|
I wrote this Second address
hoping it would serve you better, Joseph. Again, this address is
regarding the matter of the holding of Rank and
title (in Japanese this is called: yūdansha,
a so-called 'Black-belt' holder). As a document it was entered and
presented here, before all to whom it
may concern, and whomever it may not? Under our own rules and
customs, as well as those common to
others with similar practices, the issuance and holding of rank within
the Dankyūsei Rank System has some relevant
importance. One must also bear in mind that the Dankyūsei as a system differs from the Dankai system used in the Shinden
Yōshin Ryū school of Jujutsu that we use. The two aren't quite the same
ranking system, really. When a person first reaches the rank of Shodan
(1st Degree Blackbelt) it is customary to say something... to make the
occassion more meaningful, one knows. I myself have never really cared
for 'common routines'
unless in fact they have some real significance (and I know that you
share this dislike with me, I will try to keep these statements useful
to you then.) So, my real
intention here is to make this useful
for you even later in life, so that you can return some day to what I
said in
this Second address and perhaps gain some insight. Keep both of the
addresses I wrote you and bring them together now and then. You will
find that,
occassionally, it's helpful to you over the years. You are
my oldest son, but on these subjects that has little bearing at all.
Read this address, since that is your duty, and bear it in mind when it
would be at all useful to you to read them both again. Below
this address are the links to your old and new Rank Certificates along
with the transcript documents that go with each rank.
THE
WEYMOUTH SCHOOL OF DEFENSE
As always, you will excuse me for making some usage of Japanese
terminology here in the
body of the Second address, but it's often said that Japanese is the
lingua-franka of Jujutsu. We do hold and understand that, in reality,
it's all universal and that Jujutsu is only the specific Japanese
incarnation of the body of knowledge that generally makes up the
subject of such things as paramilitary
unarmed combat.
Being that the Japanese schools had actually maintained a codified form
of these arts descended from history itself (whereas others could
barely claim to have done so at all) the older and more original
branches of our school saw these Japanese systems and arts as being the source of a much more
reliable methodology by which to protect themselves, or to survive
war-time. The Weymouth School of Defense is over 200 years old now, and has
been known by other common names, most notably the Wymark School of
Defense which is quite often considered to be the original name of the school. The Wymark School of Defense
was sometimes called the Wymark School of Fencing and
consisted of Saber and dagger work, Hand to hand combat (especially the
common sword disarms used in traditional saberwork to steal the man's
sword away), Staff and Cane work, Long gun and Small arms, Campfire
methods and Trail blazing methods. It was rather famous, even if it was
a smaller school and was well known
for its Saberwork (usage of specific forms of the British or American
Saber and the
techniques for them. Circa 1910.) Elements of the school show up in
other edifices, sets of techniques or practices usually named the
"Wymark method". Our branch of the school is, of
course, called the Weymouth School of Defense but really doesn't differ from the Wymark School in any other signifcant way except for the usage of Shinden
Yōshin Ryū
Jujutsu techniques. Even the shield we use to represent the school is
almost the same exact design, three stars surrounding two crossed
daggers. They say that there were a few different versions of this
shield, but really they all have three stars and two crossed blades.
