by Nick Lowry
As an institutional device we can say that there is no such thing as rank in an absolute term– institutionally Rank is always based on a relative scale – some systems rank players/practitioners against each other – others systems grade your rank up or down with each performance- it is never absolute – it is always a point of comparison – a measure against some defined scale – Taking a wide view most often we see rank tied to scales of time and seniority in practice, tied to contribution to the art , and tied to technical proficiency and skills.
Each style and art weighs the general importance of what is being measured and against which scales—some are all about time or seniority, (Confucian –honor your elders model) others all about skill or pecking order (competitive dynamics – win a lot model), others still are all about teaching (repaying debt–giri — how to requite your teacher’s kindness?–how do you effect the world around you?– how do you give as good as you’ve got ?– better yet make it better than you got?).
In a deep sense Rank and the rituals that surround it with belts, certificates, celebrations etc. are geared toward the ends of making visible the invisible–of revealing a truth that is not easily seen– ranks are markers that indicate, that gesture towards, that signify something subtle. Obviously they help define relationships between an institution and an individual and they help define roles and expectations, but really at their heart, they are not something acquired or conferred. The institution does not really “make” someone a higher rank. It rather recognizes that they have made themselves that rank . To be ranked as a black belt you must become it; you must make yourself a black belt though time and experience and sweat. The institutional rank is after the fact— an external recognition not an empowerment. First you become it, realize it , embody it, and then you are recognized as it by your teacher, your dojo, your institution.
The funny thing is, the institution may notice your change before you have and you will feel undeserving, unready for such rank (we often don’t notice all we have become), or on the converse (and sadly more typical) there may be a significant lag between your real accomplishment and the external recognition of it. Too often politics and money begin to cloud the process and the perversity of the institution becomes apparent. Institutions that confer rank for $$ are all prone to such distortion. Rank becomes a tool to fill the coffers, to manipulate and control, and after a very short time such institutions steal away the significance of the act and bankrupt all real meaning for rank. Selling rank and inflating egos, Withholding rank and exercising control thereby, are both corrosive practices to the internal invisible essential business that is real transformation, realization, embodiment.
In the zen sense, no one confers enlightenment, no one transmits anything in the famous zen transmission lineage. All that really happens at such moments is that the teacher publicly recognizes what has already been done by the student –who the student has become through long practice and sincere effort — and they say to the world “he has done what needed to be done.”