I think that some people are still confused because those prerequisites existed when Sun had the Sun Certified
Java Architect certification. That certification no longer exists, and has been replaced by the Sun Certified Enterprise Architect for
J2EE Technology certification, which has no prerequisites. They have a simple diagram of the paths and prerequisites for the certifications at:
http://suned.sun.com/US/certification/java/java_archj2ee.html I don't have any prior certification, and I'm currently working on Part II of the SCEA certification process.
Good luck.