The Original Purpose of www.slinging.org is to be THE definitive informational resource for Slinging and to increase awareness of the Art.  We seek to add an element of Achievement to our community for those Slinging Artists who have focused much, paid much and spent much time studying, contributing to and practicing the Art that we hold so dear.  Everyone likes recognition and in our growing community of Slingers it would be good to know who to go to for advice on various aspects of the Art.  The Ranking and Merit System will help with this in a number of ways.  
In addition to personal recognition within the Slinging Community itself, A Merit/Ranking system will lend a certain sense of Authenticity and Authority to our community when it interacts with people and organizations that are not aware of the Art.  This will be beneficial to the Original Purpose of Slinging.Org.

A Ranking will give a generalized indication of how much time, dedication, work and study a given Slinger has devoted to the Art.  Rank itself will not be an indication of what the slinger is good at specifically, but an overall idea of their achievements.  It is the part of the System which lends authenticity to the community when it interacts with the public.  
     In keeping with the “simplicity” of the Art itself, the Ranking System will also contain only a few levels that will be increasingly difficult to achieve.  The Ranks are in the Latin Language because it seems to best embody the ancient nature of the Art of Slinging.
     Following is a list of the Ranks and the Requirements to achieve them. Note that some of the Ranks require Merit Levels to be achieved in specific categories and others do not, but an Artist must achieve the prior rank before advancing to the next.  

“NOVITII” (Novice)
Rank Insignia: None
Requirements:
•      Join Slinging.Org
•      Post Introduction in this thread:  http://slinging.org/forum/YaBB.pl?board=Intro  
 
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“TIRO”  (Apprentice)
Rank Insignia: Circular patch with 1 Vertical Glande with “TIRO” above it.
Requirements:
•      Achieve a level 1 Merit Award in the Slinging, Crafting, and Promotion Categories
•      Achieve a level 2 Merit Award in any of the Merit Categories.    

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“FUNDITOR” (Slinger)
Rank Insignia: Circular patch with 2 vertical Glandes with “FUNDITOR” above it
Requirements:
•      Meet all TIRO requirements.
•      Achieve a level 1 Merit Award in the Research Category.
•      Achieve 2 additional Merit Award Levels in any Category.  

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“ARTIFEX” (Artist or Craftsman)
Rank Insignia: Circular patch with 3 Glandes in a triangle with “ARTIFEX” above it.
Requirements:
•      Meet all FUNDITOR requirements
•      Achieve 3 additional Merit Award Levels in any Category.  
•      Must have attained Level 3 in two Merit Achievements (Distance 3, Sling Crafter 3, etc)

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“FUNDA TECHNICUS” (Sling Technician)
Rank Insignia: Circular patch with 4 Glandes in a flower with “FUNDA” above it and “TECHNICUS” below.
Requirements:
•      Meet all ARTIFEX Requirements
•      Achieve 2 additional Merit Award Levels in any Category.
•      Must have attained Master Level in at least 1 Merit Achievement(s) (Distance 4, Sling Crafter 4, etc)

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“FUNDA DOMINUS” (Sling Master)
Rank Insignia: Circular patch with 5 Glandes in a flower with “FUNDA” above it and “DOMINUS” below.
Requirements:
•      Meet All FUNDA TECHNICUS Requirements.
•      Achieve 2+ additional Merit Award Levels in any Category.  
•      Achieve 3 Level 3 Merit Awards in any of three Categories.
•      Achieve Master Level in three Merit Awards from any Categories.  

Badges/Merit Awards

     Badges/Merit Awards and Rankings should be issued by the Moderator(s) in charge of the Ranking/Merit System.  These Moderators should be petitioned when an Artist wishes to receive a badge he/she believes she has earned.  The Moderators will check the requirements and determine if awarding the badge is appropriate.  

Appeals

     If an Artist disagrees with the Ranking and Merit System Moderator’s refusal to award a Merit or Rank and the situation cannot be resolved between the Moderator and the Artist, an appeal may be made to the Slinging.Org Administrator for resolution.  

Organization

       Merit Awards will have five overall categories that will serve to keep them in organized groups.  Each Merit Award will have it’s own set of requirements that an Artist must satisfy in order to earn the specified Merit Award.  These Categories will be as follows:

SLINGING

This Category encompasses the practical application of slinging and all of it’s aspects such as distance, accuracy, form, etc.
CLICK HERE FOR THE LIST OF SLINGING ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

     
This category will deal primarily with crafting slings, tools, ammunition and miscellaneous things that support slinging.
CLICK HERE FOR THE LIST OF CRAFTING ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

PROMOTING

     
Arguably the most important category, the purpose of Slinging.org is to promote the Art of Slinging.  This category will encompass achievements within the area of increasing public awareness of the Art.
CLICK HERE FOR THE LIST OF PROMOTING ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

RESEARCH

     
The Research category shall encompass and recognize work done by Artists who actively research aspects of slinging such as history, cultural information, etc.
CLICK HERE FOR THE LIST OF RESEARCH ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

INNOVATION

     
Due to the fact that the Sling has been around for thousands of years and is inherently simple, this is arguably one of the most difficult categories to earn Merit Awards in.  The Innovation category will include achievements for those who were able to invent something new for the Art.
CLICK HERE FOR THE LIST OF INNOVATION ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS


     The requirements for each Merit Award will be listed for each Merit Level within the Merit Award List.  In order to achieve the next level, an Artist must have satisfied the requirements for all other levels below it.  We will use “Sling Crafter” as an example.  If an artist wishes to achieve Sling Crafter 2, he/she must first have done the following for level 1:

•      

This would qualify the Artist to receive the Sling Crafter 2 Merit Award.  Any questions regarding qualifying for a Merit Award should be directed to the Ranking and Achievements Moderator(s).

Petitioning

     It will be the responsibility of the Ranking and Achievements Moderator(s) to review the qualifications of an Artist seeking a Merit Award.  When an Artist feels he/she qualifies for a Merit Award or Higher Ranking, a petition should be sent to the Moderator(s) via email or PM and should include the following information:
•      Merit Award and Level or Ranking sought.  (One petition for multiple awards is fine.)
•      A Statement indicating why the Artist is qualified for the Award/Rank (To make things much easier for the Moderator and therefore speeding up the review, links and references should be included in this.)

The honor system will have to be used in some cases and this is okay.  Dishonest Artists only cheat and dishonor themselves…  

Awarding Achievements

     Merit Awards and Rank Advancements shall be granted publicly on the “Awards and Achievements” forum by the Ranking and Achievements Moderator(s).  Digital Merit Badges will be attached to user profiles by the Ranking and Achievements Moderators(s) as well.