They are almost always drawn in black and white, but when these shields
do have colouration, that would most usually denote a specific familial
sub-branch of the school (we aren't supposed to use it unless we came
from the sub-branch.) I wish that you would remember all of this. Some branches of the Wymark School of Defense
were known to have migrated to North American shores around about the
1840's through 1880's, and then
became a known New England School of Fencing by 1910 c.e. Fact is that
this school of the defense arts got a certain amount of usage on the
shores of New England and the shorelines beneath New England in the
late 1800's and early 1900's, as everyone
knows that the shores were plagued by both pirates and brigands of
highwaymen until about 1915 c.e. They had a definitive preference for
the Saber and would not resort to full length Rapiers, per se. They
used a long thin straight 'dagger' instead (about a foot and a half
long, looks similar to a giant flat needle with a handle attached, held
in the left hand when
fighting with the saber). The branch called the Weymouth School of Defense formed around 1910 c.e. and became a separate branch by 1945 c.e. Around the time that the Wymark School of Defense
began showing up in New England (especially around the 1880's) it had
also begun forming the Codes of Conduct that later were given the name
"the Old Rulings". The Old Rulings were a corpus of
decisions and a description of what to do about certain kinds of
troubles. They are inseparable from this school, and they also describe
its history in rather simple terms. As the rulings were formed and
written down, they ended up "old" so the "New Rulings" were formed,
starting around the post WWII war period (early 1950's) during the
Indo-Chinese Wars. The first thing that the "New Rulings" did was
receive and accept the "Old Rulings", duly noting which of them had
become outmoded and outdated. Our branch has its own separate set of
"New Rulings" which do likewise. Examples of the Old and New Rulings:
"When a ruffian assaults you, and you are yet unarmed, you must show
quiet courage... contrive to steal away a weapon or two...attack them
when they do not expect it...", "We may not desist from pursuit of the
necessary methods of defense, or we will not be able to protect our
property and
children..." A very famous example of both the later Old Rulings and
some of the early New Rulings: "Continuation of the Great Wars:
It is
evident that the wars are not really over..." and "... no man should
fail to instruct his sons in the necessities of such an occassion... or
the young man's life may be forfeited..." also it says of this: "When a
young man's life is forfeit...he may yet arise the occassion as a
matter of instinct... and he may yet prevail,,," and also "When said
man does not arise from mere instinct but instead from a sense of
delibracy... even more so he may yet prevail... but in either case he
could just as well have failed..." On the subject of the Privilige of Orders
(which the right to give orders to a soldier and have them obeyed, or
to give Societal and Police Orders) both sets of rulings state: "A man
must obey his orders, but when your life is in peril by such obedience
then you must suspend their privilige [to give orders]... seek your own
necessary best interest and defend yourself even from them..." There
are many different rulings that
speak of the Great Wars (WWI and WWII)... fortunately for us, many that
predicted the emergence of WWIII proved not to be so accurate. The
Codes of Conduct referred to as the Old and New Rulings are the
backbone of the School, in effect they are the School and at the same
time they are an expression of the School. Now you
know more about the history of our school. Do you get the impression
that I am quoting something in the passages of this address? Most
people would recognise that I am. I cannot stress enough to you the
importance of understanding these affairs. And so I say it outright in
this address: We do not so much pursue the artifice of the schools
of Kano Jujutsu
and early Kodokan Judo
but instead, we conduct the affairs of our own School and family. We do
not particularly care for things Japanese, and your own disregard and
dislike for them, son, was born out of this same sentiment. The Judo
and Jujutsu came to exist within these as a means to an end. Meant to
provide a fuller system of unarmed combat because originally that is
what they were.
ON THE VARIOUS CUSTOMS... AND CUSTOMS OF RANKING
It is true that the adoption within the School, of Judo and Jujutsu itself, was most originally from the schools
of which Kano Jujutsu
and very early Kodokan Judo were composed of. The Wymark School of Defense picked
these up between 1885-1915 (common back then among both Britains and
Americans). At the time Judo commonly used the technqiues of the Body,
sword and staff arts (later omitted from sports style Judo) and this
was viewed as consistent with the existing contents of the school,
especially wherein the Japanese sword was quite comparable to the Saber
(given the curvature of the blade) and the Hand to hand combat tactics
were largely geared to take the opponent's weapon from him and make use
of it oneself. Later, the hand to hand combat the school used was the
common wartime equivalent called 'Combat
Judo' at the time of the
Great Wars (World War 1&2), as did our branch, during WWII. That
was really when our branch began to emerge as distinct from the more
original
branch(-es) of the School of Defense and now have become fully
separate and
distinct from one another. By this date, our branches have been separate for about 100 years. The arts called Kano Jujutsu
and very early Kodokan Judo were
just forms of Goshin-jujutsu
technique at the time, that is to say, techniques of the self defense
arts. Judo had not evolved into a sports form yet, there were no sports
Judo meets or competitions back then. Sports Judo is a completely different system from the one
we use (ours is the older original Judo that was simply used for self
protection.) It was
originally a system that made avid use of Body, sword and staff
techniques -- and we still have this form of it today in our school. Of
the Wymark School of Defense and the earlier incarnation of the Weymouth School of Defense
any of these that gave in and became Sports Judo schools almost always became
extinct -- because you can't practice our methods and sports methods
too (it is not allowed in the sports arena, of course. Why would it be?) The original curriculum espoused by Kano Jujutsu
and very early Kodokan Judo was typified by usage of the Shodan and Chūdan levels of both Tenjin Shinyō Ryū and the Kitō Ryū
as schools of Jujutsu, namely, as a method of defense. Later in time
they formulated what is called now the "Early Kodokan Syllabus" which
became famous world wide. Of course, our School and its earlier
branches absorbed that as well (we use the two systems almost
separately, denoting that the later system called the "Early Kodokan
Syllabus" was actually derived by re-ording elements of the Shodan and Chūdan levels of both Tenjin Shinyō Ryū and the Kitō Ryū anyways.) Some branches of the Wymark School of Defense did end up dropping the earlier curriculum (Tenjin Shinyō Ryū and the Kitō Ryū
based) in favor of the "Early Kodokan Syllabus", effectively
abbreviating their unarmed combat tactics to have done so. Branches
like ours did not think that the abbreviation was very wise,
if anything, one might instead want to increase one's repetoire in a
reasonable fashion -- doing otherwise might weaken you and the school
both. The advent of the sports form Judo did sort of throw the baby out
with the bath water in regard to all of this. And as I said, any of our
branch schools that gave in and became Sports Judo schools almost
always became
extinct -- because you can't practice our methods and sports methods
too. They really aren't compatible at all.
