A student just told me today about his excellent Karate teacher with whom he studied in the 70's. Meiji Suzuki (Wayne- correct me if I have that wrong!) who taught in London and was full of character as well as having a surreal sense of humour. He once started a class with the cryptic: 'Dragons do not wear brown shoes!' and made no further mention of it all evening. The club won many competitions despite (or perhaps because of) their teacher's unorthodox methods. Wayne said he remembers a night in about 1979 when a new student arrived and Suzuki asked him what he wanted to acheive by studying with them.
'I want to get a black belt', he said.
Suzuki walked over to the cupboard, opened it and took out a black belt. He handed it to the young man and walked away to teach the class.

Fantastic. Thanks Wayne!