Sherry McGregor: The Out 'Karate Kid'

[Bill Mattocks]

http://www.pridesource.com/article.shtml?article=34824


As a scholarship basketball player at a South Carolina Baptist college, she thought her life's mission was to work in youth ministry. She joined Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and became a noted speaker. But at the same time she continued her involvement in martial arts - a passion since elementary school - and over time that stereotypically macho sport allowed her to realize who she truly is: an out, proud "peaceful warrior."

[elder999]

Sherry MacGregor is a good shorin-ryu karateka, but she's also part of Juko-kai; in fact, she's the one that was actually knocked out during her "combat-ki" demonstration/test during the Discovery channel show, Way of the Warrior"

[Sukerkin]

"She is a fourth degree black belt or above in an astonishing 17 different styles of martial arts (including 10th degree, the highest possible, in karate)."

I know that I seem to hold a minority opinion on the subject of rank 'inflation' but regardless of her genuine skill and 36 years experience, that really does not sit well with me at all.

By any ordinary yardstick, it should take about ten years to get to 4th dan in anything, even assuming that her skill-set allows her to disregard the kyu grades entirely. A 10th dan should be a life-time quest on it's own.

Ah well. Not my ryu or even my general area of martial expertise anymore, so I suppose I shouldn't care. I'll glue my raised eyebrows securely in place when they come back down.

[Twin Fist]

her orientation is meaningless to me, but it is CLEAR that she is a rank chasing fraud.

36 years isnt enough time to get 10th. In ANY art.

Much less 4th Dan rank OR HIGHER in 14 styles AND a 10th........

exactly WHAT is she a 10th IN???? it doesnt say at any of the sites i went to when I goggled her......

[tellner]

I dunno. TKD hands out high rank like it was candy. With all the "Masters" and "Grandmasters" with 10 or fifteen years' experience her 36 is at least up to the same standard.

[Twin Fist]

true enough. some TKD systems do that.

[theletch1]

I remember the "combat ki" documentary on TV. *shudder* Crazy stuff. We have more than a few members on this very board that are either "out" or "in" depending on their personal situation... sooooo, what does that have to do with anything at all other than the absurd part of the quote that
and over time that stereotypically macho sport allowed her to realize who she truly is: an out, proud "peaceful warrior." Really? Odd, that.

[Gordon Nore]

Sherry MacGregor is a good shorin-ryu karateka, but she's also part of Juko-kai; in fact, she's the one that was actually knocked out during her "combat-ki" demonstration/test during the Discovery channel show, Way of the Warrior"

There's some video of her here. I find her kata and S/D to be very good. They also show some of the combat-ki testing, which just gives me the creeps. On the one hand, yes, these folks take some remarkable blows, but I think someone could be badly hurt or killed doing this stuff.

[chinto]

her orientation is meaningless to me, but it is CLEAR that she is a rank chasing fraud.

36 years isnt enough time to get 10th. In ANY art.

Much less 4th Dan rank OR HIGHER in 14 styles AND a 10th........

exactly WHAT is she a 10th IN???? it doesnt say at any of the sites i went to when I goggled her......


I have to agree... the varsity of the rank claims is at least extremely questionable to say the least. why would I trust the rest of the claims?

[tellner]

Seriously, close to forty years isn't an unreasonably short time to reach very high rank for an exceptional person who has put in the hard work. Some of Judo's judans reached it in that time including (if memory serves) the legendary Mifue Sensei.

[Twin Fist]

In ONE art tellner, i would agree.

in 14 arts, sorry, something isnt right

[terryl965]

Sje is simply 14 times better than everyone else, Not she is a rank chasing person and she needs it to boost herown ego.

[tellner]

In ONE art tellner, i would agree.

in 14 arts, sorry, something isnt right

Absolutely.

[chinto]

In ONE art tellner, i would agree.

in 14 arts, sorry, something isnt right



yep I do not buy 14 arts at all... so why should i trust or believe anything else about or claims by that person??

[jarrod]

i hold dan ranks in three arts & honestly i'm slightly embarrassed by that fact (they are very similar arts with a lot of overlap). i think i'd just feel silly with 14 black belts.

how many black belts are enough?

jf

[Balrog]

"She is a fourth degree black belt or above in an astonishing 17 different styles of martial arts (including 10th degree, the highest possible, in karate)."
Checks didn't bounce, I guess.

[grydth]

There's some video of her here. I find her kata and S/D to be very good. They also show some of the combat-ki testing, which just gives me the creeps. On the one hand, yes, these folks take some remarkable blows, but I think someone could be badly hurt or killed doing this stuff.

Her site is very commercial, which may be a clue here.

Many tend to think in absolutes - she is a fraud vs she is legit. But there is a third possibility, especially given that the frauds, as has been noted, often attract so many more students than the true masters.

Given your observations, it appears she has a certain high skill set. However, she may also feel that in a commercial venture she needs to purchase some additional high honors to attract the American consumer. If that's what it takes to make big bucks, she may have opted to add the questionable paper certificates to stuff she has really earned.

I have seen this once before... an unquestionably talented teacher and innovator who obviously felt he needed the extra (bought) paper to become a financial success.

[Tez3]

My instructor has five black belts in different styles, this is simply because he was in the military for over twenty two years and to continue doing martial arts he had to change to whatever style was available at whatever posting he was on. His first BB was Judo which he gained before he joined up and he did always start from white belt though, his expertise did help him as he wasn't starting from a position of knowing nothing each time. Even being in his position I can't see how anyone can get 14 1st Dan blackbelts starting from white each time let alone higher degrees.

[arnisador]

Rank inflation does seem to be an issue here.

[Andrew Green]

i hold dan ranks in three arts & honestly i'm slightly embarrassed by that fact (they are very similar arts with a lot of overlap). i think i'd just feel silly with 14 black belts.

how many black belts are enough?

jf


Depends on your marketing material I guess.

Lots of instructors market themselves and there schools based on rank, a yardstick that has no restrictions on what you can claim and how you can get that next notch.

If we took away the controls on academic degrees and accreditation I bet we would see Universities advertising their brilliant professors with 15 different PhDs and all sorts of Hall of Fame and other awards they gave out themself.

[Daniel Sullivan]

So far, nobody has indicated that the lady lacks any chops. I see the tenth dan rank and multiples of other high grades as more of an issue with the organizations in question.

When it all comes down to it, we all know the truth: you have the chops or you do not. Apparently, she has them, which is really all that counts.

Her gender preferrences seemed a main thrust of the article. Her peers seem very supportive and she speculates that such support may only be due to already having earned her peers' respect.

Honestly, white belt or fifth dan black belt, a person's gender preferences have no bearing on the respect that they deserve. A white belt deserves the respect of others for stepping up and taking the class. The high ranking dan deserves the respect for the time and hard work that they have put in and the level of skill they have attained.

All in all, I enjoyed the article.

Daniel