Master Level

[Akai Bushi]

I know kendo really doesn't have a title like Master, but what rank is generally regarded as a master?

[Richiro]

Well the highest rank you can get is the title of Hachidan hanshi if thats what you mean.

[Pan-Chan]

Hachi-dan Hanshi.

[neko kenshi]

Wait, I thought you could recieve a 9th dan, but no one's alive who has it? Is it possible to recieve a 10th dan, or has that rank ceased to be a posibility? Sorry for my ignorance on the matter, and thank for any correction you can give me.

[Pan-Chan]

Wait, I thought you could recieve a 9th dan, but no one's alive who has it? Is it possible to recieve a 10th dan, or has that rank ceased to be a posibility? Sorry for my ignorance on the matter, and thank for any correction you can give me.

The highest rank possible, now, is hachi-dan hanshi. The highest used to be juu-dan(10th) but for a reason I am not completely sure of they switched it to hachi-dan hanshi.

There was just a thread I was looking at about how many juu-dan there have been, and I think only four to five names were mentioned. So I'm not sure if there are still any alive today, but I am fairly certain there are a couple kyuu-dan(9th) still around. at least there have been articles and such that I have read with refereces to them and their instruction.

I hope that helps a little.

[dnakase]

How many 9th dan are going to vote some one else 10th? Basic human nature.

[Pan-Chan]

How many 9th dan are going to vote some one else 10th?

If there were still kyuudan testing for juudan, wouldn't the panel of examiners be juudan themselves, like when a nanadan tests for hachidan?

Basic human nature.

I'm sorry if this sounds ignorant, but what do you mean by this? I'm sorry, it just confuses me as to how you are using this. ^^;;;

[Optomitrist]

I bet it is like how the bishops vote for the pope. maybe they are elected by their peers.

[neko kenshi]

I had read that no 10th or 9th dans were left? I don't remember where I read this though, are there really any 9th dans? That would be so cool. And I was reading a chart somewhere that was talking about grading requirements and it said for the requirementsfor a ninth dan was "by invitation only." Was I mislead? Sorry to question you guys so much. Thank you very much!

[Kanoken]

I don't know a lot about it, but I think that maybe to become kyudan you must be tested by a kyudan, same for juudan, and since there are no kyudan or juudan left (:(), there is no one to award the grade, so hachidan is the highest now. But I might be wrong, it's just an assumption.

[Neil Gendzwill]

Here's the way I think of the ranks:

4 dan - apprentice instructor
5 dan - junior instructor
6 dan - instructor
7 dan - senior instructor
8 dan - master instructor/ kendo god

[Kingofmyrrh]

People were invited to become 9th/10th if their peers felt them to be good enough, but for the most part, people refused to take these ranks because they didn't feel that they were worthy of them, so in the end they just got rid of them altogether. There are still some 9th dans around here and there, but once they die there will be no new ones.

[Akai Bushi]

I think it would be cool if they gave kyudan automatically to anyone who has been hachidan for ten years, has won the hachidan Kyoto Taikai, and has won the All Japan Kendo Championship at least once in their life. Those I think are pretty high standards, of course who am I to make that kind of judgement.

[Will]

By that level, Kendo is no longer about what rank you receive. You shouldn't be striving to do kendo for that rank. Maybe that's why they abolished the 9dan system. That you should be striving not for a tangible goal, but an idea.

[Kingofmyrrh]

I think it would be cool if they gave kyudan automatically to anyone who has been hachidan for ten years, has won the hachidan Kyoto Taikai, and has won the All Japan Kendo Championship at least once in their life. Those I think are pretty high standards, of course who am I to make that kind of judgement.

well, seeing as there are no winners for the senior sections of the kyoto taikai, your standards might be a little high...

[Kendoka]

There are misconceptions about 9th and 10th dan awards.

The IKF Standard Rules for Dan/Kyu Examinations, published July 3, 2003 have the below for 9th and 10th dan.
__________________________________________________ __________
Applicants Qualification
Article 2
Dan Practice Period Lowest Age
9 (Kyu) Dan After granting of 8 Dan 65 Years and over
10 (Jyu) Dan After granting of 8 Dan

Examination Subjects
Article 4
9 Dan, 10 Dan Handled by a special committee
__________________________________________________ __________

The special committee referred to would possibly be similar to the committees that consider eminent sensei to award them the shogo level of hanshi.

Recently a well known AJKF kendo and iaido sensei was offered 9th Dan in kendo, but he refused. Had he accepted, he would be the only one alive.

[Kendoka]

Of couse if I had cut and pasted correctly the 10th dan qual, would have looked like this:

10 (Jyu) Dan After granting of 9 Dan

[Angelfire]

The special committee referred to would possibly be similar to the committees that consider eminent sensei to award them the shogo level of hanshi.

Recently a well known AJKF kendo and iaido sensei was offered 9th Dan in kendo, but he refused. Had he accepted, he would be the only one alive.


Err... which Sensei? :ko:

[icy_flame]

In my oppinion, kyudan and jyudan are something that come with age. Judging from the requirements, I think it's less based on skill, because after you achieve hachidan your skill is already apparent. There are certain things that you really can only know with age, experience, relationships. I feel it's more of introspection, knowing what your capable of and drawing your energy from that.

Of course this is coming from a 17 year old with 7 months of kendo experience. :ko:

[Kendoka]

Err... which Sensei? :ko:

Not here, I'll tell you when I see you...

But if you if you know of Japanese kendo and iaido senseis and the heirarchy, you could probably have a good guess.

[Usagi San]

[QUOTE=icy_flame]In my oppinion, kyudan and jyudan are something that come with age. QUOTE]

Well not in Japan anymore, they don't. Hachidan Hanshi. That's it.

[Landorph]

well.... 9th and 10th Dan are basically awarded to people with a recognized contribution and dedication to kendo as a whole..

not so much so a dedication to win , and to make money or self ambitions.. but a self-less ideaology that devotes to the life of the sword and by so living the life according to the code.

Meaning that.. in a committee, one can not proptly accept a nominaiton, or self nominate just wanting to take the rank. That would be a display of humbleness, and acknowledge of ones own faults..

yet refering to that sensei who was nominated and refused, i'm sure if they nominate him again, he will accept that title.

yet for 10th Dan, you really need to achieve something extraordering , revolutionary for Kendo , with sacrafices to be eligeble for that title.
something that no other hachi dan or kyu dan would have done.

for example: (The one who proposed and passed on the changing nature of Kendo from pre-war kendo to modern day kendo would be such feat... )

yet that was done due to regulations imposed on a lost-war japan.. so something big like that.

[Usagi San]

When you say:

well.... 9th and 10th Dan are basically awarded (...).

You mean "... were basically awarded"

And also, read :glasses: Alex Brief Synopsis of the History of Kendo before writing down things like:

The one who proposed and passed on the changing nature of Kendo from pre-war kendo to modern day kendo would be such feat...

It's right on the home page of kendo-world, below the naginata book.
It's good reading, you should try it.:happy: