Traymond

They teach drunken boxing in Scottsdale and Mesa Arizona.

I would just say that instead if Martial arts completely, you should out a self defense course in their, like escapes and other flashy things that could grab peoples attention, like breaking down the Bassai Dai Kata and showing the self defense part of that, and if you see some people extremely interested in it, then you can teach them the full martial arts.

In my school, we allow for them to where the highest rank that they have ever achieved, but we stripe their belt with the color they should be in, in our style. They still compete with black belts if they are blackbelts, and they will still receive the respect that they have for their rank, but it will be known that an orange belt in my style has more knowledge then they would in my style.

the belt ranking system only originated to add some flare to the dull looking gi. It made people look forward to something in the terms, of reaping small rewards before you get to the big one, so it does not seem that you are waiting for nothing. The black belt merely symbolizes someone who understands the basic of the martial arts principles set forth in his style, if he created his own mix or style, then yes he is a real black belt. He most definatly would not be accepted into any oragnizations such as WTF, or ITF or anything like that, they might accept some of the forms he uses, if he does use the traditional forms set forth, by say Tae Kwon Do Chung Do Kwans, Baek, which is a third degree black belt Poomse I believe, than the ITF would recognize that Form but not the style he has created. To me the belt holds your pants up. I have four belts I use now. A white one, a black one, a red one and a blue one. One for their respective colored Gi's. For my students I allow them to wear the belts from White to black, I dont have any black belt students yet, but when I do, the ranking system just repeats its self. Black and then back to white, but that shows that no matter what life is a continual circle. So I think that your friend is a real black belt, even in the regards that he had to earn the money he made to get the black belt, as you look into the martial arts and you find Zen, just look into martial arts as small aspects such as that. He did have to earn his money to get the black belt, so no matter what he is the owner of a black belt regardless of who gave it to him. In his own right he deserves it. Black belt is nothing more than a modernized symbol through martial arts that acts as a name for where you are in your martial arts. In his own style he is a black belt, who are we to choose what he is?