Question 137: Accreditation

I'd agree with you that people should stay accountable to other people, as it benefits us all in various ways. I'd agree that in this day and age there's a lot of opportunity to do that, but I would not agree that everyone who holds a job as a security guard is not a real master.... In fact, I'd say that's pretty shallow and materialistic on your part. What if his morals do not involve material gain? I also would not agree that the way a person gets a piece of paper determines their value as a martial art instructor. Bruce Lee didn't even claim any paper and was repeatedly proving his skills superior when he was a college student and dishwasher... but I guess that makes him trash?

Did I say that everyone who holds a job as a security guard is not a real master? What I said was “Ask yourself, Why does this "professor" with so many PhDs behind his name have to work as a security guard?" Usually, the answer is because of a problem with the “professor’s” credentials. If a person with so many credentials is only working at menial jobs, it may be because the credentials are bogus. I changed the paragraph in question in TKDTutor to make this point clearer.

As to a security guard who considers himself master, if he attained his master status from a legitimate source, then he is a master, otherwise he only a master in his own mind. 

As for Bruce Lee, he was a martial artist who was a successful television and movie star. If he had not been a movie star, only a few people would even know who he was. At the same age, Jackie Chan was just as skilled as Lee, and he has achieved even more film success than Lee, but he does not consider himself a master.