In a sense, I think it’s like having different players on a video game. Take a boxing video game - the character has A points for strength, B points for stamina, C points for speed, D points for power, and so on. No two boxers in the game have the same amount of points for each attribute, but many have the same total points.
Look at a rank like needing X overall points, regardless of how they’re distributed across the various attributes. Within reason, of course. And where one attribute isn’t so low that it doesn’t matter how high the rest are because they can’t possibly compensate.
We’ve got a few people who are relatively high ranks who are older in the dojo. Knee replacements, spine and neck surgeries, etc. over the years. If you walked in off the streets and saw any of them, you’d think were giving away rank solely for long term effort and tuition payment. You wouldn’t see what they were before their bodies started breaking down. You wouldn’t see how they evolved their karate to still be functional despite the obstacles. All you’d see was what looks like some halfassed kihon line drills and kata, and more able guys and ladies trying to beat them with speed while they just hang in there and wait for the right moment. You wouldn’t feel every shot you took with every mistake you made.
I don’t know about everyone else out there, but I know the ones where I am earned it and continue to earn it the hard way. Sitting in a chair and watching them, they suck. Standing next to them during kihon, they’re awful. Actually training alongside them and sparring with them for a length of time, and you realize how talented they actually are if you actually let yourself see it by not looking for prettiness or flashiness.
When bury their mawashi geri into your ribs or thigh, or bury their shita tsuki into your liver and you’re wondering what the hell you just got hit with, the last thing on your mind is how pretty their technique looked.
General you, not you personally.
