*Google provided 7,230,000 results for “PhD martial arts,” offering a plethora of scams and diploma mills to choose from: To mythbusters, the martial arts industry has become a circus chock-full of showman touting clown credentials like PhDs of martial science, and while Doctor is reserved for academia, the truth is there is no regulation of martial arts, so we rely on the honor system. A similar story repeats in the next county, and the next and the next - it’s mind boggling. The results will make you go hmmm: “Master “XYZ” from Podunk, Iowa is the undisputed undefeated world champion” (even though they’ve never fought outside their zip code). The self-proclaimed Mega Master can be found in every state, city, and neighborhood across America, just let your fingers do the walking (or nowadays google ‘em). This is a lighthearted look at the thousands of Great Glorious Grand Masters, Supreme Grand Masters, Eternal Masters, Ultimate Masters, Sultans, Luminaries, Grand Poohbahs, and Sōke who seem to rival the omnipotent. You put your right punch in, you put your left kick out, you put your right block in, and shake it all about…Īh, the classic participation dance where being a Sensei just isn’t enough. This article was originally published in Shotokan Magazine, By Bill Viola Jr. The shadow is what we think of it the tree is the real thing.” - so be careful the shade you throw. In the words of Honest Abe, “Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. While I am not targeting anyone in particular, I’m confident most readers will immediately relate with the trend. Disclaimer: I struggled, going back and forth, about publishing this piece because its taboo to question authority in the martial arts industry.
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