WHY DO WE HAVE COLOURED BELT RANKS AT ALL IN OUR FAMILY SCHOOL?
You might ask me: "Then how did we come to accept and make use of the
coloured belt system, wasn't that part of the sports Judo and Karate
systems?"
The answer is rather simple and direct: It is not and never was
an invention of Judo and Karate
as sports systems. It was formed and instituted in the earliest days of
the Kodokan before any kind of sports system had developed within Judo
or Karate. Judo formed and employed it whereas Karate-jutsu only adopted it from that source. It is not, in the original form, at all a demarcation of ranks within sportsmanship: it is a demarcation of rank and skill within the defense arts.
The various branches of our school have had the Coloured Belt Rank
System since at least 1945 c.e. Initially, there were only Five (5) Dan ranks (five blackbelt ranks) and Five (5) Kyū ranks (colored belt ranks under blackbelt). Later in time they expanded the coloured belt system so that there were Eight (8) Dan ranks and Five (5) Kyū ranks called the Gokyū Ritsusei (五級立制).
This was the original ranking system and this is still what our School
traditionally uses, because that was the Ranking system (Dankyūsei) when and as the school had most originally received Kano Jujutsu
and very early Kodokan Judo. But later in time they increased the number of Lower ranks to Eight (8) Kyū ranks, so sometimes we use all Eight (8) Kyū ranks but sometimes we revert back to the usage of just Five (5) Kyū ranks. The rule here basically says that the Hakkyū Ritsusei (八級立制) is used and Hakkyū
(8th of the Lower ranks) is given when the person has no former
training AND is beneath the Age of 17 years old. But if that person
being ranked has held some kind of firm Lower rank before (especially Sankyū 3rd Lower rank) then the Gokyū Ritsusei (五級立制) Five Lower Rank system is used, UNLESS
the rank itself has fallen into disuse or it came from a fighting
system that is too different to be compatible (so it cannot be entred
into our records as a Sankyū, for example) A grown man or woman whom has had some training of some kind would usually be subjected to the Gokyū Ritsusei (五級立制) Five Lower Rank system. The fact is that among the Japanese, the extra three or more ranks (from Hakkyū down to Rokkyū) were
added to accomodate older children in the ranks of the art (mainly,
straight through the Japanese Public School system, at the time.). This
is even more true of Nanakyū (9th Lower rank) and Jūkkyū (10th Lower rank) as these were intended for very young children. Adults were not meant to be subjected to either the Hakkyū Ritsusei (八級立制) or the Jūkkyū Ritsusei (十級立制), that would not have been considered appropriate at all. I wish that you would remember this. Our school (and many of the older original branches of the School) has only Eight (8) Dan ranks and Five (5) Adult Kyu ranks:
○ Hakkyū (八級) 8th Lower Rank -- Children's White Belt ("No Belt")
○ Shichikyū (七級) 7th Lower Rank -- Children's Yellow Belt ("No Belt")
○ Rokkyū (六級) 6th Lower Rank -- Children's Orange Belt ("No Belt")
◇ Gokyū (五級) 5th Lower Rank -- White Belt (same as "No Belt") Children's Red Belt ("No Belt")
◇ Yonkyū (四級) 4th Lower Rank -- White Belt (same as "No Belt") Children's Red Belt ("No Belt")
◇ Sankyū (三級) 3rd Lower Rank -- Green Belt
◇ Nikyū (二級) 2nd Lower Rank -- Green Belt
◇ Ikkyū (一級) 1st Lower Rank -- Brown Belt (informal Assistant Instructor)
◆ Shodan (初段) 1st Degree Blackbelt Rank (Yūdansha (有段者) "Man of Standing" an actual member of the school. Assistant Instructor)
◆ Nidan (二段) 2nd Degree Blackbelt Rank
◆ Sandan (三段) 3rd Degree Blackbelt Rank
◆ Yondan (四段) 4th Degree Blackbelt Rank
◆ Godan (五段) 5th Degree Blackbelt Rank
◆ Rokudan (六段) 6th Degree Blackbelt Rank
◆ Shichidan (七段) 7th Degree Blackbelt Rank
◆ Hachidan (八段) 8th Degree Blackbelt Rank
