Whas up ya'll?

I've been studying MA since I was 16. I have three different black belts. The one constant that I've come across is that many of the black belts I've met could not fight their way out of a wet paper bag with a hole in it. What's really funny is that many of them run schools. What's even more funny is when you go to these schools these guys have all these tournament trophies in their window. Or you look in the yellow pages and they tell you how many grand championships they've won, or gold medals. Can anyone say "self-deception?" Not to mention deception of the public. Now we all know that tournament fighting and reality are about a close as earth is to alpha centauri. But the implication of trophies in the window and the teacher's ability to fight still remain.

But really. Why is it that many black belts cannot use what they have learned. I know, I know, Somebody's going to say, "Well, martial arts is not all about fighting." And I will agree. Martial arts is bout self-mastery, having the ability to not to have to fight. But let's be real. Our world is not a place where everyone loves one another. We've got some boo boos out there who would slit your throat before they would do something nice for you. There are going to be some times when you're going to have to throw down with some dude. That's reality.

So, in the eyes of a green student who comes into the Dojo and sees sensei or sifu wearing their black belt/ sash, the implication is that the teacher can whup butt. That is not always the case. Then, to make matters worse, sensei or sifu transfers their self-deception onto the student by giving them a black belt/sash.

And please spare me the crap about how not everyone takes MA to learn how to fight. That would be like saying not everyone buys a car to drive it. What the hell else are you supposed to do with MA? TAE BO? It may not be a primary concern, but let someone take MA for awahile then get into a situation, it becomes the primary concern then. Yes, MA is good exercise, yes it builds good character in children and teens. I agree with all of it. But 99.9991% of the people I've ever studied with or taught did so because they wanted to learn how to defend themselves. Every parent of every child I've taught has always mentioned that there might be an off chance where little Johnnie or Suzy might get bullied on the playground. Just look at the people who study MA. Are they the body builders? No. Are they Macho Jocks? No. They are the geeks and nerds who the Jocks and body builders abuse. In every club there is an excetion to this rule.

Is this not a case of the blind leading the blind? Everyone will end up in a ditch.

So someone help me. How can we quit deceiving ourselves by equating black belt with the ability to fight? How can a person who attains the rank of 1st dan be confident they haven't spent 3-5 years of there life learning how to dance when they thought they were learning how to protect themselves?