CKF nidan shinsa requirements

[Confound]

On the Canadian Kendo Federation website, on the Kendo Information Page (http://www.kendo-canada.com/ckf_kendo.htm) , grading requirements are listed. For nidan, it says 2 years must have elapsed since attaining shodan. This sounds a little strange. I've heard that it's usually one year. Have I been misinformed, or are the rules stricter in Canada?

c

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ps - ... just out of curiosity, why are the kata requirements greater than in Japan? I like kata, and have no problem doing them in an exam, but it seems odd.

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[hammock]

i wondered about this also.
i saw that requirement on the website, but in korea to get 2dan, its 1 year after 1 dan.

[KATSUJIN]

its the same here too...i believe australia also follows this....we should wait for abt a yr only for attain nidan...maybe they are stricter in Canada....

[JSchmidt]

Could be a typo, as they also have two years wait between nidan and sandan.
Kata-requirements, are the official AJKF guidelines, AFAIK.
(The UK follows those and we also have to do tachi 1-7)

Jakob

[AlexM]

It's a 2 year wait (trust me on this). I don't know why it's like that but that's the way it is. Nidan is also the (technically) minimal grade needed to try out for the national team.

Must be 'cause shodan is so easy to get that the CKF leaders (in their eternally mind-boggling wisdom) wanted the minimal time to increase between gradings.

Although, if you go to Japan (or some other place maybe) you can try for nidan 1 year after a CKF obtained shodan.

Looking forward to nidan in December 2004.

[Neil Gendzwill]

Short answer: yes, 2 years between shodan and nidan.

Long answer: Used to be 1 year between shodan and nidan. Then ZNKR (or IKF?) made it 2 years, so CKF followed suite. Then ZNKR switched back to 1 year but CKF didn't make the change back.

[aru-ma]

Speaking of strict kata requirements, Do you get to re-do your kata if the grading panel thinks that the kata is not good enough? here in Melbourne (Australia) they only let you do kata once and if it wasnt good enough you fail the grading.

[AlexM]

In order to have to re-do the kata portion of the exam you'd first have to flunk it... Needless to say very, very, very few people flunk on kata apparently (only heard of one case).

I don't think there are any do-overs for kata. If you fail the kata you don't deserve a do-over (trust me, if you flunk the kata portion it's because you weren't smart enough to glance over at the person next to you and approximately copy their movements... is it possible to plagiarize in shinsa?).

I heard that in Japan after one mistake you could get yanked from the kata portion mid-way through... Years ago when my sensei did one of his gradings, his partner made a mistake on one of the first kata (number 2 if you can believe it). A judge came up from behid the guy, tapped him on the shoulder and out he went.... Seems a bit humiliating. My sensei had to continue the kata by himself. But once again, this was years ago (well into the post-war period though)

[Confound]

In Miyagi, you get two chances to do the kata, but only if you recognize your own mistake. If you've made an error, you raise your hand, the judges nod, and you get to try again from the beginning. I have never heard of anyone being removed during the kata section, however, it may happen in higher level shinsa.

As for the two year wait, it certainly is strange. in a way, it is actually convenient, because it gives me more time to practice...

c

[Inouye02]

as confound mentioned in her post , the sckf allows you to redo your kata , you must get permission from the tachiai first, who then gets permission from the panel of judges however in the sandan group we had many mistakes , but the head examiner for that court made them come back and do all 10 kata again...or just certain katas ..now was that right ?

from shodan to nidan 1 year
nidan to sandan 2 years
sandan to yondan 3 years

[Confound]

Inouye2,

If you had read my post, you'd notice that I said "In Miyagi", which does not sound even remotely like a place name in Canada. You may also notice that my flag is currently 'Japan'. Since your geography is clearly not up to par, allow me to elucidate: Miyagi is a prefecture in Japan, north of Fukushima Prefecture, south of Iwate prefecture, east of Yamagata prefecture. This will most likely mean nothing to you, so allow me to cast further light on it: I am two hours, by high speed train, from Tokyo. That's two hours North, not South, not East, and certainly not West.

Back to the meat of the post: You do not need to go through such a length procedure, at least in shinsa below the yon dan level (having never seen a go-dan or higher shinsa, I don't know how they are run). The candidate who thinks he or she has made a mistake raises their hand, the judges take note, and the pair begins their kata again. Note: there is only one opportunity to do this.

Lastly, I feel dirty when you mention me in your posts, don't do it again. It's far from currying favour, or flattering me. Instead, it feels like being touched by an Ebola infected simian.

c

[Inouye02]

where did i say anything about canada? SCKF stands for Southern Califonia Kendo Federation !! And for you information, the Southern California Kendo Federation is on the WEST COAST of the United States in California,with dojo's from Santa Barbara to San Diego, I hope this brings your geography up to par now...

[M.K. Kawai]

To add what was posted earlier. Here at SCKF it is required that anyone going for 1 kyu needs to do the first three Kata. Is this the same in other places?

Also, I believe that there is now a short written exam required for all the Yudansha grades starting with shodan. (Maybe someone can clarify this here)

MKK

[Inouye02]

thats true kawai sensei

[Neil Gendzwill]

Ikkyu - 1-3
Shodan - 1-5
Nidan - 1-7
Sandan+ - all 10

There is currently no written exam.

[Inouye02]

for our ( sckf ) kodansha exam they must submit a written essay also

[Confound]

No written questions? That's unusual, but I won't argue.

c

[Inouye02]

WRITTEN EXAMINATION

The written examination asks the candidate to either discuss or list concepts, principles and even opinions on the various aspects of Kendo. This section will present the material in a discussion and a factual manner. It is up to the candidate to read and absorb the material such that the test questions can be answered.

Kirikaeshi is one of the fundamental learning tools used in Kendo. It contains 5 elements which are described by the metropolitan police as the following: 1. sho-men, 2. tai-atari, 3. four yoko-men forward followed by five backwards, sho-men, 4. four yoko-men forward followed by five backward, 5. sho-men followed by zanshin.

Conceptually kirikaeshi develops strong ki-ai and breath control, large motion, correct cutting angle (ha-suji), correct grip (te-no-uchi), correct footwork (ashi-sabaki) all with ki-ken-tai-ichi. It also limbers the muscles, promotes harmonious action of the whole body and correct ma-ai, follow through with zanshin. Kirikaeshi is said to provide 10 virtues to the attacker and 8 virtues to the receiver. It makes the waza sharp and swift, strengthens the cut, builds stamina, relaxes the stroke and body, improves the motion of the body, improves dexterity and grip, improves the vision of the partner, improves the ma-ai, teaches mental tranquillity, improves observation of the opponent, makes the grip firm yet flexible.

Ma-ai is the interval between the two opponents or partners when practicing Kendo or kata. It is described as 3 intervals:


Issoku-itto-no-ma-ai (one step-one sword interval). This ma-ai allows you to strike the opponent by taking one step forward and to avoid the opponents attacks by taking one step to the rear or to the side. It is also called uchi-ma or the strike interval. At this interval either party can strike.

Toii-ma-ai (to-ma) or distant interval is when the opponents are separated such that more than one step is required to strike the opponent. As the opponent moves forward, you have the chance to strike.

Chikai-ma-ai (chika-ma) or close interval is that distance less than the one step interval. There are many strategies that can be employed from this distance also.
Metsuke or enzan-no-metsuke is the fixing of the eyes or gaze upon the opponent. Enzan-no-metsuke refers to "gazing as though looking at a far mountain". In this sense it is to see everything without focusing on any one object. Basically you fix your gaze at the opponents eyes and read their intention through these windows to their mind. When the opponents eyes fix upon an object such as your sword or a target, their mind becomes "fixed or stopped" and you can then attack.

Ki-ken-tai-itchi or "spirit, sword, & body are one", are the essential elements to a yuko-datotsu (correct strike). This means that all three elements of the strike happen as one element and make the perfect strike. The ability to do this is the ideal which all practice should strive for as a goal.

Zanshin, what is zanshin? The typical answer given is "remaining spirit". This is correct, but there are more meanings and feeling to zanshin than the simple definition implies. It is very simple. However simple does not necessarily mean easy. It is a concept unique to martial arts and it is to the kanji that we must look for further clarification.

The kanji "zan" and "shin" can be read two ways. Kokoro-Wo-Nokosu which means "I consciously do the action of getting my spirit to remain" and Kokoro-Ga-Nokoru which means "My spirit remains unconsciously, spontaneously."

The first definition is appropriate to the beginning Kenshi and the latter to the practiced Kenshi. In effect, it means that if you must think about it, it is too late. The action is always slowed by the thought. If you think about zanshin preceding the cut, the cut will not be good. If you think about zanshin after the cut, an unexpected attack can occur in the split second that your are thinking of keeping your pressure.

[Inouye02]

Application of the principle of zanshin is most easily exemplified in the Nihon Kendo Kata. In all ten kata the zanshin begins immediately after the cut and continues until both the uchitachi and shitachi returns to chudan-no-kamae. This is stated specifically on ippon-me and nihon-me in Takano Sasaburo's book on Kendo. " Immediately after the cut, if there's any movements, my zanshin says I am ready to strike at any moment, until we both return to chudan."

Therefore, zanshin does not mean only to take the position of jodan-no-kamae after the cut, as in ippon-me, but it is the spirit of zanshin which must be present immediately after such a cut.