There are actually several other schools and organisations that use this same Dankyūsei Ranking system, but most of them have, by now, added Kyūdan (九段) 9th Degree Blackbelt Rank and Jūdan (十段) 10th Degree Blackbelt Rank into their ranking system (but still maintain the Go kyū Ritsusei Five Lower Ranks System and use.the Hakkyū Ritsusei (八級立制) Eight lower ranks system quite the same way we do.) The old American Federation of Jujutsu under National Director Jeffrey Moore was a fairly good example of this. Our school's most recent School Charter License was given by them. Even in his own dojos and through most of the A.F.J. as a federation, they chiefly used the Go kyū Ritsusei Five Lower Ranks System. When they used the Hakkyū Ritsusei (八級立制) they used it more like we do. There are many schools and organisations that still use the Go kyū Ritsusei Five
Lower Ranks System, we just happen to be one of them. According to the
late "Old Rulings" and many of the "New Rulings" of our School in its
various branches, the ranks of Kyūdan (九段) 9th Degree Blackbelt Rank and Jūdan
(十段) 10th Degree Blackbelt Rank, when evidenced, are reserved for the
Higher ranked Japanese practitioners (and even then, typically, they
exist within a fairly large Japanese organisation and are not "stand
alone" ranks, so to speak.) We do have absolute respect of the
practices and customs of others, and we offer no complaint against them
(according to the Rulings and Customs of our school). But our School
and its customs are, for us, rather immutable. I wish that you would
remember this.
WHAT IS THE PROCEEDURE FOR ADVANCING MEN THROUGH THE RANKS?
Most originally, prior to 1955, within our school and the older
Branches from which it came: The average instructor was no higher
ranked than the rank of Brown Belt. The Brown belt instructor would
train men and provide their rank from White belt to Green belt. In
order to appoint another Brown belt advancement, they formed a Panel of
the existing Brown belts in the school and voted the prospective in or
out, according to the Rules of Conduct. Likewise, that is how anyone
gained a Blackbelt, the same Panel of Brown belts would determine by
the vote whether or not the Blackbelt would be awarded. So (by 1949)
there were a small number of "Black belts" that were members of the
Panel. At the time, it was generally understood as a Shodan
Blackbelt only, any rank above this would not have likely occurred in
the School and its branches -- but they did recognise the existence of
higher ranked Blackbelts. Around 1968, they discovered that a Breach of
Protocol had occurred: According to the actual Rules of Judo and
Jujutsu, anyone under 3rd Degree Blackbelt cannot rank a person to
Brown belt or First Degree Blackbelt. The issue was resolved by seeking
rank advancemnt outside of our School itself, from legitimate Judo
clubs of an appropriate order (namely, those whom did not exclusively
practice the newer "sports Judo" alone.) Two men were able to gain
certification for the Sandan
3rd Degree Blackbelt. A "New Ruling" was made: "When the men of the
school lack any other means by which to advance, the older practice of
a Panel of Brown belts can determine new applicants to the rank of
Brownbelt... but may not rank anyone to First Degree Blackbelt...one
would, by necessity, seek Blackbelt rank from outside the school...
through a reputable club or society capable of issuing the rank..." and
also said: "...Any Panel that has at least one Nidan 2nd Degree Blackbelt ranked among them may award Shodan
Blackbelt..." By the date of 1969, the availability of School Charter
Licenses came into the picture. They made rulings that said: "Where
available, there is a preference for gaining a Charter license... since
these also imply the right and privilige to afford rank and title..."
