It is interesting how becoming a Black Belt is so different from organisation to organisation and how it can be used to gather new members and to be used as a political tool.
I run several organisations all of which have a high standard of examination; my recent fore ray is to form an Examination Board like the Boards that organise GCE, degree etc, I came under a lot of criticism for this move. Yet the board works and is called the Classical Martial Arts Society it is not affiliated to any organisation and is totally independent. CMAS offers nothing more then the chance to be examined if successful you will receive a Certificate stating that the CMAS has considered you worthy of the grade indicated. How do you grade simple either by Camcorder or produce legitimate documentation and proof of your ability which is checked.
I run several organisations all of which have a high standard of examination; my recent fore ray is to form an Examination Board like the Boards that organise GCE, degree etc, I came under a lot of criticism for this move. Yet the board works and is called the Classical Martial Arts Society it is not affiliated to any organisation and is totally independent. CMAS offers nothing more then the chance to be examined if successful you will receive a Certificate stating that the CMAS has considered you worthy of the grade indicated. How do you grade simple either by Camcorder or produce legitimate documentation and proof of your ability which is checked.
Why is there a need for the CMAS? For many years I have been asked to verify grades from people all over the World which I have steadfastly refused to do on an adhoc basis with new technology such as Camcorders, Internet etc it came easier to grade someone who was a member of my organisation but many did want this they asked for something Independent as most Martial Arts are riddled with politics. So we now have the CMAS.
NOT ALL HAVE MY STANDARDS
Many people have jumped on the band wagon to make Money out of the Martial Arts I do not have a problem with this as long as they maintain standards and do not profess to be something they are not. To try and get round this problem they invent a new style of Martial Art and some are very good and genuine but the majority are not. For overnight someone who may have been a mediocre 2nd Dan/degree Black Belt in a legitimate style become a GrandMaster in his own style overnight. Some say he or she is a conman not really they have started their own style and they are masters of it, what you can say What experience do they have and how long have they been involved in the Martial Arts and then make a judgement. I find it amazing the amounts of people I have taught and graded now claim to be Grandmasters and a higher grade then myself.
What brought this all on was the fact recently I received a two certificates (I have copied a section but have not include the name of the organisation) awarding my 7th Dan Jiu Jitsu my present rank is 6th Dan and 9th Dan CombatSombo. To my knowledge I have never met anyone form this organisation so how can they know what my ability is and more then that they awarded me a grade in CombatSombo a style I developed myself over 20 years ago and is registered in my name. By definition I hold no grade in CombatSombo as I am the founder and more importantly we do not use Japanese terminology so the wording should have been Degree. This is not the first time it has happened and not just me but my mother 30 years ago received a certificates awarding her 7th Dan Kung Fu she had never done Kung Fu in her life.
So do I accept these grades of course not but one must ask the question how many out there have?
Martin Clarke Sittingbourne
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