Help to understand Renshi, Kyoshi,and Hanshi

[forbidden]

Can anybody explain what the deal is and how Renshi, Kyoshi, and Hanshi work?
How I understand it, you can be awarded different titles, for teachers? How does this formally work ?
I see you can get 6th dan, and 6th dan Renshi.
7th dan and 7th dan Kyoshi. You need to take an additional test or?

I've been wondering about this for a while, but since i havent seen it discussed, maybe it was so obvious it would be too silly to ask.

Hope someone can help me understand this .


/oystein

[misterkurukuru]

money money money money....MONEY

[Andoru]

Apparently the shogo system is governed by individual kendo renmei. Well that's what I've read anyway. In Japan, you'd need to sit a written exam after you've satisfied the requirements (the appropriate dan grade plus waiting period). I've seen an example of the shogo exam in Kendo World magazine. So as an example:

6th dan -> 6th dan renshi -> 7th dan renshi -> 7th dan kyoshi -> 8th dan kyoshi -> 8th dan hanshi

[jmarsten]

dan examinations are a measure of how well you have mastered the combat side of kendo. It is a combination of how well you do the basics, waza and mental in a match with your peer group.
Shogo is a measure of the other parts of kendo. How good a teacher you are, can you shinpan, what is your character like, how much do you contribute to the greater good and the written examination in Japan are a kendo theory thesis for kyoshi and hanshi.
The theory portion is brand new for Japan for kyoshi as they just revamped their system a couple of years ago. Before that it was pretty lax and more about income for the renmei. Even though you pass your dan exam in Japan for 7th unless you are literate in Japanese you cannot attain kyoshi now. Before you could. We brought this up at the IKF meeting and it is being reviewed because this is a hardship for the Europeans .
If you hold 7th dan kyoshi for 20 years you can apply for 7th dan hanshi. Technically a 7th dan hanshi outranks a 8th dan kyoshi. It gets very foggy at this point. Even in Japan they are not sure how this all plays out.
J Marsten, kendo kyoshi 7th dan

[Andoru]

Thanks for clearing this up Marsten sensei.