Then how can zanshin be identified in shinai Kendo? Does anyone in shinai Kendo normally take or display the stance zanshin emphasizes in the Nihon Kendo Kata? Obviously the answer will be no. It is spiritual awareness that is important, not the final stance, Kokoro-Ga-Nokoru, a naturalness. Zanshin thus means that the Kenshi is always prepared, even when exhausted, even when the match is over, the spirit remains.

Seme as defined in the dictionary is "an attack, the offensive, assault, or siege". In Kendo, it can also be defined as pressure; that is, to pressure the opponent before the attack. There are two kinds of seme: visible and the invisible, or physical and mental, outer or inner. Although it is sometimes difficult to see because even the overt actions occur in split second speed, the visible pressure is easiest to understand. Visible seme occurs when one person pressures an opponent by actual movements with the shinai, feet or the whole body.

Techniques vary. For example in the chudan stance, you pressure your opponent by movement of the shinai as though you are pressuring to strike kote. Instead you strike men because now the men is open because the opponents mind has gone to their kote. Seme occurs during actual shinai contact by the use of harai, uchiotoshi, makiotoshi or some such waza that moves the opponents shinai off center and creates an opening. Thus if I can see with my eyes or feel the shinai putting pressure on my kote or men the intention is already given; the seme is visible. However if the shinai doesn't move, but I can still feel the pressure, then it is invisible seme. The tip of the sword, ken-sen, becomes alive and communicates the seme without any shinai or body movements.

Invisible seme is the most powerful, the seme with the whole body and soul. Invisible seme, kurai-zume, is the ultimate aim of the Kenshi. By gazing (metsuke) into the opponents hara, intentions are detected before any movement and thus the opponent's first move is forced. As in kata, the shitachi always applies the pressure and is never on the defense. The spirit is always ready and a milli-second ahead of the opponent, the opponent moves and is defeated.

Because seme is pressure which creates relationship, especially strong invisible seme, it is related to both sen and zanshin. It is not really separate from sen, but precedes it as sen precedes zanshin. Focused to waza it is reflected in sen. After the attack it is focused in the zanshin.

Mittsu-no-sen or the three attacks. According to Miyamoto Musashi there are three sen:

Ken-no-Sen, you attack just before the opponent.

Tai-no-Sen, the opponent attacks first but you strike first and win.

Tai-Tai-no-Sen, both attack at the same time but your cut is first and wins.
Takano Sasaburo explained the mittsu-no-sen as:

Sensen-no-sen or kakari-no-sen: to use seme and then strike the opponent just before he moves when their mind has committed to attack.

Go-no-Sen or Sengo-no-sen or Tai-no-sen: when the opponent has started their technique but the action is not completed. Move effectively avoiding their cut and strike yourself.

Sen or Senzen-no-Sen: when the opponent is in mid-attack deflect it and counter attack.
If you study the strategy of the kata you gain an understanding of mittsu-no-sen.

Related to mittsu-no-sen is San-satsu-no-ho or San-sappo, the 3 methods of killing.

Kill the sword or ken-o-korosu
To kill the sword is to attack the sword with any number of waza such as uchi-otoshi or harai, in other words sweep it away, shove it aside, hit it down, twist it around, anything to move it out of center.

kill the waza or waza-o-korosu
Kill the waza using sen-no-ki to attack the opponent before they can attack you, if they are busy fighting off your attack it is hard to counter attack. It is also to move in and spoil their attack before it even happens by looking inside and seeing their intention. It is also detecting their waza and using the counter waza to it such as men, suriage-men.

kill the spirit or ki-o-korosu
Kill the ki or mental balance by such forceful seme that they become frightened. Use your strong ki to kill their ki, invisible seme, mentally cut the opponent's mind with your mind.
All these methods lead to the four sicknesses; fear, doubt, surprise and confusion.

Fear by weakening the opponents mind by your strong ki.

Doubt causes the opponent to become tight and hesitant. If you kill their waza they will begin to doubt their ability to succeed.

Weaken their mind by doing the unexpected.

Confuse them by changing the rhythm and timing of the match, this will throw off their comfort zone, their natural mind (hei-jo-shin). Hei-jo-shin is the normal calm state of mind that allows one to make accurate decisions.
To accomplish these things one must have excellent footwork. Ashi-sabaki or footwork is broken down into four types:

Ayumi-ashi, which is essentially normal walking used to cover a lot of ground quickly.

Okuri-ashi or the basic Kendo footwork of pushing off with the left foot positioned in the rear and sliding the right foot forward simultaneously, followed by snapping the left foot forward to achieve the original spacing of the feet.

Hiraki-ashi or diagonal footwork is moving in any direction but forward or backward with basic Kendo footwork.

Tsugi-ashi or de-ashi is to bring the left foot up parallel to the right foot and then step forward in an attack.
All of the footwork is performed with suri-ashi, sliding motion.

Waza are categorized as either oji (oh-ji) waza or shikake waza. The actual techniques such as suriage, harai, nuki etc. fall into one of these two categories.

