What good are certificates without the training?
I agree. That's why it's important not to look to closely to a person's waist and pay more attention to what they say and do. I've met many "masters" who don't have much more than an elementary understanding of martial arts. And I've met plenty of low-ranking practitioners who understand so much more than many of the masters today.
What's that saying?... "Never judge a book by its cover".
I have a friend who met a very famous jujitsu practitioner/teacher. They had a fairly lengthy coversation on martial arts, and when parting, this teacher tried to put some kind of joint lock from the handshake position onto my friend. My friend, who now has been a martial artist for about the last 25 years, reversed the lock and put this well-known master in a lock.
One guy, at the time, about 15-20 years experience. The other guy, at the time, 30-40+ years experience.
Certificates mean not much in the way of ability to defend one's self. The meaning is more for status within the organization granted. (understanding of curriculum, etc.)
Let's take a 26-year-old 3rd degree black belt -vs- a 62-year-old 3rd degree black belt, with the same teacher and training. Who do you really think is going to be the better martial artist?
Certificates even within the same organization have much variation on their meaning. This is life. I think we just need to accept it and move on. I work hard now to let go of any anger issues I have with people that I think have inflated ranks. I just practice and keep checking my own progress now. That keeps my quite busy enough.
Peace!
-John
