Chapter 4
Rank
"The man, who, being really on the
Way, falls upon hard times in the world will not, as a consequence, turn to
that friend who offers him refuge and comfort and encourages his old self to
survive. Rather, he will seek out someone who will faithfully and inexorably
help him to risk himself, so that he may endure the suffering and pass
courageously through it. Only to the extent that man exposes himself over and
over again to annihilation, can that which is indestructible arise within him.
In this lies the dignity of daring."
Karlfried_Graf_Dürckheim– from The Way of Transformation, 1988.
Karlfried_Graf_Dürckheim– from The Way of Transformation, 1988.
What the heck is judo
rank?
I taught a college level judo class at North Dakota State
University for 32 years. It was a very
popular class, I had about 3,000 students in 32 years. Often I was asked about the martial arts rank system and I
developed a good way, to my mind anyway, of describing what was a black belt
and how to interpret the higher level ranks in judo.
Professor Jigoro Kano's day time job was as an
educator. It appears that he was a very
good one for he is often referred to as the Father of Modern Education in
Japan. As a young man he rose in the
education system from teacher to administrator quite quickly and at one point
helped to adapt the European system of education, what we know as K-12,
undergraduate and graduate college education.
Kano's students worked from early morning until late at
night, Steven Cunningham stated that they studied Japanese and Chinese
Classics, martial arts history, strategy employed in battles, tactics and
strategy, etc. Kano translated Japanese
into English and and German and vice versa to help pay for the school. There are references in older literature that
the Kodokan was often called the Judo College by old jujutsu masters. So it seems to me that it is not a coincidence that the martial arts ranking system, referred to as dan-i, was established by Kano to mirror the educational systems of Europe. The more I read the more convinced I have become.
1st degree black belt, shodan, is
roughly equal to a high school diploma.
By graduation the student has a fair grasp of the nature of judo,
his/her knowledge is pretty broad at this point, their work ethic has been
examined (persistence to complete the program).
The high school diploma is pretty broad and fairly easy to get, some say
that all you have to do is show up. A
first degree black belt, in Japan is fairly easy to earn. In my judo club it takes 4 to 6 years to earn
a black belt.
2nd degree black belt, nidan, is
equivalent to an associates degree in college.
Following my analogy, after shodan, the student has jumped to a college
level curriculum, the classes are a more rigorous, a deeper understanding of the subject matter is required. Some specialization occurs at this level
much as it does in college, but the core curriculum is continued to be
studied. Generally it takes another 2 to
3 years to earn nidan.
3rd degree black belt, sandan, is
equivalent to a bachelor's degree in college.
This is a fairly rigorous course of study and the judo applicant would have
to have time in grade and equivalent course work (knowledge) and be able to
demonstrate a high level of understanding of judo. The student would be expected to learn about
instruction/coaching of beginning and intermediate students, sports psychology,
bio-mechanics, exercise physiology, dojo management, judo games, judo drills,
judo kata, how to set up a tournament, refereeing, public relations, sports
information, writing about judo, grant writing, judo story telling, judo and
the media, how to set up and conduct judo clinics.
4th degree black belt, yodan, is
equivalent to a master's degree in college.
The course work would continue and perhaps specialize in a particular
area of interest, perhaps refereeing or teaching college students. In addition the student would be required to
do some original research, perhaps it is in-line with his major adviser’s
research or something that he/she chose for themselves, with approval from his
major adviser and the promotion committee.
For example, the student could be doing research on a competitive aspect
of chokes, their success rate in tournament and their medical results
(injuries, etc.) or developing the “go
no kata” or another lost kata of the Kodokan. Students would be encouraged to study other
aspects of samurai culture such as jujutsu, aiki jujutsu, kenjutsu,
iaido, jodo, other weapons systems and their effect on the development of judo
or for the expansion of knowledge of the student. Kano encouraged his students
to study the sword for a better understanding of the principles of judo,
Kano himself was a master of the sword.
5th degree black belt, godan, is equivalent to a
PhD degree in college. The PhD
candidates would continue the course work, would develop a deeper knowledge of
a specific area of judo. This would be
the realm of the higher National and lower International referees. More research.
6th degree black belt, rokudan, is
equivalent to assistant professor in the judo college. This is a very knowledgeable person capable
of guiding students up to 4th degree black belt. With time this person will become a full
professor. Like in a college setting
this person has teaching and research responsibilities. He/she should be seeking out new methods to
doing things, new ways of looking at things.
7th degree black belt, shichidan, is
equivalent to a full professor in our judo college. For those who have never attended graduate
school, the work of the professor is very important to the proper guidance of
the graduate student. In addition, typically
the graduate student works for the professor and contributes to the professors
favorite research topic.
8th degree black belt, hachidan, is
equivalent to a department chairman, high level administration, remarkable
teacher, remarkable coach, remarkable researcher.
