(kenpotalk.com 9-29-15)
Doc - There is no solution. The commercial genie is out of the bottle, and more 10ths will emerge before I'm through writing this post. Most of them believe they deserve it because of how they were trained, or the "culture of organization" that now prevails that allows anyone who creates their own s-called system to declare themselves a 10th, no matter how bad they or their system might be.
Many just decided in their own mind they were "the one," even before and certainly after Mr. Parker's death. Others "played" the system they were in, before and after Mr. Parker's death, to get rank high enough so they felt comfortable enough taking the final step themselves, or having it "forced" on them by their students.
While Mr. Parker had guidelines for the attainment of rank, it had always been "at his discretion" for any reason he felt was valid. The many splinter Kenpo groups and organizations that have sprung up are no different. The rank train was already rolling and out of control when Mr. parker was still alive. he created an entity that was out of control and he knew it. You could not retain people without promotions, regardless of skill or contributions. After the death of Mr. Parker Sr. with him no longer able to at least "slow" the upward spiral of red on belts, it was inevitable that there would be a literal explosion of unrestrained self aggrandizing through rank.
It is not going to get better no matter what you do, in fact, it is going to continue and get worse. All one can do is be accountable to ones self and the students you produce. You are responsible for your reputation, and let the quality of your students prove it. The golden days are gone and will never return. "Kenpo" is the new McDojo Art along side all the rest on youtube. Get over it! The art at large is dead. Are there some good people still around, of course but they are a small minority. The definition of "good" has been tainted by grading on the bell curve. The ones who stink the least are the "good" ones.
Welcome to Fantasy League Kenpo. Unlike most, you have the real sport and a fantasy league of followers. Unfortunately in Kenpo, the Fantasy League is the real sport. Look at the comments on youtube. Everyone tells everyone else how good they look. Anyone who tells the truth that the emperor is naked, is ostracized from the fantasy and labeled a heretic. Spend your energy on something you can do something about - or not. I understand you are concerned about the reputation of what you consider your art. But in the end, it's just a name. Your art is what you do and what you produce - no matter what you or someone else might call it.
ElizDVM - I think that we should talk about it. Sweeping the problem under the rug is no solution.
Problem with anyone getting promoted to a high rank with no oversight is that they will be viewed as pillars of the community and excellent examples of kenpo. If they are not promoting the art rather than themselves, if they are not good martial artists, it makes kenpo look bad. It makes the system seem like a free-for-all which it kind of is.
Do we really have 111 kenpoists who deserve to be considered Grandmasters? A definition of Grandmaster : A person of the highest competence or achievement in a field.
111 of highest competence? Isn't that kind of changing the definition?
It is kind of like giving all the kids trophies just for participating. The trophies start to mean nothing, even to the kids.
Crouching Tiger - The way it was explained to me, and it seems to jive with what Sascha Williams mentioned during his interview with Bo Luellen (which you can listen to on YouTube) is you were supposed to be able to look at someone's belt and get an idea of how many years they had been practicing the art.
If followed correctly they wouldn't get their 5th degree, and in turn be able to teach or open their own school, until they had practiced the art for 20 years.
And they wouldn't reach the highest rank, 9th degree, until they had practiced the art for 50 years.
It was designed to work like this;
5 years to get your black
1 more year to get your 1st degree (6 years total in the art)
2 more years to get your 2nd (8 years in the art)
3 more years to get your 3rd (11 years in the art)
4 more years to get your 4th (15 years in the art)
5 more years to get your 5th (20 years in the art and free to open your own school)
6 more years to get your 6th (26 years in the art)
7 more years to get your 7th (33 years in the art)
8 more years to get your 8th (41 years in the art)
9 more years to get your 9th (50 years in the art)
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