“When are you going to be promoted to 10th degree?” – Part III



My primary instructor, Soke Tak Kubota (right),
actor and karateka James Caan (center), and me.

 I’ve been talking about my many reasons for not wanting to be promoted to 10^th dan, while so many seem obsessed with it. As I said, these are just my reasons for making this choice. Others are welcome to their own reasons for accepting or even seeking it. Let me add just a bit more to my personal choice before turning to a few legitimate reasons for working to earn a high dan grade.

The most respected world karate organizations, IMHO, all impose minimum time-in-grade (TIG) and age requirements for each dan promotion. I’ll just list the standard requirements for promotion beyond 5^th dan. (Before this, minimum TIG is generally a number of years equal to the number of the dan grade one is trying to reach – 2 years for 2^nd dan, 3 years for 3^rd dan, etc.) For 6^th dan, an applicant must be at least 35 years old and been at 5^th dan for at least 5 years. For 7^th dan, an applicant must be at least 42 years old and been at 6^th dan for at least 6 years. For 8^th dan, an applicant must be at least 50 years old and been at 7^th dan for at least 8 years. For 9^th dan, an applicant must be at least 60 years old and been at 8^th dan for at least 9 years. And for 10^th dan, an applicant must be at least 70 years old and been at 9^th dan for at least 10 years. I’ll turn 69 this year. So I’m not there yet.

Also, the above is unaffected by the standard excuses we often hear. “I moved up faster than everyone else because I trained 12 hours per day, 7 days per week for a full year,” “I trained directly under Grandmaster Fred and learned secrets he’s shared with no one else but me,” or whatever. TIG and age requirements are minimums, meaning there can only be longer amounts of time, never lesser (with only one exception that I can think of).

The sole exception to the above is when someone has not tested in many years and reached minimum age. If, for example, a person was at 6^th dan for 20 years, was 60 years old, and had never tested for 7^th dan before, although he had obviously acquired great knowledge and skill. Such a person might be promoted to 7^th dan and allowed to test for 8^th dan in just another year or two.

If you add up all of the minimum TIG for promotion from 2^nd through 10^th dan, it’s a significant number of years – 54 years minimum. Anyone who moves upwards too slowly, or starts too late, will never make it legitimately to the upper dans. This is something students, instructors, and heads of organizations need to be aware.

I’m most certainly not suggesting people be moved up faster than they are qualified to do so. What I’m suggesting, rather, is that everyone needs to know what is required for promotion to their next grades. Then, it’s up to the student to keep focused on doing whatever is necessary to achieve it – work harder, work smarter, compete if necessary, gain officiating or coaching certification, travel to wherever additional information and skill can be acquired, train in supportive arts, read and view whatever they can buy or find that will expand and deepen their knowledge, and so on. For some, this will also mean honing their moral and ethical characters to help them become better people, someone their instructors or organizational heads would want to see move into leadership positions.

Let me cut this off for now. I’ll try, as promised, to present next time some positive, non-ego gratifying reasons for setting ones sights on reaching higher dans.