I am a martial arts enthusiast but several reasons have prevented me from training in them yet I still appreciate them... I wondered (I call myself subnoob because I probably know less than a noob about this) if Hanshi or 8th Dan and Kyoushi or 7th Dan are titles applicable to aikidokas... What is the youngest age an aikidoka has ever acquired the rank of hanshi or 8th dan? What is the youngest and which is the oldest age at which an aikodka has become a Kyoushi or 7th Dan? I would be grateful if you could answer me
I can only tell you about the Aikikai position. The terms Hanshi and Kyoshi are not generally used in Aikido. The highest teaching rank is Shihan usually awarded at 6th Dan. I don't know who was the youngest 7th or 8th Dans and I'm not sure that information is available. There are now age limits as well as time restrictions on these grades - see the Hombu website http://www.aikikai.or.jp/eng/index.htm for details.
The Renshi, Kyoshi and Hanshi titles are called Shogo Kurai (profeciency grades). They were created by the Dai Nippon Butokukai and are separate to teaching grades. They are normally awarded by an association not just assumed by an individual. Normally Renshi is at 6th Dan, Kyoshi is at 7th Dan and Hanshi is at 9th Dan. As far as ages go 40 years old is the minimum for Renshi, 50-55 years old for Kyoshi and 60- 65 for Hanshi. This varies from group to group.
Highest Dan What is the highest dan rank possible? the link I was shown didn't had an answer for that... Wikipedia confuses me... there I am given the following ranking system; Shodan-->Nidan-->Sandan--->Yondan--->Godan--->Rokudan--->Nanadan--->Hachidan--->Kyudan--->Jūdan and since hachi is "hachidan" without the "dan" that is self-evident... I assumed "kyu" would be the next above Hachi... but kyu is below all dans... I am confused :s
"Kyu" ranks precede "dan" ranks, so all kyu ranks are lower than 1st dan. The highest dan rank in aikido is 10th. I don't think more than three living people currently have 10th dan. I've never heard of hanshi and kyoshi within aikido.
Well Tatsuo Koyasu claims the rank exists and I believe him... I mean, why would he purposely lead me astray? What has he got to gain? Would he do it for the Lulz? I doubt it... Anyway... Thanks and... mmm... Is their any title associated with 9th Dan?
The ranks exist, just not in Aikido. TK has just given you info on the grades, he hasn't stated that they are used in any Aikido associations. I'm not aware of the Renshi, Kyoshi and Hanshi grade terminology being used in any Aikido groups.
so does aikido just use sensei all they way up? or do they use shihan as well? iirc: shihan = senior instructor (roughly) hanshi = teacher of teachers (roughly)
I assumed Dai Nippon Butokukai was an authority behind all Japanese martial arts and that included aikido... I also assumed that Tatsuo implied associations exist which can give someone the title of Hanshi... And... So, there's no special name for aikidokas with 8th dan and for aikodkas with 9th dan?
Hanshi Kyoshi I can not speak for Aiki-Do or its ranking/titles policy or otherwise. I was trying to clarify what the titles Hanshi, Kyoshi were and how they related to rank from a general martial arts perspective to assist Subnoob from being confused. I will have to take your word on how it relates to Aiki-Do. The Dai Nippon Butoku Kai (Greater Japan Martial Virtue Society) was established in 1895. It was done away with post WWII 1946 because of its relationship with the military. It was re-established in 1953 without its military connection. It recognizes several different Martial art groups such as Ju-Do, Ju-Jutsu, Aiki-Do, Karate-Do, Okinawan Kobu-Do, Iai-Do, etc. One of its purposes is to authorize and certify Martial Arts credentials. Renshi translates as Polished Expert. Renshi symbolizes a degree of perfet self control, Kyoshi translates as Expert Instructor, Professor. Indicates the degree of inner perfection, Hanshi translates to Master, Professor. It is an honorary degree that signifies an individual understands the heart and spirit of their art. During the period between 1946 to 1953 there was a set of titles established to replace the Renshi, Kyoshi, Hanshi titles they were Shi Do Shi, Shihan Kan and Saiko Shihan. My Karate organization still uses these titles.
Shihan Usually, once an individual has achieved the rank of Go Dan (fifth degree) they are eligible for Shihan (master teacher). Receiving a Shihan certification is not automatic at Go Dan however GoDan is where it is generally believed that an individual has learn all of the existing information and technique of a given system. This relates to the old Yu Dan Sha where once an individual reached an equal level he was awarded the Menkyo Kaiden (a proficiency license). This separate to the Shogo Kurai titles.
Welcome to your first Japanese confusion. Kyuu can mean many things. They are written using different kanji, but pronounced the same. Kyuu can mean (among other things.) Level -> 級 9 -> 九 bow (archery) ->弓 Every kanji also has multiple pronunciations, which are used depending on context and whether the words are combined. For example. Gold is 金 (kane) Fish is 魚 (sakana) But when you combine them to goldfish金魚, it is not kanesakana, but kin-gyo. Because kin and gyo are the pronunciations for those kanji when used in combinations. And these are just standard issues. Even phonetical characters can sometimes be pronounced differently depending on context, or meanings can change completely. For example, the word for 'blue' means blue when talking about e.g. the color of a stone or a piece of paper, but green when talking about the color of a traffic light.
The Count's explanation is correct. Please note that nine is kyū (with a long ū sound). This is sometimes written kyuu if you don't have the ability to type the mark over the letter. It is the length of the vowel as in the time it takes to say the sound. Both words (the rank and the number 9) are with the long u sound, while the u in roku (6) is short, so the ū in kyū should take about twice as long to say as the u in roku. Also, different cultures set the ranges of colours differently. A bluish-green may be considered green by English speakers but would be called "blue" by a Japanese person, as an example.
They have the exact same pronunciation. Various completely unrelated things can have the same pronunciation. The only way to know which is meant, is to know the context of the word, because of the many options, usually only one makes sense.The combination 'kyuudan' is only used for '9th step' whereas kyuudou is only used for archery (way of the bow).
thanks green tomato-leeching noble duck (never let Igor change you) Most of what you've told me I didnt know Yep, but the blue-green dichotomy is absent in many languages... Some languages go beyond that and the word for black, green, gray and blue is all the same (colours of the ocean, sea and, to a lesser extent, sky) as in Welsh... I knew about long vowels, it also applies to the o where it gets an "u" afterwards... wikipedia usually handles that very well I was surprised they hadn't done the same there...
As I pointed out in an earlier post, in Japanese language there are many like sounding words with total different meanings. It depends on the Kanji (Chinese characters used). In the New Nelson Jap.-Eng. Character Dictionary there are approximately 58 variations for Kyu. In the Spann, Hadamitzky The Kanji Dictionary there approximately 62 variation for Kyu listed. 級 Kyu (grade) 段 Dan (degree) 無段者 Mudansha (person w/ no degree) 有段者 Yudansha (person w/degree) 先生 Sensei (teacher) 師範 Shihan (Master teacher) 師範大 Shihan Dai (great master teacher) 錬士 Renshi (polished expert) 教士 Kyoshi (expert instructor) 範士 Hanshi (professor) 指導師 Shidoshi (Instructor) 師範監 ShihanKan (grand master) 最高師範 Saiko Shihan (supreme grand master) When referring to the Kanji associated with the word helps eliminate a lot of the confusion associated with Japanese word written with Romanized letters.
