highest karate level as student?

Question

I have practiced Shotokan Karate in the past and I am thinking of going back.

I wonder which is the last grade you can attain as student. I mean, you get an instructor, train and then have an exam. I know grades above 7th dan are just honorific, but I wonder which is the last non-honor grade you may attain.

Answer 1

This ALL depends on the style you are asking about. In our style (I teach Shotokan), we have only 5 TRUE Dan grades because Gichin Funakoshi was only 5th Dan when he died. HOWEVER, he was awarded a 10th Dan posthumously, and therefore others can test up to that point. Nakayama-sensei was 9th Dan when he died, for example. However, some other martial arts do not consider these "true" Dan grades, because the founder of the style was only 5th Dan when he died. Therefore, in Shotokan, you are considered a "Master" at 5th degree (Godan) and all Dan grades above that are officially honorific titles.

Other styles are far different though and have "true" Dan grades even above 10th.

Now, I believe what you are asking is more like, "when do you stop working for your grade." That depends GREATLY on the school. In our system (Seishinkai Shotokan Karate) you are still tested rigorously until 4th Degree, when your examinations are more about how your instructor sees you running your classes, how well your school is running, how well you referee, how well you teach an upper grade test...things like that. Instructors above 3rd degree are assumed to know what they are doing as far as technique goes, so it depends more on how well they are passing down that technique.

Hope this helps,

Sensei Brian Cox

EDIT- Learning all the techniques of the style is another open ended question. Commonly, when you earn your 1st Degree black belt, you are supposed to have mastered all the basic techniques. Leanring ALL the techniques of a style will take significantly longer. In a philosophical viewpoint, you will never learn ALL the available techniques. It is a lifetime journey. Seriously, if your reverse punch is perfect and then you try it with a slightly different angle, does this change the technique? A backfist delivered horizontally (like to the opponent's temple) is different from one thrown with an upward arc (like hitting on the chin) or one delivered downward (like to the bridge of the nose)...but it's still a backfist. You NEVER stop learning...never.

Answer 2

In many karate styles you are not considered to be eligible to become a certified instructor until San Dan, 3rd degree black belt, and even if you attain higher levels where "honorific" titles are available, and in Goju these are licensed and not just an honorary award, then you must still be given this title by the organization, it is not something you can take even if you have the Dan rank. Below are some links to articles on the rank system and titles in Goju.



I have been out of Karate for several years, but in my Iaido style you are tested at every level up to 7th Dan, and above that I simply have not had any information on how the promotions go because no one has been promoted that high in the USA in my style as of yet. In order to get above San Dan (3rd) you have to be invited to train and test in Japan at out main dojo, and the tests includes a written test, an oral test in front of a panel of the most senior instructors and the Soke, as well as performing the techniques required.



I know of only a handful of people ranking 7th Dan or higher. I remember that our Soke, after the death of his teacher many years ago, was tested before a panel and given 8th Dan by the Zen Nippon Iaido Renmei, so you could consider at least 8th Dan as a non-honor rank.

Answer 3

Ranking changes from place to place.

Traditionally the founder of Shotokan (Funakoshi) only had a sixth degree black belt, I am not sure how someone can get a higher belt than the founder of an art?



Rank should not matter, it is inconsequential to the training and should not be focused on.

Answer 4

As a brown belt, i think that I admire the decrease grades, and that i'm hoping that they see it that way. people who've experienced for a while, are very experienced, and that i learn plenty from preparation with them, sparring with them and issues that they word approximately my own prepare. people who have not experienced plenty, or are not experienced yet, take me back to the fact of myself, the two previous, recent and extraordinarily much truthfully destiny. the only distinction between us is that i began preparation formerly them. I completely assume a number of those human beings to excel previous me, and that i take super satisfaction in preparation with those human beings. toddlers? in no way. Amateurs? no extra advantageous than myself. As for utilising my karate skills, I even have been fortunate to on no account have been in a life-or-dying scenario, or something that would required me to combat. i think that my preparation has come out in my life, whilst a random inebriated on the line tries to start a combat (has occurred a pair of circumstances, on no account led to something, fortuitously), and that i'm in a position to stay composed, and not scared. whilst at artwork, i think of i think it whilst coping with an offended or impolite shopper, i can stay useful sufficient to chat to them, each so often i've got calmed them down, in others, i've got not been fazed via the abuse. And as unusual because it could desire to look, i've got discovered the hip rotations functional as a waiter, to barter between tightly packed tables.

Answer 5

10th degree black belt, MASTER.