grade, a placeholder until that time at least a year in the future when I have to go through it all again to grade to first dan. But I get to wear a black belt. I'll take it.