I wouldn't go so far as to say that I am bothered by it. But as I said: I am no fan of changing regs wrt time in rank.
You said:
Standardization and consistency seem like reasonable goals and minimum times seem like reasonable steps to achieve this.
My response:
Standardization is good.
Consistency is good.
Being inconsistent about what standards and organization employs isn't good.
Having a rank progression track for slow learners in addition to a fast learner track is ideal.
I agree with your statements about Standardization and Consistency is good, but I believe it should apply to the students and not just to the curriculum as a whole. What I mean is that not everyone will be a great kicker, not everyone will be able to do the flying (insert any of the more advanced jumping, aerial type) kicks. As people come into the art at different stages in their life as well as having different physical and learning challenges.
From my perspective my best students are often times the ones who have or face difficulties, these are also the students I learn the most from. Teaching two martial art systems; Americanized TKD/Karate (ATK) and Presas Arnis (Modern Arnis and Kombatan Arnis blend) (PA) my ATK system is way easier to Standardize and for the gifted students to move through. There the students who I refer to as "Rocket Ships" can easily cruise through kata, they can because they are gifted physically they can demonstrate the high kicks etc. etc. But during regular class they just kind of cruise on auto pilot until the month before the exam then they kick it into gear. Other students I refer to "Airplanes" they take off and slowly climb always moving upward with effort, till they reach the cruising altitude and then it's time for the exam.
Out of the two I'd prefer to have the "airplanes" any day. They keep climbing regardless as long as they know there is a destination to be reached (the next rank). They work harder because it takes them more effort and work to get there.
In the PA program it is harder to have consistency because everyone has different skills and abilities; some really like learning drills, some disarm better, some like to spar, some like locks and take downs. So I have to look at their overall skill and understanding. How they react as they are being fed different techniques, can they problem solve. With so many different variations of locks, blocks, strikes, footwork, etc. etc. it's hard to sit back and say well you need to do this disarm to demonstrate that you are this rank, what happens if he doesn't show that one but instead over the course of his test demonstrated 10 others?
In regards to having two tracks I think the ideal way is just to have some flexibility built in the system. For instance I had a young 7 yr old who for his next rank he needed to learn two forms, he took it upon himself to watch the higher ranked students whom he was in class with and learned two belts a head, then he comes to me and says "is this right?" he actually had the lower form backwards, and the highest form he had 90% (we are talking the major moves, not fine tuning the form) correct. Well I straighten out both forms and at test time to award his good effort, I promoted him two ranks (not three, but two). I used him as the example that other students should follow as in putting forth extra effort and so on.
In my PA class I have more flexibility in that if a student is in a class and I'm teaching a more senior drill or skill than generally the lower ranked student gets to learn it along side of the more senior students, so they are always being challenged. Come test time it is based more on their overall skill than having learned this drill over that one or whatever.
There are things like private lessons that accelerate one student ahead of his peers.
Then, you have schools that have retreats/monastic locations that class time is a 14 to 18 hour day for many months in duration.
If a student attends such a place he is going to advance far beyond a normal slow learners track.
I agree on both accounts, although I've never run into a student who came from one of those places. However if someone came from one then there should be a way to have them get up to speed in the art that is being taught.
The problem of a one size fits all students, is that gifted and talented individuals who truely learn the curriculum faster suffer emotionally and can walk away because of a ranking system that doesn't flex.
Now a really good CI will teach him beyond his rank, if the student has really demonstrated competence in the material.
I don't think they suffer emotionally, they get bored. So the goal is give them something they can hold onto to keep their interest. One of the good things about being more independent is that I'm free to do what I want in regards to my curriculum. So I teach two main arts the ATK and PA and then also teach Kobudo as a bridge art. So if the student is getting bored then they can switch to another art and see if that art fits them better.
On top of this I also bring over concepts from the PA to the ATK system interchanging drills, especially empty hand drills, etc. etc. For instance I have two young students (one of them is the student who learned the forms on his own) and they both have expressed learning weapons; I don't take students under 10 (usually) in the PA program but I started teaching them some basic double stick flow drills and then the stick form or two. Now if they ever choose to cross over into the other system they will be ahead, as it is the drills and forms they are learning are keeping them interested in class.
But then you run into classmate disharmony as other equal ranked students see a fellow Beltrank, working on advanced material that they are not being given access too.
Keeping the gifted challenged is an instructor's silent nightmare.
This is so true but...... it can be handled. Normally I don't have the students working in advanced material in the same class as their classmates. For instance the students I referenced above train in a separate class after the others on one day of the week, Saturday. My Kobudo class is reserved for advanced belts (under black), there if my students show up to learn weapons (They are both to young for the Kobudo class) I work with them on the side while the other instructors work with the other students. So in their normal class during the weeknights they would not be working on disarms off to the side etc. etc. However when getting ready for a tournament then they get some envious looks from the other kids when they demonstrate their weapons forms and the others are only doing empty hand forms.
But that is also the time that I let everyone know they are working extra outside of their classes and are keeping up with their "test" material in class. That then generally settles everyone down.
My silent nightmare is dealing with parents who think their child should be testing when I don't think they are ready.
), and the service men were training for combat their life could have depended on their empty hand skills, it's different now.
