(The following is a post from Mr. Bob White's Facebook page dated September 24th, 2015 with follow-up comments by Mr. Sascha Williams.)
I am very much looking forward to filming a television show today hosted by Kevin B. McDonald about the state of American Kenpo. Many of you have asked why I re...signed from the American Kenpo Senior Council and what are my feelings about KAM IV, what do I think about the ridiculous amount of 10th degrees, and what do I feel about the selling of rank around the world to line the pockets of the seller? I speak for myself and I do not represent any organization. These will be my observations and possible solutions to obvious problems.
I travel quite a bit and teach all over the world and not one trip comes around where the subject of 10th degrees and high belt promotions does not come up. There are law suits and litigation going on where thousands of dollars are being spent on attorneys where one meeting and working for a solution could solve the problem. The money spent on attorneys can be used to do good things around the world rather than trying to make a point. I know an organization that could put that money to good use helping abused children by the way.
The Serenity Prayer;
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.
I don’t really know if there will be any change as a result of this show but I believe to sit back and not say anything is cowardly. Believe me when I say I can stay in Costa Mesa with my students and be quite happy with the wonderful gifts we have at our school and God willing that will continue, BUT there are major problems that need to be addressed.
If you are interested I will post viewing information as I receive it.
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Mr White, this is Sascha Williams. I would like to respond to your post.
When it comes to the 10th degree, I don't share the same panic everyone seems to be cultivating. Is it sad? Yes. Can it be fixed? I doubt it. Does it matter? Not really.
First, I don't think this has any impact on public opinion. The process of talking about how embarrassing this is, THAT can make us look bad.
But take a detached look. If there were 200 Kajukenbo 10th degrees, why would that be interpreted as a negative by the public? They don't know if it's a good or a bad thing, UNLESS we interpret that for them. So ironically it's the FOCUS of the conversation that's harming our reputation, not the mere existence of a given number of 10th degrees.
If there were 200 Kajukenbo 10ths, it would look good if they all looked good and did good Karate, and it would look bad if they didn't.
We wouldn't be privy to how they obtained those ranks. We are talking about a subject that might be important to high ranking black belts, but really nobody else, unless influenced by one (or many).
In other words, we are our own worst enemy.
Next,some of the people who are making themselves 10th, have spent so much time pursuing rank, and didn't match that with an equally intense and commited effort to become "Grand Masters of the Art", it's like all they wanted was the belt. I think that is what has everyone upset. Most of these guys don't even think of themselves as grandmasters, they just think10th is better than 9th, which is better than 8th, etc.
I think we should stop counting and recognizing these people. Most of them were in obscurity. I think we should leave them there. The ones that are legit (like Frank Trejo for example) already have something more valuable, and that is their history and reputation.
One of the suggestions (by me and others) for a remedy that has gotten traction is: Years in the art. That's the only one that works. And it's the main one that matters. If a guy made it to black belt legitimately, what makes me respect him more is the time he spent training since then. For example, I hold you, Mr White, in a higher light as many other black belts who hold 9ths, simply because of how long you have been doing it, as well as your obvious drive and thorough attitude and the fact you were trained by Mr Parker.
So all that to make the point that "Years in the art", or "training since 1979" is not only the most honest statement, but also would prevent everyone from focussing on the issue and then draw attention on a negative. I can develop a deviant plan to cheat on my time and grade requirements, but I can't change the amount of years. Especially not if someone remembers me as a white belt.
Now when it comes to public opinion, I think our biggest problem is "instructors" (especially on youtube) who make Kenpo look bad. And that is a real problem. And THAT is what the public sees. But that we can do something about. If we want the public to be able to discern good Kenpo from bad, we can show them how good Kenpo looks like. We can also show them how to obtain better results in their training. Most of these "10th degrees" aren't even prominent. Most don't know them. So why elevate or "legitimize" them by talking about them?
So that's what I think about the 10th.
That, and the fact that the entire Pasadena studio packed full of Ed Parker black belts in 1991, 2 months after his passing voted to retire the 10th. The vote was unamimous (Mrs Parker ran the meeting, Mike Pick was one of the most persistent voices for retiring the 10th, stating that "9th was a reasonable expectation in a lifetime"), some of the people there were Mike Pick, Harry Silva, Jeff Speakman, John Sepulveda, Skip Hancock, I still have the group picture in my garage somewhere. There was at least 50 of us there. I too voted to retire the 10th, and I stand by that.
And I don't really care if the rest do.
For those of us who have been teaching for more than 3 decades, we really only need that higher rank so that we can continue to promote our own black belts.
Tom Kelly, before he died, shared with me that he regretted accepting his promotion to 9th. I'm not divulging why, but it reflects that for most people, the destination has become the goal, which to me means they are missing a VITAL lesson of martial arts, to enjoy the journey and focus on personal growth. - Sascha Williams
