Rank is a trivial thing. A piece of paper and/or a piece of cloth around one’s waist complete, often, with a head growing larger in size with each go at testing.
As though collecting techniques, drills, and Kata were the measuring stick by which skill, understanding, and experience were measured.
There is also the bolstering of Ego through a dominance hierarchy all its’ own within certain places of the community... Where specific belts are conferred with status, respect and unquestioning conformity/obedience is expected on up the line... Whether or not it is earned or even deserved.
People can do nice crisp Kata with snappy technique, but seldom do anything beyond that, training to the test seems to have become the social norm, programmed through just about every aspect of life leading to the dumbing down of civilization and the declawing/defanging of critical thinking as a tool towards deeper understanding.
This is a huge problem; lip service should no longer be paid to the issue, it MUST be dealt a death blow and make way for the resurgence of real education... Not just here, but everywhere.
Depth studies in specific areas, no curriculum, no tests, just various areas to study via choice. Respect should be paid where it is earned and especially paid to elders and Teachers.
Far too often I see attitudes like ‘You stand there Green Belt!’ or ‘I am just a student of so-and-so, who are you?’ (Experienced that particular line of disrespect and ego my first day on the floor at the Lincoln Dojo just before Convention from the Junior Black belt in charge of teaching Youth Classes... It was directed towards not only me, but my Teacher/Dojo Brother).
The first is blatant disrespect, not even seeing a need to address a person by their name because they are not seen as a person, they are seen as lower than oneself.
This second is an exercise in perceived status towards seeming ‘outsiders’ by throwing the weight of one’s Teacher out in the air so as to say ‘I learned from the source so what you say is nothing to me.’ If they had truly heeded that, then they would have acted from a different place with a different attitude.... They would have seen a he worn Gi brandishing the same patches and realized we are elders in an extended family, holding a different mental and spiritual stance so as to set a better example for the Youth Students whom were present.
These things cause more problems and perpetuate them into an endless cycle. This really is an issue if we are claiming to Teach certain things... Like Courtesy and Manners... We must embody them. Rank and Heirarchy (beyond time and experience) are a barrier to this.
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