Something that has often frustrated me is the question of rank in karate. I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve read about a six year old being awarded a black belt in my local paper, and I wonder what message this kind of thing sends out? What value does a black belt hold, if it is something which can be achieved by a child as young as six, or a grandmother in her late sixties?
I honestly believe that the whole idea of ranks should be done away with. I think the kyu/dan system was a good idea to begin with, however, control of who gets awarded what, when, and by whom has been lost. Far too many people are running around promoting eachother, themselves, and anyone else willing to pay them a few pounds. I actually read today about a 15th dan soke, what’s that all about?
Miyagi Sensei never awarded a black belt to anyone, stating that before long people would be judged by their rank, rather than their ability and character.
I wonder whatever happened to just training for the sake of it? It seems everywhere you look there are different titles, ranks, and halls of fame just waiting for you to be inducted to (oh, if you’re willing to slip them a few quid!).
I feel quite fotunate in that I had to work quite hard to achieve my lowly rank, and take a small amount of pride in the fact that I didn’t take the easy route, but I wonder who the majority of people would rather listen to out of me or the 15th dan soke? After all, the general public have no reason to suspect a martial artist of being a fruad – karatedo teaches you to be a better person, right?
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