Is it 4th Dan or Is it 5th Dan.. Just a question . I know that in ITF 5th Dan is the prefered Master Title .. 4th Dan reserved for Senior Instructor Status. Stoppy
Last I heard, 4-6th Dan was full instructor and 7th and 8th Dan was Master, 9th Dan Grand Master. At least through the ITF. So many things change so often now a days, I don't know any more. Most schools just follow their own guidelines. I get the impression that 4th Dan is considered to be a Master most places now.
Most schools recognize a 5-7th Dan as Master, 8-9 as GM. I think there are a lot of variations out there tho.
You'll find alot of discrepencies regarding at what degree is considered master between the systems of Tae Kwon do and the schools that instruct (and their are many besides just ITF & WTF) ITF system of rank is made up of 10 grades and 9 degrees of black belt. The title of Master is reserved for 7th degree and above only WTF generally refer to 5th dans as Masters and can have up to 10th dan ( http://itfnz.org.nz/news/assets/ITF - WTF Comparison.pdf )
In the ATA I know you have to have a 6th degree and then be recognized by the grandmaster or something like that. Then the grandmaster is a 9th degree. Then there's the senior and cheif masters for ranks after 6th.
At our school (WTF), though we do not have one (our two masters are 5th degree Yong In types), a 4th degree is considered a master.
itf tkd 5th is jr master and 7th is master The highest I ever meet was 7th degree and he was very old.
im not certain but i think 5-8 is considered master and 9 and 10 is grandmaster ... although 10th dan is usually presented to a person who has contributed a lot to the sport.
ITF Taekwon-Do : I Degree Through III Degree = (Assistant) Instructor IV Degree = Instructor V Degree An VI Degree = International Instructor VII Degree And VIII Degree = Master IX = Grand Master Whilst in a tournament in November 2003. There was 4 Masters and Grand Master Rhee Ki Ha was also present.
Errr sorry to correct you but, IV-VI are all International Instructor grades, the difference is no-wadays they have actually drawn up legislation that you must attend a specific "International Instructors course" in order to call yourself INternational Instructor. I saw the words come from GMR's mouth last February (when I hosted an Area grading) so I'm pretty sure it's right Nathan, what champs was that? The English Open? would the 4 Masters happen to be.. Master Taylor, Master WIlliamson, Master Miller and Master O'Neil by any chance? Or was Master Prewett there also?
_ I know that in the original guidelines when TKD was formed, all the kwan founders were established as fourth dans and Gen. Choi was given the honorary rank of 4th dan (though this was later taken away) as the head of the military training/kwan. This was the established rank in TKD for master levels and this remains to this day for the WTF. This also parralells the ranking system used in Goju-ryu, with 4th dan being low master level and 5th being high master levels. Sixth degree and above are awarded for contributions to the art. Traditionally in TKD, ninth dan is the highest level for a living practitioner and tenth is reserved as a post-humous award for after a well regared master has died.
Erm it was the Home Internationals in Newport, Wales. I can't remember the names of the Masters who where present, because it's not my organisation.
sixth dan is not awarded.. you have to go for a promotion exam..this is true right up till ninth dan.. my master had to take a promotion test to get his 7th dan and his teacher .. master leow cheng koon (9th dan) went to korea for his promotion test... only 10th dan is awarded.
-Actually, if you re-read my post carefully, I was referring to Goju-ryu's standards which I said were very similar to WTF. (At least they were nearly identical at the time the late Peter Urban wrote his classic martial arts text on karate and goju in particular. Since I am not a goju practitioner myself, I don't know if this is still current). You are correct though that there is still a test at mastery level. However, having been through it more than once, I can tell you from personal experience that it is basically the same test over and over with only some very small changes. Besides time in grade, eligibility for the test is mostly determined by contribution to the art; and unfortunately sometimes politics (I am not saying this as sour grapes, the WTF offered me 6th dan three years prior to when I was supposed to be elligible. I politely and respectfully declined since I preferred to wait out my time and do it by the book).
Then you shouldn't post under the Taekwon-Do Forum. Because only Gen. Choi's Taekwon-Do is true, the rest are imitations.
Thanks for the information, 18 years of imitation....what have I been doing? Wo is me... Cheers, DH Post Script: Everyone is encouraged to participate in the TKD forum, even those who are not TKD practioners, as long as they have something worthwhile to contribute. All too often are there those that are TKD practitioners that should not post.
I would like to know how you were approached, by whom, and when with this offer. Cheers, Yang, Dae-han
