Grading
(TAO, welcome to Sydney. FT, bring that Seppo into town for a feed this week!)
In our school, no grading. Only Sifu, Si Hing and Si Di, and age plays a part as well as talent.
Pakmei makes a good statement. Accomplish as much in a lifetime, and you’ll be lucky, the journey is a long one.
Manits108 followed it up nicely, I concur with both of your philosophys.
You learn something, it enables you to learn someting additional, and then the layer on top of that, and when you get to the “top” layer, you recognise how little you learned at the basic level and return there to start the journey again. As you age, new challenges and new accomplishments change your viewpoints.
Anybody ever heard about the 10,000 times rule?
Sifu can guide you, but you must walk the way alone.
As the years pass your sifu and brothers know you by your skills, not by your belt.
Di Si Hing was given to me by my brothers, I didn’t ask for it. Sifu will be given to me perhaps one day by someone that wants to learn what I can teach. Master is given to a teacher by the strength of the students he leaves behind.
The new guy gets tea, and if he show’s diligence, people might start to remember his name. A Si Hing may take him under his wing to help him learn his lessons in time. Sifu will give him what he needs most, different for every student. Maybe even patterns in a different order. Different weapons. In the end it all comest together, Sifu doesn’t hold anything back from anybody. Perhaps one day the student will go to the temple with Sifu. Thats how it works in our school.
With our school, one in 10 comes back for a month. Of the 10 that come back, one stays past a year. Of the ones that stay past a year, half become brothers. Sometimes I wish we could hold more students, but then they wouldn’t be the same, if you know what I mean.
All that being said, the our modern society is built around “stepping stones”, “mileposts”, ceremonies of sorts to measure our passage through life. School grades, weddings, funerals for example.
I can understand why a big school might institute grading to motivate and track young students and work them towards joining the inner circle. It depends on the Sifu, each preatitioner has to find his own way as a Sifu too… Each Sifu has to find a way to make his Kwoon work. I know FT works the a$$ off his boys! No free rides.
