Structure of classes

[Aiki Lee]

I was wondering how different organizations structure their methods of advancement in their classes. So for anyone in the Bujinkan, Genbukan, or Jinekan: I would like to know what beginners start with and what they work on as the go up the belt ranks.

For the Jizaikan, we have our beginners focus on basic striking, ukemi, and the Aiki kihon happo from our non ninja lineage, as well as work on muto dori skills from the ninja traditions.

Colored belts continue working on specific skill sets at each level while continuing to do the aiki kihon happo, ninpo kihon happo, and other kata.

And so on and so on.

What about you guys?

 

[WesternCiv]

The syllabus for Genbukan kyu levels is:

Ninpo - http://www.genbukan.org/cgi-bin/site.pl?genbukan_syllabus

Jujutsu - http://www.genbukan.org/cgi-bin/site.pl?kokusai_syllabus

 

[Shinobi Teikiatsu]

The Bujinkan is basically the same as yours, we have our newbies drill ukemi (we consider this to be more important than anything else in training), muto dori, kihon happo and sanshin. About the time you reach eighth kyu, your training is the same, but everything is sped up, you are now expected to do ukemi with less effort, kihon happo should be more fluid, muto dori should be more confidant, etc etc.
Once you really get up there, anything past sixth kyu, you really begin applying what you've learned. I don't know if it's like this at every dojo, but at the one I train at, the sixth kyu's and above are all starting to adapt taijutsu to suit their needs, they create their own variations of techniques to suit situations.
At around third kyu sensei begins teaching you incredibly difficult techniques, and most people become beginners again (Although we only have two people who have gone beyond third kyu)
Learn Basics -> Apply Basics -> Variation of Basics -> Learn Advanced Basics

 

[Aiki Lee]

Thank you both for your responses. How does testing work in your schools? In the jizaikan, students must show the traditional techniques he or she has been studying, as well as perform those techniques under randori conditions, and apply the secrets of the martial arts they have learned at that point such as drawing in your attacker and destroying the enemies foundation or using half beat timing.

Other than simply looking better at doing the technique and doing more advanced techniques, are there any things taught to higher rank belts that stress changing their techniques in someway other than just correcting mistakes with footwork or body position?

 

[ElfTengu]

I was going to say we don't test, but to be honest we test constantly.

Some people are better at gradings than others, and just as the bloke who is good at interviews always gets the job even though he might not be best at the job, a true evaluation of someone's ability is over time.

For my shodan (although I was only expecting my 1st kyu at the time) I was simply told at a seminar that I would be watched all weekend by a number of shihan and shidoshi, and I later found out that I was the only one to grade that seminar so they only had one person to watch. So in some ways it was a grading of sorts, but I had to demonstrate a consistent standard throughout two whole days with no cock ups or schoolboy error and also do a bit of teaching.

At our dojo it works a similar way for kyu grades and keeps students on their toes more because they never know when the grade is coming, and when it does it is informally done at the end of the class, and the teacher usually quietly asks all the yudansha present for their opinion before bestowing it.

For most of the kyu grades the students sometimes get an inkling of what is going on but it is also a test of their patience, in that when they are expecting to be given a grade it doesn't always happen and can be many lessons later, which is good for the ego too.

It is also about pressure. People who were doing brilliantly in the corner with their training partner can go to pieces when they are called out to show what they have been doing in front of the whole class, and if they can't handle that kind of pressure they certainly wouldn't be able to handle themselves in a real fight or even hold their own in a sparring session. You only see what people are made of when you push them out of their comfort zone, because everyone is good at what they are good at.

In terms of structure I would say that it is general taijutsu which is being assessed rather than specifics or the Ten Chi Jin Ryaku No Maki. Because we have a small mixed class where 7th dans train with 9th kyu with no division into differing abilities and no 'beginners' classes, there really isn't a structure to the lessons that would suit everybody.

The 'theme' years haven't helped in some ways too, because people get the feel of a certain school and may go up 4 grades that year, but the following year the feeling of a different school may be completely different but they find it difficult to change their basics and try to do the new school with the feeling of the old.

We often do stuff which is way beyond most of the people in the class (including me) but everyone gets something out of it at their level.

 

[Shinobi Teikiatsu]

At my dojo, grading is pretty much the same. The only real hint I have that I'm about to be graded is sensei walks around and looks at me more than normal. Sometimes he actually "tests" me and makes me go up to show a certain technique, other times at the end of class he simply points at me and goes "X-kyu."

I believe the 9th kyu is our only real "official" test. He calls you out to the front of the class. "Show me front roll, show me all the kihon happo, show me your postures, show me sand the floor." etc etc. I do have one fun story, when I was testing for seventh kyu. He called me out to the front of the class and said "I'm going to try something I usually never do with your kyu, because I don't like that you shaved your mustache...Everybody is going to line up and come at you, and you're going to have ten seconds to take them down." I got really panicked and was pretty sure I was about to die, or fail my test, yet I managed to take them all down (with extreme difficulty on some people) and got my rank.

So yeah, there's no structure for grading in my school, Sensei just looks at you and thinks you're doing better, then gives you your rank, or has a new idea and makes you be a guinea pig for it.

 

[ElfTengu]

He called me out to the front of the class and said "I'm going to try something I usually never do with your kyu, because I don't like that you shaved your mustache...

I'm guessing you're Stateside. In Britain, moustaches are only acceptable for gay men, serving army NCOs, middle-aged Liverpuddlians and ex-RAF officers. And there are a lot more of one category than the others!

Even people with cleft palates will grow a goatee beard rather than a moustache, to avoid being labelled as one of the above.

So you're better off without it!

In fact, in the UK you would probably get graded higher for shaving it off!

 

[Carol]

I'm guessing you're Stateside. In Britain, moustaches are only acceptable for gay men, serving army NCOs, middle-aged Liverpuddlians and ex-RAF officers. And there are a lot more of one category than the others!

Even people with cleft palates will grow a goatee beard rather than a moustache, to avoid being labelled as one of the above.

So you're better off without it!

In fact, in the UK you would probably get graded higher for shaving it off!

That brings new meaning to "Don't touch my moustache"

 

[ElfTengu]

That brings new meaning to "Don't touch my moustache"

I would hope you don't need to worry about moustache problems Carol.


(only once in the last 12 years have I caught my missus applying some kind of white substance to her philtrum, although she could have just been secretly drinking milk in the bathroom).

 

[Aiki Lee]

It is also about pressure. People who were doing brilliantly in the corner with their training partner can go to pieces when they are called out to show what they have been doing in front of the whole class, and if they can't handle that kind of pressure they certainly wouldn't be able to handle themselves in a real fight or even hold their own in a sparring session. You only see what people are made of when you push them out of their comfort zone, because everyone is good at what they are good at.

This is the reason we test our students the way we do. In our martial art we try to make sure that a shodan from one jizaikan school will look the same as another shodan from another jizaikan school. All students must test under pressure and pass the test with 100%. Mistakes can be made, but they must be immediately corrected. There is no time requirement for belt ranking, but it usually takes kyu ranks 3-4 moths to move up to their next belt rank, and brown to black can take 1-2 years. It took me a year to move from 1st dan to 2nd dan, whihc is just slightly faster than most others take. I suspect it will take me 2 or three years to reach 3rd dan.

The training just keeps getting harder, and I become more and more aware of the weaknesses of my taijutsu. Right now as a 2nd degree I am begining the study of the gyokko ryu shoden and several sword kata from eishin ryu, itto-ryu, and various other sword techniques.