Big problem with medical care these days is the fact that the medical profession has become slaved to the insurrance and pharmacudical companies, not the requirement of degrees.  I do think that the American mentality to discount out anyone without a fancy college degree has robbed the country of a lot of tallented people in a lot of areas, medical profession included, but hey, its the way things are.

And anyway, when did I say that I thought the rank system was special?  As I said, the rank and degree system in martial arts isn't foolproof in terms of insuring the quality of the rank's holder.  There are those who strike out on their own and promote themselves to grandmaster who may or may not have the qualifications to hold that (or any) title.  But the rank system is just a rank system.  Nothing more or less, and is as good as the substance behind each rank. 

At the same time, those old masters you mention had 'rank' in the eyes of their peers.  It wasn't called 'dan' rank, but was based on their skill and knowledge of the art.  I have no problem with modern dan ranks, but I do feel that they should mean something.

Back to doctors for moment, a vascular surgeon with degrees in that specialty is "qualified" to do what he or she does.  Doesn't make them the best and it doesn't make them immune to mistakes, but it does mean that they have the knowledge and training.  I have seen so-called masters who have neither.

And that is really the only beef that I have with the modern rank system.  Within one organization, the minimum standards for each rank should be clearly defined and adhered to.  I can accept that standards for each rank and title differ between orgs.  But within an org, you shouldn't see a master with the skills of Bruce Lee and another master of equal dan rank who can barely break a Ritz cracker.

In the end, I'm neither a proponent nor opponent of the belt/rank/title system.  It is what we have to work with and it isn't going away.  We have two choices: stay in and deal or start our own org that dispenses with all titles and rank save teacher and student.  

Since I don't consider myself good enough to do the latter, I'll stick with the former and make certain that when people see me spar or practice my poomsae that they don't think that my belt is from a Cracker Jack box.

Daniel 

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교사 Yidan kumdo, Ildan taekwondo

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"Start by doing what is necessary, then do what is possible and suddenly you will be doing what you thought was impossible"

No offense taken, and I certainly had no impression of a personal attack.  Sorry if I seemed to have.

I was just pointing out that while I don't condemn the belt system, I don't really promote it either.  It simply is a reality of the martial arts world today and can be good or bad depending upon how it is used.  

Regarding the problems with rank and title, I am on the same page as you.  Overbilled practitioners with lofty titles but no ability to back it up have made Taekwondo look frivolous.  Eight year olds with blackbelts make Taekwondo a laughing stock.

Sadly, many of the problems that arise because of the ranking system have been self inflicted by the MA world.  Egos get out of hand, the lure of money has been too strong for some to resist, and students are promoted beyond their capacity in order to inflate the reputation of a school or organization by otherwise well meaning seniors.

While I am not old enough to remember a time before belts, I am old enough to remember when having a black belt meant that people were downright terrified of you and with very, very good reason: blackbelts were serious fighters who could handle themselves and hurt you bad if you picked a fight with one. 

Now I see clods who can't perform Taegeuk il jang correctly or without almost passing out and tots who need help using the bathroom wearing them. 

Ah well.  No big picture solutions come to mind.  I just try to make sure that my students skill levels match the belts rank that they have.

Daniel

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교사 Yidan kumdo, Ildan taekwondo

HI IM GIORGIO AGE 9 BLACK BELT TAE KWON DO, I HAVE  A REALLY COOL WEBSITE WWW.GIORGIO.ORG.UK PLZ TAKE A LOOK

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"Start by doing what is necessary, then do what is possible and suddenly you will be doing what you thought was impossible"

ok here is my veiw being a first dan that opened my own school. I started age four and have been doing it since with small breaks starting in 98 when i received my black belt at age 11. I am training still and have a master that comes down every 6 months for a few weeks to train with me and my other two instructors. I feel that if you are ready and you talk with a master instructor or federation president and they beleive you are ready then you are ready but always ALWAYS!!!!! go through your higher ups for testing requirements. My master beleives that if i would have stayed with just TKD then i could have made it to 4th dan by now but i didnt and am working now to get back to that level of training. hope it helps