When talking about stuff such as rank or for that matter developing a certain level of proficiency in the martial arts which might not involve rank as not all styles use rank, people have pointed out that its about the journey not the destination. There has been some debate over what a black belt means. Some people say it just means you're a serious beginner and you're ready to learn the "real stuff" while other people say its at least equivalent to a college degree. It depends on the perspective and its all relative but I will say this, no matter how the black belt is viewed one thing is certain, it is not the end of the journey, at least not for people who keep training after getting a black belt. The journey in the martial arts is ongoing and never ending as long as the martial artist keeps training. So the black belt is not the end of the journey but you do reach a new leg in the journey. So while not everybody agrees on the black belt representing a serious beginner or somebody with a college degree or anywhere in between, which it does vary quite a bit since each dojo has its own standards, I do believe we can agree that its not the end of the journey and that it does, at the very least, represent reaching a new leg in the journey.