[dodadaxia]

I've been doing Kendo for about 7 months and my teacher (7th Dan) said that I should try the 1 kyu exam. Now i've read other threads about people starting at 6 Kyu etc and am wondering if my teacher is getting a little carried away.
　I practice about two or three times a week, often at the Japanese Junior High School that I work at with the kids. They are a lot better than me so I often lack confidence.
　Are the grading exams different in Japan compared to other countries?

The kyu grades have been set up to encourage the kids to progress, if you take your time to see their requirments, you will see that there is nothing one cant learn in a period of 3/6 months.
In UK the 1st grade you have to go for is ikkyu, so no i dont think he is getting carried away (if your teacher, a 7th dan kendo, says you're ready, you're ready. FULL STOP ).
To answer your original question, the grading requirments are the same all over the world.

[Saqwnht]

No worries.

I think I went ikkyu after about 7 months of kendo (in Canada), training 2 to 3 times a week. Ikkyu is not really a big deal honestly. Different kendo federations have different rules for kyu grades. You therefore wind up with situations in which people have to wait and do multiple official gradings for at least 1½ years before even trying for ikkyu (whereas in some federations you could have gotten shodan after less than that amount of time).

My understanding is that in Japan the kyu grades are not very important... especially if you're an adult.

Do the grading, have nice kendo, don't worry too much about it.

[Seilehogshell]

I think that in Japan the first test an adult is ever thrown into is the ikkyu. My sensei told me when I was there that the most important thing is to show strong spirit and good MEN hits. One of my sensei went so far as to say that the only attack an ikkyu tester should do is men because that is all they would really be looking for, but I would clarify that with your own sensei.

Trust your sensei, if he says you are ready, go in full of confidence and show that confidence. Strong spirit and all should be fine.

[mXr8icOB]

hi people
as a little new zealander, i find it interesting that in other places people can gain their ikkyu after 6 months
over here, we progress thru the grades starting at 6/7 kyu and moving up to ikkyu (can skip grades) it generally takes most people 1 1/2 - 2 years to gain their ikkyu. it seems to me that thee is a large difference between people that have trained for 6 months, and those that hav trained for two years, not just in the physical techniques, but also the mental attitudes. over here, gaining ikkyu is considered to be an invitation to try for shodan, so you hav to be pretty good to get it. i hav heard it said that the standards in nz are set pretty high for grades up to ni dan, so i dont kno if that is maybe the reason.
anyway that is how it is here, i would be interested in hearing mor about gradings in other places (whats in them etc) as i dont kno that much (nothing)about kendo in other parts of the world
Good luck for your grading

[fruttomma]

It seems to me that thee is a large difference between people that have trained for 6 months.

I've posted about it before, but in general, I can't see any difference in ikkyu's whether they spent 9 months in the UK or 2 years Germany/New Zealand/Australia, etc getting there. The grading criteria is pretty much the same and pass/failure rate seems about the same as well.
Further, I believe that using the kyu-grade system for adults places the next hurdle too low and people end up focusing on the next grading rather than improvement overall.
Ikkyu should be obtainable within 1 year. (obtainable, not automatic..you still have to work for it).

Jakob

[BuyCheapest]

I've posted about it before, but in general, I can't see any difference in ikkyu's whether they spent 9 months in the UK or 2 years Germany/New Zealand/Australia, etc getting there. The grading criteria is pretty much the same and pass/failure rate seems about the same as well.
Further, I believe that using the kyu-grade system for adults places the next hurdle too low and people end up focusing on the next grading rather than improvement overall.
Ikkyu should be obtainable within 1 year. (obtainable, not automatic..you still have to work for it).

Jakob

In Australia it's pretty much impossible... Here we have to go through the hard way... grading twice a year.. and only allow to skip 1 grade at a time. So.. I really think it depends which part of the world you are in.. and what rules is set for each country.

[fedelwet]

I've posted about it before, but in general, I can't see any difference in ikkyu's whether they spent 9 months in the UK or 2 years Germany/New Zealand/Australia, etc getting there. The grading criteria is pretty much the same and pass/failure rate seems about the same as well.
Further, I believe that using the kyu-grade system for adults places the next hurdle too low and people end up focusing on the next grading rather than improvement overall.
Ikkyu should be obtainable within 1 year. (obtainable, not automatic..you still have to work for it).

Jakob

In Australia it's pretty much impossible... Here we have to go through the hard way... grading twice a year.. and only allow to skip 1 grade at a time. So, eariest for us in Australia to obtain ikkyu is 1.5 years (and if you are able to do so you are pretty much a shodan level already).. I really think it depends which part of the world you are in.. and what rules is set for each country.

[zlopikanikanzax]

Hmm. I don't know... I had been doing Kendo your a year and a half when I went for my Ikkyu. The day before we had a seminar where I did some of my best Kendo ever, not to become complacent I went out and did (I think) very well.

Likewise I had been told to concentrate on good Men cuts and Kiai. I was also told not to even think of kote until I'd scored atleast two good men cuts. I didn't think the men cuts I did were good enough so I held back on the Kote.

The floor manager then told us after the grading "That was some of the most boring kendo I've ever seen...." Direct quote.

Needless to say I found this extremely discouraging after I had tried my best.

I did write an article on grading for beginners just incase anyone is interested...

Grading for the terminally confused

It's the last link on the page...

[MwhwF6bp]

In Japan, adults don't normally test for the lower kyu. That is because you would be testing against very young children in virtually all cases.

In our dojo, it takes anywhere from 8-18 months to be ready for the 1kyu test.

[Dogxzysl]

I've heard of Germany being very strict in gradings in many different martial arts, so I'm not surprised about that.

