Question 099: Certificate mills

This is what I believe and here are also the facts: I believe that one should look for a teacher who received their Black belt from a Black belt teacher in person who received their Black belt in person from their teacher etc. I got my 1st/2nd/3rd dans from my teacher after 18 yrs of hard training and 10 years of regional competition. However, MOST and I mean 95% of most martial artists in this world got there 2nd- 10th dan grades though correspondence and video demonstrations..that is just a god damned fact of martial art real world life fact!!! 
Most well respected Taekwondo instructors in the northeast and I know MANY got there 4th/5th and 6th dans from other organizations or from a board of people that were not even involved with Taekwondo! I am not saying there is not fraud out there..there is fraud everywhere in everything from used cars to selling toilet paper. Sure there are fraudulent martial artists that pick up credentials from paper mills..I knew at least one in my life and they did not last long...most of them kind usually do not stay in business very long and move onto something else. Its just your "hard line" comments about paper mill organizations and that people need to come from "pure lineage" in person as you sort of imply has just about devaluated 95% of all martial artists in the world including most in Taekwondo!! Hell, Bruce Lee was self proclaimed..Helio Gracie Self proclaimed and oh the creator of Taekwondo..yup self proclaimed! Unless a teacher comes from a Chinese KungFu Shaloin temple no body in this industry can "claim pure lineage" or that they got their ranks ESPECIALLY the higher ranks from people in their specific style organizations in person. Furthermore credentials are not all about paperwork..how does a person fare in tournaments, how they conduct themselves as a person and finally what does their students say about them..to me that is the biggest piece of credentials one can hold is what their students say. Anyway just food for thought:) In good spirit.