9th degree black belt, kudan, is
equivalent to a distinguished fellow of the college (remembering our Judo
College is made up of all the judoka in the world)
10th degree black belt, judan, is the equivalent
of the Nobel prize “for judo”
Earlier forms of rank
So how does Kano's dan ranking system compare with other
traditional ranking systems?
Menkyo Kaiden
The DAN system developed by Kano dovetails nicely with the
older rank recognition system called Menkyo Kaiden. In the Menkyo system the Menkyo
Kaiden is the highest rank and means “license of total transmission”, it
takes 30 to 40 years to get to this point, and most likely the holder of this
license is the inheritor of the ryu (school of martial art). This would be 9th or 10th
dan in Kano's rank system.
The first ranking in this system is okuiri, which
means “entrance into secrets” and is roughly equivalent to a nidan or sandan
in Kano's rank system. At this point the
student has a basic knowledgeable of the art's techniques. In the Menkyo system at this point the
student's name is added to the school's register, and the student takes a blood
oath to not disclose the teachings of the school. It takes 8 to 10 years to get to this
point. While Kano didn't like the idea
of secrets he was obligated to take blood oaths when he invited jujutsu school
masters to the Kodokan to share their knowledgeable. So you see fewer requirements for upper ranks
because they were supposed to be secretive.
There can be several steps between okuiri and menkyo
kaiden – the system I am modeling has two intermediate steps, mokuroku
and menkyo. Mokuroku is a
middle learning step and takes another 8 to 10 years to achieve. Mokuroku is roughly equivalent to godan in
Kano's dan system. Menkyo means
license and is the license to teach. It
takes another 8 to 10 years to achieve this level of expertise. At this point the student can begin to teach
on his own and establish his or her own dojo.
Shu-ha-ri
Shu-ha-ri is a concept of Japanese martial arts that means:
obey, digress, separate. It is a
description of the goals required of students studying martial arts and has
been borrowed by the International Business community to help employees
understand how one masters business skills.
SHU refers to 'copying' faithfully the material presented by
the sensei and is directed to students with the rank up to sandan, 3rd
degree black belt.
HA is the second goal of martial arts study and requires the
student to 'digress', to start exploring technique and is directed to students
with the rank of yodan and godan, 4th and 5th degree
black belt.
RI is the final stage, where the student is set on his own
to create his own dojo, this is 6th or 7th dan. Remarkably this reflects the education system
based on the judo college model.
Here is a short description of the Shogo system from Kenshi 24/7[1]
SHOGO (称号) in Japanese translates simply as “title” or “rank,” and the word can be used in many areas, for example formal titles of nobility, military ranks, scholarly ranks, etc, and informally in the sporting world, between friends, etc.
The use of the word that I will look at here is of course that to do with the budo world, and specifically the usage promoted by the Dai Nippon Butokukai[2] (1895-1946), and that continues today in one of its spiritual heirs, the Zen Nippon Kendo Renmei (All Japan kendo federation). Please note that the Butokukai information presented here relates to Kendo (variously called gekkiken and kenjutsu) but that eventually all arts under the Butokukai ended up using the system (kyudo, jukendo, et al)[3].
Although this article is meant to be focusing on the shogo titles, I could not ignore the DANI (段位) system during my investigation. The dani system used by the Butokukai was obviously heavily influenced by the system used in Judo that was instigated by Kano and used at the Kodokan. Amongst other things, Kano was the principal of Tokyo Higher Normal school between 1893 – 1920 and Takano Sasaburo began working there as a kendo teacher in 1908. Of course Kano was influential in many circles (including governmental ones) but I don’t think it’s illogical to suppose that he had a large and a direct influence on Takano’s thought in this matter. Takano, of course, went on to become a kendo leader in Japan, and a senior member of the Butokukai.
Types of Shōgō:[4]
Renshi: Those who have practiced and succeeded to
show the principle of the sword and have good knowledge of kendō. Must
hold 6-dan.
Kyōshi: Those who have mastered the principle of the
sword and have excellent knowledge of kendō. Must hold 7-dan.
Hanshi: The highest of all. Those who have mastered
and completed the principle of the sword, have outstanding knowledge of kendō
and excellent personality with a virtue. Must hold 8-dan.
Other Shogo
Occasionally you will see someone referred to as Shihan,
that means master teacher.
[1]
http://kenshi247.net/blog/2010/01/08/a-brief-investigation-into-the-development-of-the-shogo-system/
[2]
Kenshiro Abe, the founder of the Kyushido Society in England, the precursor to
Zen Judo, studied judo at the Butokukai in Kyoto.
[3]
These titles have also been used in judo, there are references to Mifune
Hanshi, etc.
[4]
A nice discussion of Shogo can be had at: http://www.koryu.com/library/mskoss9.html
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