The notable rise of China into a development behemoth and the World's leading growth-driven economy has often conflicting theories posited to justify it. Fundamental to the Chinese outlook on their success is their "belief in performance legitimacy". Etched in their intellectual tradition, China has approached its rise from a context that respects the Chinese philosophy of life as the primary reference for the idea of civilisation. Consequently, China subscribed to the notion of using only its vocabulary to explain its new paradigms of development. This has made everything Chinese, which was the periphery, the centre of all they do and culturally export as soft power to the world.
Martial arts- all of the various systems of training for combat that have been arranged or systematised- became one of the paradigms of engagement which defined pathways China followed to culturally onboard its people onto the chosen development path. In martial arts, the Chinese leadership knew that the different systems followed globally could be easily conceptualised through a martial arts system that will see or force engineer them to be designed for one purpose- defeating opponents and defending against threats. China seems preoccupied with defending its higher goal of "a harmonious society and government based on trust; people trusting the leadership to create opportunities for a better life, and leadership trusting people to be the driving force in the process".
The conduits through which such a trust is funnelled are a bureaucracy working on a paradigm of service and performance legitimacy. This is, according to Howard French, "a sure-footed bureaucracy, chosen purely based on merit, rigorously trained, and ideologically vetted- to implement and execute, free of harassment (political or otherwise)". It is in the rigorous aspects of this merit system that the concept of the Black Belt becomes relevant to define the type of cadreship democracies like the model China follows are modelled upon. To be Black Belt in the martial arts system means you are a self-assured and knowledgeable mandarin who is an outcome of intensive training and real-world experience. In Northern Sotho parlance, "ga o lešoboro, o bollwe pitšeng tša baganka, tsebo ya gago e tšwa maetong a o a tšerego".
Just to explain the Black Belt concept, more than just the belt is available at sports clothing shops. "There has been a rule that when the disciple puts on the belt once, he doesn't take it off throughout all his practice. The incumbent is changed because the disciple grows and becomes stronger as well as it gets ruined by frequent training...the belt is white in the beginning, but through long training, it becomes yellowish (titled-Mudansha) from the disciple's frequent sweating. As practice was held in nature, the belt would become greenish from sweat and grass and later purple-brown from dust and soil while practising in the yards of a certain school. By the longtime training the belt got soaked with sweat, grass, soil, dust and even with the disciple's blood becoming dark brown i.e.dirty black (titled-Yudansha). If we have the knowledge how the colours of the belt were made and how they changed from white to black, we can understand the link between a colour and the length of the disciple's practice and development."(David Stainko; 2021)
In short, at origin there was no black belt which could be bought, but the white belt went through a process until it turned black. That process defined the one wearing it as having mastery of what the belt represents. Getting into a process towards a Black Belt requires an ability to adapt to circumstances that cannot be changed, and have a much more forward-looking attitude to life. It also means finding it more beneficial to putting energy into future well-being than dwelling in the past. As you mature in the gear, you are wearing and the belt changing colour, you are becoming a new generation of yourself inside the old structures that give you the form and character the new white belts must emulate.
As the occurrence of becoming a Black Belt progresses, those inside it, and along the white-to-black belt continuum, should have the duty to "always try to harmonise their own views and responses with those of the movement". They must be ever conscious of the crucial importance of unity and of resisting every attempt to divide and confuse." In the dojo, in this case, the ANC, the beyond green belt trainees, and the Black Belt masters have to be "subjected to the overriding principle of maximum unity of purpose". For if they lose sight of the purpose of being members, they will betray the cause. In the Kabwe Conference parlance, "actual dojo belts wearing cadres should not fight amongst themselves, they should not let enemies of the cause succeed in getting them to fight each other.
In its history, the ANC defined its objectives, defined its strategies and tactics, constantly revised its outlook on the balance of forces, and instructed its adaptable pillars of the struggle as victories were registered and losses counted. One crucial aspect of being a true beyond green belt in-ANC dojo practitioner, as not all members are practitioners or practising the art of being ANC, is to live its Kabwe and subsequent conferences adopted Code of Conduct. These Codes have historically imbued practising ANCians "to live up to the highest standards of organisational behaviour under the exceedingly difficult circumstances" of leading a society whose soul is contested for by other political formations. Coming from a history where becoming good at making the state ungovernable would attract a beyond-green belt, breeding Black Belts out of such conditions requires an honest definition of criteria to be in-RSA-Constitution values Black Belts. To be Black Belt requires the introduction of a "moral ethos into everything done in the name of the ANC by its members and practising ANCians, including leadership. These should be laid down rules that must serve as personal badges of honour and morality in pursuing a better life for all.
Because of the exigencies of having to govern the country and live up to the benchmarks of what the character of ANCness demands of its members, most of its Black Belts lost sight of maintaining the rigorous training systems the ANC as a dojo had. "Baditsi ba alogile le koma". Masters of ANCness became part of what was once the target the ANC wanted to defeat or defend itself against. Invariably its Black Belts would start to shrink as an advantage to the ANC but multiply as a bulwark to neutralise its programmatic entirety. The idea of earning your place in a South Africa where there is a better life for all could no longer be pursued outside new interests that redefined post-1994 politics. As the main dojo was drying up, Black Belts started to breed their private beyond green belts, which now struggle to see the ANC as one dojo.
The Black Belts are not multiplying; they are shrinking. This is notwithstanding a high preponderance of practicing ANCians and 'leader of society brigades' with which the slide towards a dismal 2024 can be decisively reversed. CUT!!!
🤷🏿♂️Leswi swa tika ku swi-ignorah
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