The School first became chartered around 1969 (as a school of Self
Defense Judo, of course.) Our branch of the School does have the same
Rules of Conduct, so I do usually maintain a Charter License and
display it in an appropriate fashion. But our Branch of the school has
already been chartered about three times now. The first time I acquired
a Charter License for it was in 1981, but that organisation subsided a
couple of years later. I acquired another Charter License around 1988
and that organisation subsided as well due to social upheavel that
occurred at the time. The current Charter License was issued in
September of 1999. The Weymouth School of Defense
that we branched out of was chartered twice that I know of: once in
1969 and another instance of chartering at about 1978. They
displayed both charters for years. Charter Licenses are something we
are supposed to make use of, according to the Rules and Customs of our
familial school.
◆ Modern customs as defined by the "New Rulings" of the School allow a Brown belt to award White and Green belt ranks. But the rules require us to be a minimum of Sandan 3rd Degree Blackbelt in order to award Brown belt and Blackbelt of either the First or Second Degree. Yondan
Fourth Degree Blackbelt can award a Third Degree Blackbelt and so on.
You have to be one Dan rank higher than the Dan rank that you are
awarding. These are the rulings and customs of the school. I wish that
you would remember this.
◇ You, son, are Shodan
1st Degree Blackbelt and can only award White and Green belt ranks.
But, according to the "New Rulings" of the School to which we belong,
only a Shodan 1st Degree Blackbelt and above is actually a full fledged Member of the School itself
(Brown belt is called a "a Member pending endorsement" which means they
are not yet a full fledged Member of the School.) This ruling is quite
firm, even among the Japanese (such as originally in the Kodokan and
similar schools or associations among the Japanese -- this is what the Shodan 1st Degree Blackbelt meant: actual standing and membership in the school or association.)
◇ You, as a Shodan 1st Degree Blackbelt and ergo a full
fledged Member of the School, do enjoy the privilege of sitting on a
Panel and help determine Rank advancement. Your signature, when you do,
is supposed to appear on the Rank Certificate and the Transcript
documents that go with it. Please sign your name and indicate your rank
after your signature ("1 D" or "1 Dan" would be usual.)
◇ You, as a Shodan 1st Degree Blackbelt and also a full fledged Member of the School, do enjoy the Privilege of Nomination. You may not be able to rank a person to Brown Belt or Blackbelt yet, but you can, under the Rule of Nomination, enter Application to Nomination and request that either Brown Belt or Blackbelt be awarded to the person.
◇ You, as a Shodan
1st Degree Blackbelt and also a full fledged Member of the School, can
sit on any Council that is determining any revisions to the "New
Rulings" of the School.
◆ You might have noticed that these listed Privileges were not mentioned or described when you were awarded the Shodan 1st Degree Blackbelt in the Shinden
Yōshin Ryū
Jujutsu. That should tell you something about how our Weymouth School of Defense
actually handles this school and what it does and does not enjoy by way
of standing. It has to do with the Old and New Rulings as we inherited
them from the older Wymark School of Defense. The Shinden
Yōshin Ryū simply doesn't have the same standing within our School that the North American Kodokan Judo has.
OTHER RELEVANT CUSTOMS OF AWARDING SIGNIFICANT RANK
There
are various kinds of 'Brown belts' and 'Black-belts', they are given for various
reasons and do not all mean the same thing. Some brown and black-belts (Dankyūsei system
of ranking) are given strictly on the grounds of technical skill, having
learned to repeat rote sets of mechanical movements (techniques).
These ranks serve no other purpose, an acknowledgment of the
performer's ability to rote repetition. Some
brown belts and black-belts are given strictly on the grounds of technical skill of
quite a different sort, namely, that of technical content (within the
school or system attended.) These ranks
serve no other purpose, a recognition of the holder's knowledge of
technical content. Some
brown belt and black-belt ranks are
not given
on the grounds of either form of technical knowledge, or that of
technical skill at all, and have nothing to do with
these subjects. They may be a form of an
academic
award, due to the function that the practitioner serves in the
school or system. Or they may have been given on the basis of having held (earlier) rank
for
an extended period of time. Some are given on account of long term
membership (with or without any earlier rank holdings) in a school or
system. Some brown belt and black-belt ranks are given on the
grounds of ability to teach others and
thus were intended to provide such instruction and ranks to others.
Some brown belt and black-belt ranks are
not given for such
purposes at all, and their holders cannot
teach or rank others.
There are various kinds of brown belt and black-belt ranks.