In the States, I think many adults test for kyu-ranks within their dojos (if the dojo has the appropriate number of dan ranks in order to hold an "in-house" testing).. And then they may eventually test for ikkyu at a big tournament/testing. Just kinda depends. I think going through the kyu ranks is fine. I don't think folks should be very concerned with rankings, only with learning to do better kendo, but I can understand some people (especially an apparent American fixation) wanting a 'rank'. For some, it's all about the rank and never about the kendo. For others, it just gives them an idea of where they stand and sets goals for "marked" progress. (I don't fully understand that, but I know some people look at it that way).. It's fine.

Really, who cares if you are sankyu or nikyu or ikkyu..? Can you do good, proper kendo? Can you strike a proper men against a shodan or nidan? Good, proper kendo is what is really, really important.

I'm not sure if this will sound right, but...

Just because you have a "rank" does not mean you will do good, proper kendo all the time, but doing good, proper kendo all the time will justify your rank. (Hope that makes some sense)..

Ok, enough of that...

For ikkyu test, here's my thought.

1. Good spirit
2. Good voice
3. Good voice
4. Good footwork and good MEN strikes
5. Strike men and go through
6. Good spirit and voice
7. If you come to tsubazeriai, do not stay in tsubazeriai. Get in and then get back out with higi-men
8. A good stomp is always nice.
9. Do not bother with blocking.
10. Do not attack the Do.
11. I think it's ok to attack kote or kote-men, so long as there continues to be forward movement after the strike. But the primary attack should be to the MEN for ikkyu-wannabes.
12. And again, good spirit and VOICE!

I don't know this with 100% certainty, but I'm fairly confident these things will warrant a passing grade just about anywhere around the world for ikkyu.

EDIT: How come I always respond to threads that are MONTHS old!?!??! Must pay more attention to that and not get led by the nose by Yowai..

[foltdan]

I would have said that the Ikyu requirement is basicaly the same as Shodan. I have taken Junior high students to City gradings and that is what they are told by the Shinsain. We have a senior sensei who runs the grading panel appointed to explain the requirements. Perhaps other countries have different concept?

A sort of Shodan warm up and telling them what is expected of them for Shodan. Isn't that why Ikyu was formalized rather than a Dojo Grade? It ensures a smoother transition from one to the next. Over here in Japan we have "hundreds" at gradings and it's a lot smoother doing this than having people "take a crack at it" that have no chance of getting through. I clearly remember one guy not even tying his men himo right for shodan and his men coming off during the grading. We can iron out problems like that at the Ikyu grading.

Also the reason that kids have all the kyu gradings here is that it generally is kids that are the beginers. We don't have so many more matured starters.

I would not even begin to compare Renshi, Kyoshi, Hanshi with Menkyo, Menkyo Kaiden. The latter are based on the transmission of a tradition. Not sportlike Sogo Budo.

Most people who follow this path have no interest whatsoever in the Dan-I system. It's a, "Forget the grades I dont need em" attitude one should foster.One can take up the "Nan dan desu ka?" path or simply chose to practice, practice, practice, and possibly get rewarded just once in their life for your efforts if at all. I could go even farther to say that if you want shogo you might not even get it. I have seen one quite diligent person who was shown the door showing an over keen-ness to be acknowledged in such a way.

What above has been described as the requirments for Ikyu was what you will be told for all gradings.

Hyaku

[toyboy]

im going for ikkyu in november. ive been playing for about5 months, but im told the only requirements are a big men cut and kirikaeshi. this also with a loud kiai, there is also a little shiai too, my only prob is its all in chudan, and i play jodan.. so its all different for me there..lol...

[peemovvie]

im going for ikkyu in november. ive been playing for about5 months, but im told the only requirements are a big men cut and kirikaeshi. this also with a loud kiai, there is also a little shiai too, my only prob is its all in chudan, and i play jodan.. so its all different for me there..lol...

5 months in kendo and you´re doing jodan?

[pongeystrhjst]

After he has literally been telling this in every post possible I was really waiting for someone to ask this... Popcorn, anyone?

[Eromaveabeara]

After he has literally been telling this in every post possible I was really waiting for someone to ask this... Popcorn, anyone?

I got the beer part covered!

[Duseshoug]

Well, sorry for not reading his previous posts earlier. I was just curious... If my question bothers you so much, you could just ignore it...

[BuyCheapest]

Well, sorry for not reading his previous posts earlier. I was just curious... If my question bothers you so much, you could just ignore it...

I didn't mean to attack you or anything, I was just surprised that none of the usual suspects had already asked him about this. I really wasn't intending to put you down! But I'm sure you know how newbies are usually received if they post anything suspicious.
Sorry for offending you, I'm not that good with expressing myself in English...

[Loovikeillilen]

Well, sorry for not reading his previous posts earlier. I was just curious... If my question bothers you so much, you could just ignore it...

Your question was in place I was referring to mashu19's post.
Doing jodan as mudansha,I would say it's wrong.
At that point in kendo training should focus on basics!
It's wrong to say "My technique is good,I should try something else".
Not as mudansha.
U can see a hachidan master practicing men-uchi!
Can U say he's men sucks?!?!
It show what we already know: perfect training makes U perfect!
To have a perfect training kendoka should cover the basics first.

If I understood correctly it is said that after passing sandan,U can say U know the fundamental of Kendo.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

[leijggeds]

No problem I´m just going through some hard times now and I get irritated very easily.. I also want to say sorry..

But I´m really interested in hearing why mashu is doing jodan so early. I found out from his posts that he has been doing it from the start. Is this because of medical reasons or something like that?

I think it´s somewhere around sandan/ yondan when you can say that you know something about kendo, and that´s the time to start jodan/ nito because of the understanging of seme etc. But you can´t always wait that long