I'm of the opinion of a balance of the approaches/perspectives.
A lot of the debate points depend on what one considers to be the meaning of a black belt (or any rank). Martial arts used to be just young guys, and, in some cases, very competition oriented; hardly any women, even. Now we have thirty, forty and fifty something year old women and men starting training. Realistically, their achievement will never match that of a 20 year old starting training.
I don't believe in black belt mills, and I believe in a slower track for youth. But I do think that a promotion system and schedule can accommodate today's broader array of students. Ranks just mean different things, then. perhaps, then they used to thirty or forty years ago.
That's all I've got time for now . . .
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