I'm not a big fan of meetings. I don't know anyone who is. Perhaps, it's because the outcome is never certain. Perhaps, it's because all too often they seem contrived and so unnatural. Maybe it's the expense. Meetings are expensive, far more than most people realize. Aside from that, you can't really measure the emotional buy-in at the end of a meeting, and without the passionate commitment of everyone involved, I'm not sure the time spent in most meetings wouldn't be better spent actually doing something rather than just talking about it.
Consequently, when you are involved in a meeting that has purpose, substance and more than just a little passion, it can be magical. I was fortunate enough to participate in such a meeting recently. No nodding off, no fidgeting fingers, no tapping pencils, no peering out through half-closed eyelids, no staring out the window, no doodling (well, maybe, just a little ...), no hidden yawns and few if any mid-presentation dashes to the quiet safety and solitude of the restroom.
This meeting was animated and focused, perhaps because every item on the agenda was in some way related to the fate of the automotive aftermarket. I was listening carefully as one of the participants lamented how automotive technology students in his community were being recruited out of the classroom long before their training was completed. In a flash of clarity, the words of one of my first martial arts instructors came rushing back to me. Only now, they weren't just words anymore.
It is amazing how the brain can store items and events like this until your experience and understanding finally catch up. It's funny how something like that can stay with you for all those years, long enough for the memory of surrounding details to fade; long enough to remain unsure of where you first heard those words spoken or even who spoke them. The only thing I am sure of is what was said. The subject of those conversations was the incredible lack of patience we in the West demonstrate in almost everything we do. In fact, my teacher always referred to America as "the land of the Green Belt Masters," and what he had to say and the way he said it burrowed its way deep into the recesses of my brain almost as if my subconscious recognized the need to store it for future reference.
Initially, I remember wondering what my Sensei was trying to tell me. After awhile, I began to realize that while it seemed as if all he was talking about was discipline, determination, commitment and mastery, he was really talking about patience as well. He was commenting on our culture's thirst for "instant" and "immediate" relief and gratification, and the dangers that come when you become impatient, when you short-cut, abridge or abbreviate.
Bushido, the 'way of the warrior,' has always fascinated me. And, while I'm sure I was drawn into these conversations because of the martial arts theme, that isn't what kept me interested. I realized very quickly that he wasn't just talking about karate or kung fu. He was talking about you and me, human nature and life. As I recall, his point was pretty simple: In the beginning, the study of weaponless combat was taken up by only the most dedicated. Mastery of any of the martial disciplines demanded a lifetime of practice and study.
In fact, in the beginning, legend suggests that there were only four belts: White, Brown, Black and then White again. The new student started out with a white uniform and a white belt: a clean uniform, an empty cup. After years of practice, the white belt, which originally stayed with the student throughout his or her training became worn and soiled to the point that it was brown. After still more years of discipline and dedication, the belt became almost black. In some schools this 'Black Belt' marked the beginning of the journey, not its end. And through a lifetime of commitment, the outer layers of the belt would wear and become frayed to the point the belt turned white once again.
I remember my Sensei explaining that this dedication, this ability to give over one's self to a lifetime of learning, to a discipline, any discipline, is clearly an Eastern trait and not very common in our culture. We tend to be impatient in the West and must know exactly where we are at virtually every moment of the journey. Years of dedication, years of perseverance are unacceptable unless the goal is clearly in sight and the objectives are measurable. Consequently, to accommodate an Eastern art form into the context of Western civilization, a complex belt system was developed by almost every one of the major martial disciplines as they migrated here from Okinawa, Korea, China and Japan. There were White Belts and Yellow Belts, Orange Belts and Blue, Purple and Green and finally, Brown and then Black or even Red. Some systems break these rankings down even further adding horizontal and vertical stripes to the belts in order to keep students interested, involved and aware of the progress they are making.
