Who is qualified to grade?

[HighKick]

So some of the people who've posted on this thread are implying that rank is very much an American thing. In particular there has been reference to martial arts from China and about how such arts historically did not have a ranking system and such arts only started incorporating ranking systems once they were brought to the USA. As it is my knowledge in Chinese martial arts is very limited so I don't know much about the history of such arts and if and when they did start using ranking systems so I will take people's words for it who claim that historically rank did not exist in such arts.

Anyway, my point isn't about whether or not Chinese arts had rank but about rank being an American thing. If rank is an American thing than how would you explain sports such as American boxing and American wrestling not having rank? Boxing and wrestling both have long histories in the USA and they don't and never did have rank, if rank is such an American thing it would stand to reason that boxing and wrestling would both have rank.

Also, the USA isn't the only country where martial arts have rank, Im not sure about China but other countries such as Japan, Korea, Brazil, ect. have rank in their martial arts if you do them on those countries so that would mean rank is not just an entirely American thing.

I cannot speak too much about Chinese arts but Kung Fu IN China uses sashes to identify rank. JMA and KMA has used belt ranks for decades in their respective countries.
In is Not just an American convention and by in large was brought over from the respective countries.
My opinion is that ranking is mostly system/instructor specific. There is no hard scale that can be used for 'universal' ranking. A black belt has a very, very different meaning between martial arts and particularly within specific systems.

 

[PhotonGuy]

I cannot speak too much about Chinese arts but Kung Fu IN China uses sashes to identify rank.

Some of the other posters on this thread have claimed otherwise, as for me I've never been to China so I can't speak on behalf of any experience of my own.

JMA and KMA has used belt ranks for decades in their respective countries.
In is Not just an American convention and by in large was brought over from the respective countries.

Belts of rank might've originated from other countries but I think what's being said here is that in the USA rank has been made into a bigger deal than it was in the countries where it came from, to the extent that styles that have traditionally not had rank have started adding rank into their systems.

Again that would not explain activities such as boxing and wrestling, which don't and never did have rank despite having such a long history in the USA, longer than most if not all of the Asian martial arts.

My opinion is that ranking is mostly system/instructor specific. There is no hard scale that can be used for 'universal' ranking. A black belt has a very, very different meaning between martial arts and particularly within specific systems.

That is very true, particularly the part about what a black belt means in one art vs another art and within specific systems, and really what it comes down to is exactly what a black belt does mean depends on the instructor you get it under.