Okay, so it wasn’t so much of a test as a presentation. They don’t have a specific BB test, their instructor simply swears that their student is good enough to be a black belt. The entire presentation took about half an hour, and I have transcribed the important bits.
On some levels, I’m impressed by them, at least in relation to West Wind. Their school is filled with all sorts of cheesy Chinese decorations, and framed posters and photos are abundant. However, their uniforms are very modest. They wear plain black pants that cinch in at the ankles, and their tops are a black mesh athletic fabric, with two small school patches (no more than an inch in diameter) on either side of the V neck, and one on the back at the nape of the neck. Compare this to West Wind, who have the entire rainbow belt system along one arm, and various scout looking things along the other. The fronts are covered in american flags and dragons, and one instructor has his red gi covered in his students’ autographs.
Grandmaster Lee didn’t say very much, and except for his own little throne, he didn’t seem to be putting on any kind of airs. All he really said was “thanks for coming… now here’s a demonstration… that was the presentation, did you want to say something?.. we’d like to take a picture in that corner, so if I could ask you to kindly move out of that area…” He wore nice pants and a nice turleneck, which I thought fit the occasion. West Winders teach in suits. And that’s BS.
the ceremony was a bit hokey, but they gave me a few numbers. According to their speech, there have been 15 East West schools, 20 spinoff schools, and yet there are fewer than 30 legit BFD black belts. Who’s betting no one on that list is from West Wind? Considering maybe 10 of those black belts were in the room today, that narrows West Wind’s chances quite a bit… There was also a bit where the new black belts bowed and everything, acknowleding their teacher, their teacher’s teacher, and the teacher of their teacher’s teacher, GM Richard Lee himself. Also, the new BBs had to mark a piece of paper that would, for historical records, affirm their lineage. As rocky of a start that BFD may have had, at least now lineage seems to be very highly regarded. Al Tracy’s picture was on the wall, so it’s more than certain that Lee isn’t hiding everything about himself.
My hands are tired, so I will type of the transcription later, and post it along with some still shots of the event.