[Vitoethiche]

There is such a large curve when it comes to grading. You find people making shodan from 1yr or less to 5+ years. Because of this fact, I tend not to judge how good a person is by thier rank, I go by how much time they have been practicing. So if you say you are a shodan and go it in 2 years, I'm pretty confident anyone over 3 years no matter what thier rank is will more than likely best you if they have been practicing hard.

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.

[Xbcofega]

So if you say you are a shodan and go it in 2 years, I'm pretty confident anyone over 3 years no matter what thier rank is will more than likely best you if they have been practicing hard.

The problem is that is difficult to measure training time, commitment and quality of training... I know some shodan training for 4 years once a week and some nidan training hard for two years and 6 times a week.

So I think the best is to trust your eyes. If you see the kenshis keiko, you will know how much he knows in a simple and effective binary scale:

He knows less then me: so, time to help him.
He knows more than me: wow, let’s learn from him.

[MadMark]

You forgot;
They know about the same as me: Time to see if I can actually apply what I know.

[glagoliska]

You forgot;
They know about the same as me: Time to see if I can actually apply what I know.

Good point! It ruins the binary nature of the scale, but that is ok!

[amimabremiBit]

It took me like 14 months to get shodan or something like it, and after having Ikkyu I had to wait 6 months just like bianchi explained, I was told that these are the FIK regulations about grading. However it maybe for south america only or who knows,.. most of the people in chile have to wait untill the sudamerican tournament, or make a trip to brazil in order to get past shodan, nidan etc.. so that may also be a factor, but not the rule. In my case I tested for shodan when the FIK senseis (Fukumoto Sensei, Nishide Sensei and Ito Sensei.) made some kind of tour, and my nidan at the sudamerican championship at argentine where there was also Fukumoto sensei, but the comission were mostly brazilean senseis.

[autolubitelone]

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.

[DavidShreder]

I was just wondering how long does it usually take for a person to acheive there black belt/dan, in kendo. Just wondering how long is the average, maybe you can also just tell me how long it took you. Thank you.

Ahmed

Depends. One year. Three years. Obtaining a shodan is not important in kendo. Striving to do your best whether you are not ranked or are a hachidan is important.
When and if test time comes, you should be ready. Rushing it could result in total failure. Boo hoo.

[neictscek]

Depends. One year. Three years. Obtaining a shodan is not important in kendo. Striving to do your best whether you are not ranked or are a hachidan is important.

I slightly disagree. Shodan does bring a few new things that might or might not be important to you or people around you,
For starters, many competitions divide people in an A and a B class with the B -class open for ikkyu and below and A-class for shodan and above. Needless to say, the resistance gets stronger when you pass the shodan line, which is of course both good and bad

Second, achieving shodan gives you the mandate to grade other people. For smaller clubs this can be really important.

[vNQmO2BF]

Second, achieving shodan gives you the mandate to grade other people. For smaller clubs this can be really important.

In what federation? CKF requires at least godan to sit on a grading committee. Internally, clubs can do what they like but as they require at least a godan head instructor then effectively it is the same requirement for club-granted ranks.

[chelviweeme]

In what federation? CKF requires at least godan to sit on a grading committee. Internally, clubs can do what they like but as they require at least a godan head instructor then effectively it is the same requirement for club-granted ranks.

The Swedish Budo and Martial Arts Federation, kendosection.
Taken from memory:
A single shodan can grade someone to yonkyu. Two shodan or above can grade to sankyu.

Remember that we have to go through all our kyu grades, starting at yonkyu. Thus it is somewhat vital to be able to grade to atleast nikyu in your own dojo. Tests below ikkyu are seldom held at tournaments, so to grade nikyu and below you either have to do it at your own club or try to go to another club for grading. When I graded nikyu, our club could not do this "at home" so we had to ask people at a tournament to do a special grading just for us. Now we can grade up to nikyu and all is well.

As far as I know, we have no grade restrictions for opening a kendo club. But then, I should point out that I have not really investigated it. But I know that some clubs have started with instructors being shodan or ikkyu and everyone seem happy to see kendo spread. I'm not into the politics at all, if there is any

[altosburg]

when our club started, we had no dan's of any kind in our own dojo. a shodan/nidan from neighbouring towns came down and gave us some instruction, now we have 2 nidan, and Im going for shodan somewhere this year.
every club has to start somewhere. as long as theres a will to grow, you will grow

[Mjypksun]

It is the regulation of my federation that at least three years are required to apply for shodan. That much time takes you getting through kyu levels when you are fast and skip no exams.