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Tony and the Amazing Technicolor Dreambelt
black belts
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Depends on the system. In many systems I've seen 10th dan is the highest.
pgsmith
Master of Arts
Well, that does away with any of your ninja training then eh? Hard to be invisible when your belt glows.
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My belt will glow in the dark so brightly that it will destroy the night vision of any attacker, allowing me to defeat them while they are temporarily blinded. It's a variant of the metsubishi tactics used by the ninja of yore.Well, that does away with any of your ninja training then eh? Hard to be invisible when your belt glows.
JR 137
Grandmaster
My belt will glow in the dark so brightly that it will destroy the night vision of any attacker, allowing me to defeat them while they are temporarily blinded. It's a variant of the metsubishi tactics used by the ninja of yore.
And you can turn it on and off with your mind.
I have seen a Ninja dude with an 18th Dan in a documentary once.
Interesting. I didn't think Ninjutsu even had ranks, although some of the American schools that advertise Ninjutsu have incorporated ranks into the system.
Hyoho
2nd Black Belt
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In Japan a Shodan or black belt rank means you are qualified beginner. Part of the colored belt system invented by the founder of Judo, Kano Jigoro. Other styles of M.A. particularly in the West even those that are not even related to Japanese Budo have taken this and changed it to mean something else. As mentioned it just depends on what you do. Dan grades (black belts) are association related.
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E
Even in Japan, it varies a bit by system (or has varied, anyway). Shodan was always the first advanced rank in NGA, even in Hokkaido.
From what I know yes, in Japan it means you're a serious beginner. And thats why I don't see why a school would make it a big jump to go from brown to black as discussed earlier in this thread. If making Shodan is no big deal than I don't see why schools would make it a big deal.
Perhaps in the USA its the almost mythical and magical status that has been associated with the black belt why its often a big jump to get from brown to black in American schools. But as you said Shodan means qualified beginner, at least in Japan it does. So for that reason I wouldn't expect it to be a big jump in terms of time and difficulty to get from brown to black if you're training in Japan under a Japanese instructor, or if you're training in the USA and your instructor is a Japanese immigrant.
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Perhaps not but that's not to say that there aren't instructors from Japan who move to the USA and set up schools in the USA. Lots of people teaching in the USA are from Japan including my first instructor.
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Who then decided what shodan would mean within their system. Just as they do in every system. I'd be willing to bet that the meaning of shodan varies as widely among schools/systems in Japan as it does schools/systems in the USA.
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Blanket statements will rarely be as accurate as they sound.
As I said in another post, there has always been a significant difference between brown and black in NGA, even dating back to the original dojo in Hokkaido. Testing has always been significantly more rigorous, expectation has always been a lot higher, and there has always been some ceremony around that particular promotion (moreso, even, than other dan ranks).
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I'd also question why it even matters what it means in Japan, unless we're talking about within an association, making a comparison between countries. Japan has a different culture, so unless we are trying to maintain consistency within a particular association, there's no reason why we need the belts systems to be the same between countries. We should be focused on doing what works best for the students and the school, and that doesn't always come from Japan just because the art did.
Hyoho
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Yes I know but it's still a Japanese system of denoting what level you have reached that has been bastardized by other countries and forms of M.A. Why make it something it's not? Rokudan usually denotes a national level. Sandan is high school graduation level.
When I taught M.A in the West as adult education the college required some sort of qualification. But that was provided by coach award showing I could teach not dan-i (having dan)
Many foreigners go to Japan short term and come away with a 'take away grade' but living there is a different story.
Work hard enough it's not so difficult taking grades living in Japan either if you practice every day. I gave up with an accumulated 27 shodan shinsa by the time I was 42 to devote myself to Koryu.
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By "bastardized" you mean "used a way I don't like". In every case, it only means what a group agrees it means.
If you mean that "serious beginner" is a blanket statement than I might see where you're coming from.
So with the kind of difference that you describe between brown and black in NGA than maybe there should be belts in between brown and black. It doesn't really make sense to have going from brown to black to be like going from white directly to black. That's an exaggeration of course.
Well because as I mentioned before there are instructors from Japan who move and set up schools in the USA. Being from Japan I would think they would do things the way they're done in the culture that they're originally from and that they grew up in.
