my background runs from 7 years w/ a teacher who didn't do rank
to 13 years w/ one who did and I certainly did like some aspects of it...especially when early on as a white and gold sash I was thrashing some (not all) of his black sash students ...and also much later as I became his senior student and got to teach a lot.
then I moved to be able to teach on my own and to look for more...the first thing I did was revamp the sash groupings by not strapping a sash on them first thing then as I joined up w/ Pong Lai and they did not use sashes I gladly chucked them and most of my students at the time gladly put them aside as well.
but, later, I saw that I wasn't reaching some of them...and wasn't reaching hardly any of the new ones and they were just kinda in a holding pattern...even with the tons of new material I was kicking out.
so, now, after my shifu decided that we were going to get organized. We are back in to a sash system and most everyone is content and happy and most certainly it seems to be proving a valuable focus aid w/ children.
so, maybe in America at least, it's got more to do w/ your market, who you attract in general, and not holding to a spiritual ideal as a teacher when your students don't have the same value. The vast majority of people out there have the idea of a rank structure in their head. If you can get them interested and move them on to other ideals later then fine.
"George never did wake up. And, even all that talking didn't make death any easier...at least not for us. Maybe, in the end, all you can really hope for is that your last thought is a nice one...even if it's just about the taste of a nice cold beer."
"If you find the right balance between desperation and fear you can make people believe anything"
"Is enlightenment even possible? Or, did I drive by it like a missed exit?"
It's simpler than you think.
I could be completely wrong"