Mail-order MA certificates

**haughty** · Posted On: 12/26/2005 8:11pm

Hey, all.

I was reading about Ashida Kim the other day, and I was perplexed with what I found. Apparently, Kim had been selling black belt "certificates" through the mail. This seems ridiculous to me, but one Bullshido article implied that such a practice is acceptable, so long as the buyer deserves the certificate.

So the question became, would Davis/Hunter/Kim sell a black belt certificate to anyone, or did he actually screen applicants and require a video tape or proof of rank as he claimed to do. [sic]

So, my question is, is there such a thing as a reputable black belt certificate vendor? If not, what was the point of the Kim sting?

P.S. I don't appreciate the mods moving my previous thread to Trollshido. The morons who spammed it shouldn't ruin it for the rest of us.

**Jitsuman** · Posted On: 12/26/2005 8:35pm

Originally Posted by haughty

Hey, all.

I was reading about Ashida Kim the other day, and I was perplexed with what I found. Apparently, Kim had been selling black belt "certificates" through the mail.

P.S. I don't appreciate the mods moving my previous thread to Trollshido. The morons who spammed it shouldn't ruin it for the rest of us.

Ashida Kim? Mail order black belt certificates?

No way dude!!

Great find!!

Off to trollshido with your dumb ass (again)

**Cormoran** · Posted On: 12/26/2005 8:45pm

So, my question is, is there such a thing as a reputable black belt certificate vendor? If not, what was the point of the Kim sting?

The question is irrelevant. Ashida himself attempted to use that as a defence, just because others might be doing what he does doesn't make what he does any less worse than it is.

Damn i hope that made sense.

**haughty** · Posted On: 12/26/2005 8:51pm

In my last thread, which was mistakenly moved to Trollshido, I ignored spam posts such as that above. Maybe I shouldn't, from now on.

Originally Posted by Jitsuman

Ashida Kim? Mail order black belt certificates?

No way dude!!

Great find!!

Off to trollshido with your dumb ass (again)

I'm not talking about Ashida Kim. I'm talking about mail-order black belt certificates.

**BigNinjaPimp** · Posted On: 12/26/2005 8:58pm

You're really stupid id you cant see it has to do with other things besides the mail order certificates.

**haughty** · Posted On: 12/26/2005 9:04pm

Originally Posted by BigNinjaPimp

You're really stupid id you cant see it has to do with other things besides the mail order certificates.

What has to do with other things? Ashida Kim? That's not what this thread is about. It's about mail-order certificates. You've got it backwards!

**Cormoran** · Posted On: 12/26/2005 9:31pm

If it's not about Ashida Kim then why did you mention him four times in your post? It also wasn't about barney the dinosaur and since you didn't mention him four times no one replied about it.

On mail order certificates in general, i'd go for the skeptical view, i just don't see some video being able to show just what a black belt could do, and if you already had the qualifications then you simply don't need some mail-order black belt certificate.

As a side note, i had to laugh that a search on mail order black belts on yahoo yields ashida's wikipedia entry.

**haughty** · Posted On: 12/26/2005 9:37pm

Originally Posted by Cormoran

If it's not about Ashida Kim then why did you mention him four times in your post?

Because Kim is my only reference point. I don't know of any other mail-order black belt vendors.

**haughty** · Posted On: 12/26/2005 10:11pm

Jesus Christ. I can't believe this was so difficult.

**bodar** · Posted On: 12/26/2005 10:20pm

Think about this real hard. If someone were able to assess another's skill in any martial art, wouldn't he have to be an expert himselfwant., right? So how can any one man grant legitimate certificates in any martial art you claim to be "11th degree master" of?

Kim was caught selling a black belt cert in Vale Tudo, a style that has no ranks and that he knows absolutely jack about. The point was to conclusively prove that he's a fraud and a liar, which it did. The fact that he didn't ask for any proof of rank is just icing. So, no. There is no such thing as a legitimate black belt cert vendor. If you actually earn a black belt, you will more than likely get one from the school or its governing body.

P.S. - You might want to change your style field, genius.