Right about now, you are probably wondering just what any of this has to do with the meeting I spoke of earlier, our industry, me or, for that matter, you. Actually, it has a lot to do with everything. Most people who study martial arts rarely get beyond the basics. They begin with great enthusiasm, some with passion in fact, and then proceed until they achieve a Blue or Green Belt. They are no longer novices, no longer neophytes; but they are certainly far from Masters. In all too many instances, however, that does not stop them from believing they have learned all they need to know. It doesn't stop them from striking out on their own to develop their own 'style,' despite the fact their knowledge is suspect at best, their foundation inadequate and incomplete. They are Masters in their own minds, albeit 'Green Belt Masters:' Masters of the basic, and they attract a following and teach an aberration of the art they never finished studying themselves.
This culture, our culture, the culture that spawned a "land of Green Belt Masters,'" calls this lack of discipline and dedication "initiative" and its results "innovation," when in fact they are anything but.
There is something intrinsically wrong with interrupting the technical study of our art to join the workforce before you are ready. There is something equally wrong in selling your services as a Master when in fact you might be anything but. You have to question a system that would allow Green Belt Masters to take the lives of other people in their hands by doing work they were not properly trained, qualified or licensed to do.
It doesn't really matter whether or not you agree; the point is still well taken - a point worthy of consideration. There are people in our industry who are untrained and ill-prepared for the work they are being asked to do. They are absolutely incapable of performing in a professional manner because they were never taught, never shown, never monitored, never watched and never corrected.
Employers, sometimes out of desperation, sometimes out of avarice and greed, raid the technical institutions before the students are ready, before they have had the chance to acquire the basic skills required to perform. Students, sometimes in their haste to make money, sometimes out of arrogance or ignorance, choose to move on before they take advantage of all that must be taught, everything they need to know.
The study of karate, Chinese karate in particular, has been a lifelong dream that I was finally able to pursue in earnest two-and-a-half years ago. Interestingly enough, I earned my Green Belt just a few months ago. With the presentation of that belt came the realization that up until that moment I had been taking baby steps and that the amount of knowledge and the intensity of training would increase exponentially with each new technique, each new combination and each new form.
Our discipline is a difficult discipline with an intimidating body of material to master, just as our profession is a difficult one with changes in technology pushing the knowledge and performance of everyone involved to the limit daily. It isn't the place for Green Belt Masters. It isn't the place for inadequate technical knowledge or ability anymore than the mat is a place for a Green Belt to challenge a Black Belt's knowledge, skill or ability.
It takes discipline and structure, determination and commitment to create a Black Belt in the martial arts. It takes nothing less to create a professional automotive repair technician. In the martial arts, the body of the art is passed from one master to the next and is the result of countless hours spent in endless practice. The goal is action without conscious thought.
In our profession, knowledge is too often transferred the same way. But, here is where the similarities end. To achieve a Black Belt you must be tested on the complete body of knowledge that is your art in the presence of other Black Belts: plural, more than one. This is to ensure that the arduous regimen of training has been successfully completed, that no shortcuts have been taken and that nothing has been left out. In our profession there is no real test of the technician's skills or abilities, no mat and no Masters to sit in judgment.
I'm not sure whether or not that leaves lobbying for licensing and certification the only reasonable alternative or not. But, I do know that without tradition, without ceremony, without sacrifice, without values, without effort ... there is nothing. We cannot afford to allow our industry to accept - let alone entice - partially trained "technicians" to enter the field. Not unless we are certain we know what to do with them once they are here. Not unless we have a way to supplement what they have already learned; not unless we have a way to ensure their knowledge is complete; not until there are universal standards for professional performance in our industry. We must encourage and reward those who have the courage, the patience and the stamina to resist the temptation and remain in school.
There is risk in abbreviating any course of study, and where there is risk there is danger. In the martial arts, Green Belt Masters are likely to bring injury upon themselves or their students when challenged to perform beyond their ability. In our world, through ignorance or arrogance, incomplete knowledge or ability, a Green Belt Master will more likely cause injury to someone else.
Perhaps, more to the point, whether it's the student, the motorist, the employer or the industry, someone is being cheated.
