Getting down to it- Goals for 2011

So, I was a bit surprised (pleasantly) to receive my 4th stripe promotion prior to the end of 2010. There has been a lot of hard work and toil getting to this place where I am now, and I am nowhere near the end of my journey. I need to decide what are my life goals in jiu jitsu. Where do I want to go with this?

The Blue Belt

2nd year goals- Since I began training last February achieving Blue Belt has been an objective, but now that that objective is on the horizon I feel that I need some additional benchmarks for the next year. After some serious consideration I feel like I'd like to compete. I don't need to win but I would like to see how I stack up against students from other schools. I think the whole experience of grappling in an organized setting would be both beneficial to my game, and also give me the motivation to step up the intensity of my training. I'd like to compete prior to blue belt promotions...
I'd like to cut some weight. I think 180 would be a good walking around weight for me. I have no idea how far from that goal I am right now since i haven't stepped on a scale in over a month. I'd guess somewhere around 190-195.

Longer term goals
3yr goal- I'd like to compete in a national event before purple belt- so that ought to be a 2 year goal. I would also like to be coaching others by this time. I honestly feel instruction is my long term calling in BJJ.
6yr goal- I'd like to travel and train in Brazil sometime before brown belt. I would also like to place in a national event as well.

What about the "Black Belt" as a goal?

Of course, as a standard in all martial arts, Belt promotions are a good means to demonstrate achievement. The thing about BJJ is that they don't promote gratuitously. As you can see- I don't even expect to make my second color belt prior to being in the game at least 3 years- it just isn't that easy. There isn't a "test" you can take every two months to accomplish a promotion. If you endeavor to achieve in BJJ you are going to practice endless hours and fight tooth and nail at the end of each class. You are going to roll with people that are way bigger, and more experienced than you are and you are going to tap out thousands of times. The ignorant seem to believe that if your belt ain't black then your skills are seriously lacking, but that is a relative statement. This is because, even though many martial arts use belt rank to denote experience, not all ranks are comparable. For example- in TKD the black waist wear can take as little as 2 years to achieve, but I wouldn't put a TKD 1st Dan (1st degree black belt) on a Mat with a BJJ Blue belt- it would be cruel and inhumane to humiliate the TKD practitioner like that. What about a 10th Dan? due to mandatory age requirements to test for rank, a 10th Dan TKD practitioner is like 60+ years old- I am pretty sure he has mastered the art of "fighting without fighting" by then.

It will take upwards of 10 years to wear a BJJ black belt barring you being some sort of phenom. I am not a phenom- I'm on this ride for a long while if I want to wear the Noir. With the possibility of a Black Belt being a decade into the future it seems a bit too long range for a goal.

Still, I can't help but to be fascinated by the possibilities this sport bears with it. There is some discussion of bringing BJJ to the Olympics- given that Brazil is scheduled to host in 2016 I am hoping BJJ will at least make an appearance as a demo sport. We shall see...