Which
kind of Rank and Title, Joseph, that you assist others to achieve, and
may achive yourself, is largely
at your discretion to decide. In a school like our own, and in such
general practices, one can 'change gears' when done in a reasonable
fashion and so increase the usefulness of their rank and station. This
is outlined in the later "Old Rulings" and the "New Rulings" as well.
It
may happen, over the years, that you do not feel that another person is
worthy of the rank they have received, and that it is or has become a bit hollow and meaningless. This
comes from the perception that it should
mean something,
at a basic level. Come back to this address on the subject that I gave
you here, then you can find
meaning for it all again. What meaning, in the end, is up to you. But
the fact always remains that, like some few other schools or systems,
our school is known and understood to ascribe to the practice of
issuing (in a reasonable and cautious fashion) the Ranks on
any available and reasonable basis that is useful to the general cause.
In
the end, son, it really means that (even in the individual's case) the
rank is much the same... as if it has been issued for your own
personal and due cause. If it does not first serve you yourself... then
in what way could it possibly serve the school or system itself at
all?? I assume you understand this, since it is an elementary concept. There is quite a bit more one could say here, but some measure of
assistance regarding the subject was the point of the address, as you can see.
Capacity
and ability (to perform a thing) is called 'acquired skill'. Acquired
skills are considered to be possessions
in hand
and are to be included
here as a subject relevant to the discourse. They are a form of valuables.
Skill and ability is a foundational subject for the purposes of the Weymouth School of Defense,
and the paramilitary arts within the school. There are parts of the
paramilitary arts that lend themselves very well to
life and society in general, if only we will implement them. From one
perspective or another, all skills and
abilities are relevant and integral to the paramilitary arts. Beyond
this, the strict subject of skill and ability is a matter of they're
being valuable and useful. One must value his inherent strengths
and abilities to accomplish or perform a thing, the result of valuing
this is to seek training or self-education to learn new acquired skills
and gain the power they may afford.
However, the capacity to use these newly acquired strengths is
limited in value when compared to the fine skills and abilities already
possessed. There are plenty of skills in the world, and when deciding
which of
them to pursue, it can be helpful to make the determination by the
visible degree of usefulness they might provide in any given activity.
Skills
which can be obtained by special efforts are "special skills"
and these can be divided into two categories as indicated below.
General skill levels have each about six categories (from novice up
to expert.) which denote one's degree of capacity. General skills are
common occurrence skills, stuff that most people have some degree of
proficiency at. Special skills are sometimes called 'specialized
skills', and are something that most people do not have any proficiency
at. The sixth level of general skills is itself considered a special
skill (a general skill that exists at proficiency levels so unusual
that it can only be called a 'special skill'.) This is sometimes
refered to as 'Mastery'. Special skills can be
learned through education and apprenticeship, or they might be the
bestowal of nature and inclination. In such case as by natural
inclination, it is considered a violation not to pursue and perfect
these skills for one's own employment. Every field that exists in life
has both
sets of skills, general and specialized skills.
THE IMPORTANCE OF MEMBERSHIP
This
is to
have and provide a place or
position of belonging. For these purposes: membership in a suitable
Martial Arts or Martial Arts related society, association or
federation. Acquiring membership in something. A variety of
associations and organizations to join. A variety of membership types
available. Comradery and social interaction, if one desires it.
And as one ought to know, there is the possibility of forming a
society, association or
federation within one's own grouping and circles for much the same
reasons. Either way, involvement leads to acquisition of
experience and (increased) skills
of proficiency which leads to recognition and reward. Not belonging is
incorrect. Authenticity and genuineness are always couched in
associative interactions. However, it can honestly be said that
inauthentic and ingenuine articles tend to be
validated by associative belonging. It is the irony of suffering
invalidation and inauthentification -- membership of an approapriate
order tends to resolve the problem. Cross-membership increases
authenticity and genuineness by exposure to others and by relevant
increase of experience and skills of proficiency which leads to further
recognition and reward. Several types of organizations and associations
and several types of available cross membership do surely exist.
Sometimes some forms
of membership are not voluntary (conscription into military service,
public schooling, some forms of public citizenship.) Knowing when the
involuntary membership and its responsibilities are genuine and legal,
knowing when they are not, but there's nothing you can (legally) do
about it. Knowing how to make even involuntary membership and its
responsibilities work for you and how to gain benefit therefrom. You
are already encountering it, of course, that being the case you might
as well profit from it where you can.
Your Father,
Logan Weymouth
Shihan
JOSEPH WEYMOUTH'S JUDO RANK CERTIFICATES
|
