Blackbelt means that the true journey has just begun. You become a serious member of the discipline. You start to learn the art with the serious proficiency that knowing the art for your self is insufficient; one day you will have the responsibility to pass down the art to the next generation.
Colored belts are a modern system adapted to give more motivation to students. In the old day. "blackbelthood" is simply an "inner circle" students. When the teacher sees the student has got the proficiency, the teacher will give an acknowledgement to the student. In the old Japan, it is given by a certificate. In China, the teacher will say to the student that he has given all what he knows and now the student has to leave. In a modern world, this is an equivalent to a higher dan.
Even when Jigoro Kano (the founder of modern Judo) first adopted the belt system, he only used 2 colors: white and black. Those colors were used to distinguish the serious students.
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