Grading Up: Ranks Without Ranking

By Njoli Brown

“This present continuous practice is nothing other than just that, just committing oneself to continuous practice for no other reason than to practice continuously.”

– Dogen in “Continuous Practice” –
(Translation by Francis Dojun Cook in the book “How To Raise an Ox”)

Most recently MSMB had the opportunity to promote students through the Pekiti Tirsia Kali ranking curriculum in association with PTK Elite. It has been a pleasure to see their growth as students and to see them undertake and overcome increasing challenges both in training and in life. Through this process, it had me truly reflecting on the value of rank testing and the importance of doing it well, justly and academically.

Now, truth be told, I do hold a lot of more seemingly abstruse elements to be equally as important in the progression of studentship — empathy, mindfulness, dedication, compassion, fortitude, humility, etc. But here, I’d like to talk about the importance of the skills element of the pedagogy.

This year there was a decision among Elite Family instructors to really drill down and go layer by layer through the rank requirements, specific skills, language, historical knowledge, deemed essential both by our teachers and by us, collectively. In making these determinations we were looking to do a better job of making sure that , not only were we developing skilled practitioners or doing our part to protect the legacy of our predecessors but that we were giving our students access to material which, perhaps, none of us have fully deciphered. Material which could then truly be theirs to explore and investigate. In the martial practice everyone brings their own personhood and thus unlocks elements only accessible to them, elements revealed through work and diligence. These are all the spaces between wherein students often teach their instructors.

By utilizing a clear platform for ranking, it also calls on me to continually develop myself and work on my own weaknesses. It requires me to regularly test myself and delve deeper. In part because of my own curiosity but, as well, because It would be my greatest fault to leave a student short-changed because of my own incapacity to reconcile with challenges I face in my own study.

Ranking is a funny thing. It is both objective and subjective simultaneously. The more esoteric aspects of a teacher’s pedagogy, I’ve put aside for the sake of this exploration but they are easily as essential, particularly if your institution is also concerned with developing teachers, leaders, comrades. People age, the body becomes ravaged, illness, injuries, we know them all. But, in this world of martial craft, nothing sabotages the weight of a leader’s presence in the field more then demonstrative ignorance of his/her craft, and nothing empowers a student more than to have strong foundations from which to build investigative inquiry into self and the world.

Questions: