honorary black belt

J

jbclinic

Guest
what's an honorary black belt?, is that a rank? GM parker issued this to elvis then he became ranked i think,but what kind of merit does this title hold?
 
jbclinic said:
what's an honorary black belt?, is that a rank? GM parker issued this to elvis then he became ranked i think,but what kind of merit does this title hold?
Click to expand...
First question, it's a gesture of courtesy, friendship and respect. Second question; much harder to answer. It can mean many different things. For many years, Chinese styles did not use any type of ranking system and when my Kenpo teacher got a student with 15+ years of serious training, he had him wear a black belt. In other cases, it has ABSOLUTELY no meaning beyond - a gesture of friendship, courtesy or respect.

For instance, I believe that several Presidents of the United States have been awarded honorary black belts. I don't think there is anything wrong with this - the instructor (Jhoon Rhee, I believe) was simply acknowledging their position and also forwarding the interests of the martial arts.

HOWEVER, and there's always a however, isn't there? Some unscrupulous individuals will take purely honorary rank and misrepresent it as a legitimate instructor certification. Please, no names! We all know who these people are by now. If you don't, do a search on MT or any other large martial arts forums rather than re-ignite old flame wars. Pretty please, with a cherry on top...
 
thanks that was helpful, i'd struggled with that, a couple of instructors said this to me, i now undersyand that they appreciate my abilities in martial arts
 
Do a search in the general section (I believe) as there was a very long discussion on this very topic. Happy reading.
 
jbclinic said:
what's an honorary black belt?, is that a rank? GM parker issued this to elvis then he became ranked i think,but what kind of merit does this title hold?
Click to expand...

Actually I think Elvis earned his rank in Kenpo under Parker (I think 2nd dan) and then some Korean Master gave him the honorary rank.

Mark
 
The way I see it, it's a gesture of courtesy, and respect, but should always be taken with several grains of salt. Maybe the person receiving the honorary black belt has some skills in the martial arts, maybe not.

It's the same way with honorary degress from various colleges; just because someone has an honorary degree from a prestigious university, does not necessarily convey that they have any significant knowledge in that area.
 
The Boar Man said:
Actually I think Elvis earned his rank in Kenpo under Parker (I think 2nd dan) and then some Korean Master gave him the honorary rank.
Click to expand...
If I understand correctly, he earned a low black belt rank from Mr. Parker and was given a higher honorary rank from him in order to help promote the art and/or for what he had already done to help promote the art.

A few relevant links:
http://www.martialtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=921
http://www.martialtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22015
http://www.martialtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23842
 
Thanks for the links I'll check them out. I was basing my comment on a vauge recollection of an article I read in International Fighter Magazine in the 80's. I went to the State Fair of TX. a couple of weeks ago and they had an Elvis exhibit and in that exhibit they had that magazine displayed.

Mark
 
Simply put, it's a mistake. A rather famous Ninjutsu instructor gave an honorary 10th Dan to a rather infamous Judo instructor, and it was nothing but trouble. It was misused from the moment it was received, to the point that the "infamous" person in question created a Ninjutsu division shortly after.

There are other, more appropriate gestures of good will that wont bite you in the **** later.
 
I don't really see anything about this that could be seen in a positive way. If someone already holds legitimate rank in one system, why would anyone from a different system need to give them honorary rank, even if it is in recognition of legitimate skills? If a person wants to train in another art and earn rank along the way, that is fine. But to have honorary rank just handed to them based on past training seems pointless.

Giving someone honorary rank as a social or professional courtesy seems just as pointless. Why add to the confusion by having a bunch of people who were awarded rank for which they have no knowledge and skills? There are enough people already running around with rank they don't deserve. Why compound that by deliberately handing out this kind of rank? Never made sense to me.
 
Flying Crane said:
Giving someone honorary rank as a social or professional courtesy seems just as pointless. Why add to the confusion by having a bunch of people who were awarded rank for which they have no knowledge and skills? There are enough people already running around with rank they don't deserve. Why compound that by deliberately handing out this kind of rank? Never made sense to me.
Click to expand...
We had a 7 year old student who, as an orange belt was diagnosed with Leukemia and was terminal. We held a kick-a-thon in his honor as a fund raiser. At this event, he was awarded an honorary black belt because he was only expected to live a few more months. This year we did it again because I guess no one ever explained to him what "terminal" meant. He's still with us.

Heart of a Black Belt.
 
I dislike the idea. I once gave a Honor Black Belt to someone that was only supposed to live a few more months. Well they didn't die and the organization i belonged to at the time said "nope he's a black belt with all privileges".

I can't tell you how much it burns me to see him strut around like he actually earned it. Worse after I left the organization he opened up school less than 5 miles from me
 
Gene Lebell recent received 2 (I think) 9th & honorary 10th Dan's from Japan and in the same Black belt article that wrote about it Gene called them "legitimate."
 
akja said:
Gene Lebell recent received 2 (I think) 9th & honorary 10th Dan's from Japan and in the same Black belt article that wrote about it Gene called them "legitimate."
Click to expand...
why, in the name of all that is holy and sacred, would someone like Gene Lebell feel the need to accept an honorary rank?
 
arnisador said:
What were the organizations?
Click to expand...
I don't remember the org's but I think I remember them being the big ones like JKA or something. It was in the last few months, I'll look and post it.
 
Flying Crane said:
why, in the name of all that is holy and sacred, would someone like Gene Lebell feel the need to accept an honorary rank?
Click to expand...
Only he could answer that one. But he did, it was in Black belt in the last few months. I have the mag, I'll post more on it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

A disturbing conversation...

Previous Thread

Martial arts fantasy and kids...

Next Thread

Similar threads

Nevada_MO_Guy
Honorary Black Belt
2
Replies
28
Views
8K
Jared Sutton
J
masherdong
What is an "Honorary" Black Belt?
2 3
Replies
45
Views
19K
47MartialMan
4
dcsma
Honorary Black Belt certifications and wording on them. Need suggsetions
2
Replies
25
Views
8K
lklawson
lklawson
A
Honorary 10th degree Black Belt for U.N. Sec. General
Replies
6
Views
2K
DennisBreene
DennisBreene
James Kovacich
Why would anyone issue "honory rank?"
2 3 4
Replies
74
Views
6K
dsp921
dsp921

Latest Discussions

Back
Top