QA: Quality Assurance

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In many of my professions over the years we always, always, had a QA group whose sole purpose was to ensure the quality of the product and service we provided. I suggest that to have a proper and authenticate martial art study and practice we truly need a QA team to ensure that the end product and service measures up to the standards of that discipline, such as karate for self-fense.

Lets say I build cars and you come to me with an idea of a muscle car you want to get built. I provide you an analysis of that request with all the requirements and the necessary steps along with a time line. Hmmm, you say and then you tell me that your funds won’t fill that funding requirement and you say that the time line is too long, you need it faster. So, I say to you, then you will have to sacrifice some aspects of the car requirements to meet the time line. You say, ok and then add in that the costs are a bit high and your budget is much lower. So, I say, well then we need to make some more adjustments to the requirements in order to fill that need. 

You agree with me at the end and then I say, “Remember, because of the shortcuts and budgetary requirements the quality of the car at delivery will be less than my original estimate and requirements would have achieved. You will have to accept that and you will have to sign an agreement taking any and all responsibilities for the end product to you and leave me not responsible for any issues that arise due to those changes you requested.” 

You agree and sign the document. Well within the agreed upon time line and well within the budget set the car is finished and ready for delivery. I arrive at your garage and back the car off and into the garage where you inspect it according to the agreement and requirements. It is pretty, it sounds awesome when the engine in turned over and the customizations, within the requirements and agreement, on the surface exceeded your expectations. You provide me the final payment, we sign off on the delivery documents and agreements and I leave. 

You call up all your friends who come over and admire the work, the sound of the muscle car and how its appearance is so darn cool. They ask you to take them for a spin around the block. You get in, they get in, you back out and back to the left where you shift into first, pop the clutch and the tires spin and smoke with the roar of the engine vibrates your chest and you cheer like a kid with his first ice cream cone on a hot afternoon. 

Your and your friends roar off fast approaching an intersection stop sign. You roar up and at that last moment press hard on the brakes … ops, your still roaring off toward that intersection where several automobiles are passing back and forth in front of you so you continue to pump the brake pedal and your adrenaline is spiking and your fear is rising but, the car doesn’t stop. 

The sounds of the engine reaching high RPM’s, the sound of screeching tires where the auto’s are trying to get out of the way, then the horrendous crunching of metal, glass and the smell of gasoline flowing on the pavement; the screams of your passengers, your screams and the screams of those in the other automobiles. Finally, the scream of the sirens of police and ambulances, the moans of the injured and your pain reaching a level you gasp form broken bones and the blurring of vision from blood flowing into your eyes and mouth leaving that coppery taste you will remember long after this accident.

Much later, when you healed and the court proceedings end you come to me and ask, “What happened, you guaranteed me a car that would work?” I respond, “Yes, initially and then you said you needed it faster, you needed it for less money and you agreed to the changes in requirements.” I then produce copies of the new requirements that you were supposed to review but you were in a hurry and you were excited to get your new muscle car in such time as to have it ready for your friends enjoyment and some car show. You failed to see that brakes and a spring for the carb throttle were not budgeted along with brake pads and other small items and you failed to read the warning that the car would not be road worthy and that it should not be driven until those requirements were met, needed more time and more money and more patience. You wanted it now, you wanted to drive it now and you wanted it at a cost far below what was required to make it a true, Quality Product. 

Karate, martial arts, are like this car job. We are so anxious to get to the cool stuff, to look cool, to participate in contests and tournaments and to wear the black belt to impress yourself and your friends you forgot that the short cuts, the ignoring of those not so cool requirements and the accolades and trophies you would earn meant you would get an inferior end product. 

QA in karate, martial arts, is not considered even in the most remotest sense and much like it, most martial arts are about taking short cuts, leaving out very important requirements and all in the name of instant gratification and egoistic needs. You get what you PAY for, right?

p.s. you might say, but I do the QA in my dojo; note that QA must be done by a third party not directly associated with the dojo, the sensei, or the students, etc. You cannot truly QA yourself, your dojo or your system/style - one reason why you don’t open a dojo until you reach san-dan trained levels while adhering to the requirement of a third party to QA your efforts, a go-dan or higher not a member of your dojo, etc.

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