It's a shame that this type of mentality is so prevelant especially in certain areas of traditional martial arts,I actually think it is a major preventive stumbling block to learning real self defense skills.
I would be the first person that would totaly be ok if the ranking system was completely abolished,then all of these so called 4th,5th and 6th dans would have to be judged soley on their ability to perform
not on what some bogus certificate says on their wall.
I don't know about anyone one else but when I go to train at anyone school I never go there with the intention of checking out his credentials,I simply go to train and if after I workout, I conclude that there is something to learn then that is the only worthwhile
evaluation I need on someones skills.
The average common person with no martial arts experinece that visits a school for the first time cannot distinquish today if an instructor is competent or not,maybe we should re-educate the general public on what to really look for instead of just the color of someones belt,this in the long run would serve the public far better than having to figure out who is legite and who is not.
Jim,
If I were to go by your analogy and open up the yellow pages I can go to atleast 20 schools in my area that have a so called legitimate rank under different organizations that does not guanrantee me self defense proficiency one bit.
BJJ has strict and hard requirements to avoid just that,I know many blues,purples and brown belts in bjj that are 10 times more qualified to teach self defense than any of the legitimate instructors in the yellow page ads with legitimate rank and all.
Hector Gomez