Originally posted by Elfan
How commone have people found it for people to eventaully be "forced" to test after a long protest?
I think you are asking this in relation to people who were promoted by Mr. Parker right?
I think I know of 2 first generation students of Mr. Parker who didn't want a promotion after Mr. Parker died. Mr. C is one of them if he wants to chime in and confirm this.
I would have felt the same way I'm sure. Particularly if Mr. Parker had promoted me to 3rd or higher.
Mr. Speakman said in 1991 or 1994 at a seminar that a lot of the Black Belts still referred to themselves or considered themselves the rank they were when Mr. Parker died even though they may have been promoted since then to lead their own group or whatever. I personally for a long time have thought that the meaning of rank becomes very unclear after 3rd or 4th (or 5th) because at that point you have learned all the material and the objective criteria for promotion are gone.
That being said, rank has meaning to an instructor and a student because it helps them both keep track of the students progress and that is really its function. Monitor progress, motivation and reward and to establish and maintain leadership/hierarchy in your studio/style/system.
Outside of your studio, rank is not intended to have meaning so there should be no politics. This is one reason that our students are not allowed to wear their belt outside the studio unless it is for a photograph or they are competing in a tournament, or seminar or something. You are not supposed to wear it to the grocery or whatever.
If you are at Kenpocamp though and you are a 3rd working out with me who is a 2nd Brown, and I am picking up material faster than you and moving better than you are, then I can see how I might wonder where you got your rank, but again, it is your instructors opinion of you and you didn't get it from me, so you can wear what you like. But I have worked out with some Black Belts and even Brown Belts at seminars who just didn't seem to be all there and it made me wonder how good they were supposed to be.
Sometimes I rant on here I think, but I also use MartialTalk as an online "Notebook" and I often print stuff off for my physical notebook, so excuse the rant. :asian:
:soapbox:
) a couple of months prior to Mr. Parker passing away. He ended up working out under Mr. Trejo. I believe after that he studied with Mr. Mohamed Tabatabai (I have NO CLUE on the spelling there, I hope I didn't butcher it). Now Mr. Taylor has been a personal student of Master Paul Mills since the mid 90's, in the AKKI. I'm rather proud of my Kenpo lineage, filled with good men.
