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**autolubitelone** · 01-26-2007, 12:17 PM

That being said, I do believe the ranking system does have it's merits and uses, but it's so skewed I don't find it a reliable system until you get up beyond sandan.

There's a reason for that, at least here. There's basically 2 kinds of kendo students - those that have been in the dojo since they were kids, and those that started as adults. The former are usually better than the age limits will allow them, whereas the latter are trying to get dan in the minimum time. So the kid who started at 6 and is just trying nidan at 16 is probably better than the adult who's had 4 years of recreational practice and is trying for the same dan. Yondan seems to be the rank where things get sorted out and the early starters are no longer ahead of the curve. Well, aside from that natural grace that only the childhood starters seem to aquire.

01-26-2007, 12:17 PM	#26
autolubitelone Join Date Nov 2005 Posts 491 Senior Member	That being said, I do believe the ranking system does have it's merits and uses, but it's so skewed I don't find it a reliable system until you get up beyond sandan. There's a reason for that, at least here. There's basically 2 kinds of kendo students - those that have been in the dojo since they were kids, and those that started as adults. The former are usually better than the age limits will allow them, whereas the latter are trying to get dan in the minimum time. So the kid who started at 6 and is just trying nidan at 16 is probably better than the adult who's had 4 years of recreational practice and is trying for the same dan. Yondan seems to be the rank where things get sorted out and the early starters are no longer ahead of the curve. Well, aside from that natural grace that only the childhood starters seem to aquire.
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