Shikake waza is further defined by whether there is blade contact or no blade contact. In shikake waza you take the initiative through your seme and create an opening and attack.

In oji waza the opponent initiates the attack and you counter see the section on mittsu-no- sen.
When you attack it must be with the mind set of sute-mi or to have no care for your life. To throw away your life so that you have no fear of losing but total commitment to the attack.

These discussions cover most but not all of the material that the written test is derived from.

[Inouye02]

anything else confound

[misterkurukuru]

I heard that they dont do as much Kata in Japan to save time during the shinsa. This info was given to me by a daigakusei so i do not know if it is correct. Could it be that in Japan they do not think that Kata is that important? I think its important and actually pretty kool to do!

[nodachi]

My sensei thought it was important. We did it quite a bit, and some of the older sensei and students would spent time after every practice doing kata.

[Confound]

I wasn't asking you, Inouye. You may not have noticed, but this thread was specifically about the CANADIAN KENDO FEDERATION. I was not asking about your federation, my post was in response to Neil's, not yours. Fortunately, the world does not revolve around you; however, though I will humour you for today, the world will not tomorrow.

In my humble experience, the kata were performed in good time, with all due respect and proper process. There was no skipping, no corner cutting. However, the pause between each group was minimal to none. There was no wasted time either.

People who wish to practice kata usually arrive early for keiko, and they do kata until everyone else arrives.

Lastly, Inouye, if I had wanted to read the answer book for the Zen Nihon Kendou Renmei shinsa questions, I would have borrowed it from any one of my sempais. Allow me to congratulate you on your cutting and pasting ability. If you actually took the time to type such a long passage of unsolicited information, it may be time to remind you that copying pages and pages of a book will not help you in establishing legitimacy on this forum. You've pretty much blown your chances of ever having that.

c

[Tako-kun]

"copying pages and pages of a book will not help you in establishing legitimacy on this forum. You've pretty much blown your chances of ever having that."


Pot ---> Kettle ---> Black :p

[Inouye02]

oh yeah , like so many others on this forum haven't, go back and look at others posts , copying Quotes from books and posting them....

you guys are so perfect ..

[Confound]

Everyone is entitled to an opinion. Unfortunately.

c

[Old Warrior]

"Everyone is entitled to an opinion. Unfortunately."

One doesn't need to know anything about Kendo to recognize that "entitlement" to an opinion and the right to express it is one of the most precious rights that one can have. Those people who would silence others because they disagree have lost their way.

[sminki]

Interesting...

To the People from the Canadian Kendo Fed. - Are people expressing any opinions that the CKF shinsa regulations should be in-line with the IKF regulations? I'm sure there aren't too much complaints about the lack of a written exam, but what about the minimum time requirement between shodan and nidan?

[Neil Gendzwill]

I haven't heard anyone complain about the time requirements but then I'm not living near the main kendo centres here. Personally I feel 2 years between shodan and nidan is about right anyways.

[AlexM]

As far as I know only one sensei in Eastern Canada is lobbying the CKF to include a written exam: mine. When asked by the head of Kendo Canada who exactely would correct all these masterpieces my sensei replied "Send them to me, I'll do it".

All those Canadian kendoka be warned: There's a man with a Phd (and a rather hardy sense of humour) looking forward to reading your thoughts about kendo, zanshin and the meaning of life. But before breaking out "Art of War" and "The meaning of Zen" you should know that the CKF did not seem enthusiastic about having people "write" kendo exams: Which I think is a shame really if only because we should all know a "little" history and culture about kendo and Japan (not because we're pseudo-samurai but because it's good to have knowledge simply for the sake of it).

There's a written portion to our own internal exams (up to the 2nd kyu). Nothing spectacular in terms of questions (ex: Name 3 waza). But there is also an "open question" such as "Explain your motivations for practicing kendo": This is the one sensei likes to read (and laugh at I'm told).

[Neil Gendzwill]

I think the reason there isn't a written is that most of the judges have english as a second language, and we can't very well ask Canadian candidates to submit essays written in Japanese. So in Canada you're judged by what you show on the floor.

I'm not sure what the use of having candidates regurgitate memorised blurbs from a handbook is anyways.

[kendokamax]

tu parles trop alex

[hammock]

neil, what was the time between Shodan and Nidan when you were going for it?

i think the opinion on whether it is a good thing or bad thing is dependant on where you are at now.
(Nidan or lower, Nidan or higher)

[Neil Gendzwill]

I can't remember to tell you the truth. There was a fair gap between those two ranks for me due to training circumstances.

To me there's two broad categories of people testing - those who started very young and are picking up the ranks in the minimum time until their rank matches their skill level (say, sandan or so) and those that started as adults and are actually aquiring the skills as they go. For the former category, that two year wait is probably frustrating but for the latter maybe they need the extra practice.