Originally posted by Kirk
The difference is, Bruce left a successor. Made it clear publicly.
That may be true Kirk, but it still did not stop a lot of internal strife in the JKD world.
It never stopped a lot of political strife in the Shorin-ryu world.
It never stopped a lot of political strife in the Shotokan world.
It never stopped a lot of political strife in the TKD/Hapkido world.
Point is that people are going to be what they are... There are folks out there like Dennis, myself, and one other guy, whose name I can't remember ( :rofl: ) who want equitable solutions to the ranking issue, but find that there is nothing really workable at this point in time. Workable meaning something that everyone will abide by. Too many people are either a)Too Independent within a given set of beneficial circumstance. b) Too egotistical and want the biggest slice of whatever pie is set before them.
Let me put a hypothetical before you ... You are 25 years of age. You take all your material and refine and organize it. You go before a "qualifying" body and based on your amount of material, and your ability to perform it, they give you a 9th degree Black Belt. Do you wear it? Do you proclaim it? Is it "really" valid?
If so why. If not why?
Another hypothetical (well, maybe not so hypothetical) ... You are in your 40s. You have been a 5th or 6th degree for a number of years. You suddenly find yourself in an organization where everybody loves you. They pronounce you an eighth, ninth, or perhaps even a tenth. Do you accept it? Do you wear it? Do you proclaim it? Is it really valid? If so why? If not why?
What REAAAAAALLLLLYYYY is the difference between a ninth degree and a tenth degree Black Belt? I have kind of been wondering that... And if it isn't a little hypocritcal to be given a ninth and then yell loud and long that you would never take a tenth?
Rank is probably something that should be laid out in complete fashion from yellow to tenth, eleventh, ... 15th Black (If we need to go that high). There should not be any question as to what the requirements are for promotion to any given rank, at any given time in any system to include things like required techniques, kata, time in grade, types of possible service to the martial arts community, etc. That would, in my perhaps not so humble opinion, eliminate a lot of the current BS.
It is pretty cut and dried in associations like the IKCA, where it is cradel to grave for promotion. It is theoretically possible for every person in the IKCA to, someday, achieve a tenth degree Black. That is how their association bylaws are laid out. That is probably the way it should be in every association. Notice that I'm not saying style. Rank promotion in the higher echelons could not ever be laid back to a simple system requirement, as there are too many written and unwritten variables built into those requirements.
Jus' sum thoughts.
Dan
ps: I leave you with the following, which is a collection of thoughts that was on a website. It was written by one of SGM Parker's first bunch of Black Belts. Simply for what it is worth.
Those who understand the "Parker principle" also understand why Ed never chose his successor. He had taught correct principles, and like Alexander the Great, he would leave succession to those who were best qualified. In the decade before Ed's premature death, he no longer taught. Rather he taught through his writings. He had seen the failure of American Kenpo, but it was not a failure of the system. Rather it was a failure of his American Kenpo black belts to teach the principles he established with American Kenpo. Some of these black belts left him to found their own organizations where they would teach their versions of American Kenpo. They took with them the techniques, but for the most part, they left his "correct principles" behind.
As with the untimely death of Alexander the Great, so to in the aftermath of Ed Parker's death, the American Kenpo empire has been divided. The IKKA has floundered due to defections, internal politics and divisiveness. Already American Kenpo is being interpreted and reinterpreted by Ed Parker's new American Kenpo black belts. Yet as Ed stated just three months before he died, none of his black belts knew the meaning of the flower he showed them.
In death Ed Parker has become a legend, bigger than life. His new black belts have scrambled to fill the void in the system. But American Kenpo was never a system. It is the visible expression of Ed Parker's philosophy. A philosophy that holds that correct principles replace style; a philosophy that allows the same move to be taught a myriad of ways with each way being the right way. Ed lamented, some three months before his death that he had awarded black belts, but none had earned his philosopher's cloak. None had learned to think for himself. Few were innovative.
:shrug: 
