In the Western civ tradition, martial arts "ranking" goes way way back. Achievement based ranks, such as Savate Silver Gloves, boxing Golden Gloves, and various championships are, of course, par. But there are other examples which we consider more standard today. My favorite is the Company of Masters which had a Guild-like ranking structure with four ranks starting at Scholar (the equivalent of Apprentice) and ending with Master, and would require 7 years study at each rank before a skills and "fighting" based assessment test (Playing the Prize) could be taken. Past that, even today, traditional fencing schools have "ranks" which are roughly analogous to college progression and may include ranks such as Provost and Maitre or Maestro, achievement of which typically involves a time element and skills based exams, sometimes before a "board" or an individual Master. It is comparatively common for a "linage" type fencing school for the Master to train, test, then award up to Master (Maestro) in that lineage, in a way that is not entirely different from issuance of teaching certificates or a certificate of full transmission of the system to a student much like some Koyru or CMA do.
In these cases, it was less about commercialization and more about the desire to maintain a standard of skill and knowledge.
Peace favor your sword,
Kirk