Master of his craft: Pollet among the greatest of all time with 10th dan ranking

The head of Pollets Martial Arts passed his 10^th dan assessment earlier this year at the home of his Goju-ryu school of karate, in Okinawa, and on Saturday celebrated the achievement during a night of festivities at his Bathurst dojo.

The 10^th dan ranking is the highest possible achievement in Goju-ryu and marks Pollet as one of the greatest practitioners of the style.

It's the realisation of a lifelong ambition for the Bathurst karate master, who has spent the past seven years working towards the necessary techniques needed to progress from 9^th to 10^th dan.

All the memories of tournaments, past grading events and global travels came flooding back to Pollet during the weekend's celebration, which was put together by the students of the dojo.

What meant a lot to Pollet was being able to receive his belt personally from his teacher.

"My teacher, who is 95, is one of the highest ranking karate men in Okinawa and I've been training with him for a long time," he said.

"For him to be at his age and still teaching is amazing. He was teaching me 10^th dan weapons kata and was moving very smoothly at 95."

Pollet said he received messages from across Australia and the globe once the news of his exam result had surfaced.

It led to a pair of celebrations on different ends of the globe.

"Once I'd passed my examination in Okinawa they gave me a beautiful party there. A lot of the 10^th, ninth, eighth dans and senior members got together for a wonderful night

"On coming back to Australia my students put on a wonderful night for me here in Bathurst. They came from all over the place and it was so lovely. It's something that I won't forget in a hurry."

As he made his way through the grades in his youth Pollet remembered being someone who was confident he'd discover everything there was to know about Goju-ryu.

Pollet soon found that karate was a learning process that starts a lifetime.

"There's a lot of aches and pains that have gone into training, competing, going overseas and learning from great masters," he said.

"As a young man when I first started my dream was to become a black belt. Of course when you become a black belt you think you know it all, but when you dive further into your studies you realise that you know nothing.

"The talent around the world in martial arts is amazing. Some have a lot more wisdom to offer than others. Sometimes they're focused too much on the physical side of things whereas the great masters are both physical and spiritually good and, of course, mentally wise. To learn from them is unbelievable."

That guidance was what inspired Pollet to create a dojo of his own in Australia, and it's an operation that has since stretched across the country.

He wants to pass on all the lessons many before him have shared.

"My late teacher, professor Bradshaw, was my jiu-jitsu and judo teacher and he gave me such wonderful advice. It's sad to see them pass because they teach you how to understand life and know people better," Pollet said.

"I've learned so many lessons to come to this point. As a 10^th dan I have knowledge of a lot of things but it's like a puzzle that's starting to come together and that's a lot of fun."

Acquiring the 10^th dan belt was the last major goal on Pollet's to-do list.

While he will continue to gain more knowledge and pass on what he knows Pollet said he is currently in a state of perfect balance.

"If you ask me what else I would have liked to have done with my life I would say 'Nothing else'," he said.

"This has been my journey of happiness, harmony and a spiritual way of living. I've instructed some great students over the years and I've had amazing instructors over the years. All I can say to them is thank you very much.

"I've got great gratitude for their lessons of life and the way of martial arts.

"When I got my grade many of the seniors said 'You are very powerful', not physically, but because 'Now I can help others achieve their journey'."