A Lot of Candidates for 8 Dan

[Andoru]

Are you familiar with Asai sensei in SoCal? He started kendo at age 50 and passed 7 dan in his late 70's after a few tries (I am not sure how many). He is quite a character, makes me laugh everytime I talk to him.

Wow that's impressive!

[b8amack]

I can't help but think a decimal was missed someplace. 1% of 10,000 is 100, not ten.

[Curtis]

I can't help but think a decimal was missed someplace. 1% of 10,000 is 100, not ten.

I see you edited, too late I got the original post. Of course there was an error. Read the whole thread.

[Raffa]

Here is the complete data requested somewhere in this post. I copyed them somewhere in this forum but i can't remeber where, hope that the original author will forgive me, i do it for the cause....

剣道段位・称号登録者数　　(平成15年1月現在)
(kendo grades, Jan heisei 19-AD 2003)

初段　634,678 (shodan)
二段　385,890 (nidan)
三段　162,061 (sandan)
四段　41,463 (yondan)
五段　38,573 (godan)
六段　14,011 (rokudan)
七段　11,877 (hachidan)
八段　466 (nanadan) (about 30 woman)
九段　13　(kyū-dan 9° Dan) only 4 siano active: Inoue sensei, Okuzono sensei, Taniguchi sensei e Kurasawa sensei.
全国登録計　1,288,033 (All Japan Total) (women 28%)

称号 Shogo
錬士　19,258 (Renshi)
教士　18,000 (Kyoshi)
範士　376 (Hanshi)

P.S. There had been only five 10° dan in kendo history. From 1995 the grades 9° and 10° cannot be awarded....

For comparison it would be interesting to have similar data regarding the korean federation.

[Legionario]

七段　11,877 (hachidan)
八段　466 (nanadan)

Swap the translations between the parenthesis:

七段　11,877 (nanadan)
八段　466 (hachidan)

[Raffa]

Swap the translations between the parenthesis:

七段　11,877 (nanadan)
八段　466 (hachidan)

Oooops...ehmm..
Revised!
Here is the complete data requested somewhere in this post. I copyed them somewhere in this forum but i can't remeber where, hope that the original author will forgive me, i do it for the cause....

剣道段位・称号登録者数　　(平成15年1月現在)
(kendo grades, Jan heisei 19-AD 2003)

初段　634,678 (shodan)
二段　385,890 (nidan)
三段　162,061 (sandan)
四段　41,463 (yondan)
五段　38,573 (godan)
六段　14,011 (rokudan)
七段　11,877 (nanadan)
八段　466 (hachidan) (about 30 woman)
九段　13　(kyū-dan-9° Dan) only 4 still active: Inoue sensei, Okuzono sensei, Taniguchi sensei e Kurasawa sensei.
全国登録計　1,288,033 (All Japan Total) (women 28%)

称号 Shogo
錬士　19,258 (Renshi)
教士　18,000 (Kyoshi)
範士　376 (Hanshi)

P.S. There had been only five 10° dan in kendo history. From 1995 the grades 9° and 10° cannot be awarded....

P.P.S. The total 9°dan ever awarded seems to be about twenty...

For comparison it would be interesting to have similar data regarding the korean federation. Nobody know if 8° dan korean shinsa are significantly different from the japaneese one?

[Usagi San]

八段　466 (hachidan) (about 30 woman)?????

Seriously? I didn't know there were any women hachidan... or is it nanadan?

[Raffa]

八段　466 (hachidan) (about 30 woman)?????

Seriously? I didn't know there were any women hachidan... or is it nanadan?

I can't find nomore the source of these informations (i try but the link i had was wrong), but i remember i copyed the dan numbers among other data such as shinsa success ratio ecc, it was a very complete web page,i don't think these data were unreliable. Obviously if someone have evidence of the contrary or have more updated statistics is welcome to post....

For the women hachidan number, logic would say that, if women kendoka are about 1/4 of the total, and if kendo permits a substantial parity between male and female kenshi, then female hachidan would be 1/4 of the total. Instead they are about 6% and this is a problem that i can recognise, but that i think i'am not qualified or able to deal to.

But giving a look to the data above, with a superficial analisys i see three steps.
The first one is between sandan and yondan, the ratio is about 1/4.
Then it seems those who can became yondan with time became godan too (93%).
The second step is between godan and rokudan, the ratio is nearly 1/3, but again, the majority of the ones who could became rokudan also in time pass nanadan (84%).
In end the last step-Hachidan-where no words are required......

[Kenshi]

Seriously? I didn't know there were any women hachidan... or is it nanadan?

I think he made a copying error - you are correct. There are no female 8dans at the moment, but there are a handful of 7dans.

[JByrd]

But giving a look to the data above, with a superficial analisys i see three steps.
The first one is between sandan and yondan, the ratio is about 1/4.
Then it seems those who can became yondan with time became godan too (93%).

That effect, I think, is due to the fact that rokudan is the first rank tested at the national level in Japan. Rokudan is harder to get, so people get stacked up at godan.

The second step is between godan and rokudan, the ratio is nearly 1/3, but again, the majority of the ones who could became rokudan also in time pass nanadan (84%).
In end the last step-Hachidan-where no words are required......

Again, compression at the rank below the one that is much harder to get.

[Kent Enfield]

That effect, I think, is due to the fact that rokudan is the first rank tested at the national level in Japan. Rokudan is harder to get, so people get stacked up at godan.

I'm not sure if the change from local to prefectural to national level is what causes it. I think it's that sandan to yondan and godan to rokudan mark the changes from kids' kendo to adult kendo and from adult kendo to instructor level.

[Raffa]

I think he made a copying error - you are correct. There are no female 8dans at the moment, but there are a handful of 7dans.

I search again for the original link but i had no luck....
So, it seems that i was wrong, and then surely the number of 30 refer to nanadan. Thanks for signaling the error.
It's a pity that there are no female hachidan, for me even the number of 30 was too small...maybe is a question of age (i mean,maybe mass female kendo begun about 40 years ago and that is the time required to have some hachidan--it's an hypothesis, with more or less casual numbers), or maybe, despite all the statements such as "kendo have no age, size or sex", is still a sexist discipline....

[JSchmidt]

or maybe, despite all the statements such as "kendo have no age, size or sex", is still a sexist discipline....

Or maybe, it's more a reflection of the society in which it takes place. Blaming kendo itself is a little unfair.

[JByrd]

I'm not sure if the change from local to prefectural to national level is what causes it. I think it's that sandan to yondan and godan to rokudan mark the changes from kids' kendo to adult kendo and from adult kendo to instructor level.

Interesting, thanks. That got me thinking of some other possible social factors. For example, a transition from high school to college, or college to the working world, could take a lot of people out of Kendo, leaving people in certain ranks, and inflating those numbers.

[JByrd]

I think he made a copying error - you are correct. There are no female 8dans at the moment, but there are a handful of 7dans.

I have footage of my wife having a keiko with one of those amazing 7 dan women. For that, I must thank the sensei who pounded my elbow with a missed dou strike. He took me out of action for the rest of the day, and gave me an opportunity to shoot video.