I read somewhere that 10th degree black belts aren't available in Kyokushin. Is this true and if it's not then why
I know Mas Oyama was a 10th degree black belt. But I was just going with what I read. Is there anybody else besides Steve Arneil?
I don't believe their is anyone else. Doing a little searching, I saw reference to Steve Arneil's 10th Dan having been awarded by the general karate community of the UK for his service and influence on karate there as opposed to being awarded through the Kyokushin system.
Splitting hairs a little. He is a 10th Dan and he is a Kyokushin karateka. You'll have a hard time convincing people that Steve Arneil isn't deserving of his grade.
Because no one since Mas Oyama has killed 53 bulls in a row with one punch knockouts. They called him God hand for a reason. Also you must shave your eyebrows and live on a mountain for a year.
Oh, not saying that he's undeserving of the grade at all. It just lends some credence to the OP's information that led to the question. It's not uncommon for a community or association to collectively award a 9th or 10th dan rank in a similar fashion, but it doesn't always come from a governing body or association solely related to the person's practiced art.
As I understand it, in most karate systems, the rank of 10th Dan is reserved for the founder of the Ryu-ha or the current Soke of the system. Well, that's the case with most Japanese based karate schools anyway. Trouble is, folk are running out of rank! See Master Ken!
Kyokushin has splintered into a bunch of factionlets, so it's hard to say where you'd look for "legit" super high rank.
That's actually a really important point. If I had an honory degree from Wolverhampton, and a btec from Oxford, claiming Fusen, BsE Oxford, is a little misleading. Although Steve Arneil is a legend, so its a moot point in this case. But generally the point applies.
Steve Arneil was awarded his 8th dan from the General karate community in the UK. His 10th Dan was awarded to him by the branch chiefs of the IFK (the organisation he is head of).
Does it matter? Anything above 6th tends to awarded for "political" or organisational reasons... In fact all grades are slightly arbitrary and are only really relevant to the individual's personal development within their own art ( and even there are not always relative to the other grades!) Once I attained 1st Dan i didn't bother grading again for 15 years even though I continued regular training. The only reason I continued grading was the pressure put upon me by my instructor, as a number of us "old guard" in the dojo were being caught up with the beginners we had been coaching to first Dan over the years...
Misiak a polish who.just created a new federation of kyokushin autoproclaime himself a 10th dan and I think he's not even 38 or 40 he created kyodoKyokushin what's a joke
"Nobody can achieve a 10th-degree black belt for this was a special honor created only for the Sosai (Oyama)."