Sure, it has a good purpose and I think it serves it very well. It gives the individual something material to measure their progress by which is very important to us all, initially anyway. It also gives new students an measuring stick of sorts. It's not 100% in all cases but it works in most cases. You are white belt and you see a go-kyu, and you see a yon-kyu, it gives you an idea where your level of techinque can be given time and practice. Once you reach shodan the belts are black anyway so I think rank is an afterthought at that point.
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