A SHODAN, BUT NO BLACK BELT?

By Phillip Starr

So...you've received your shodan in iaido (the art of drawing and cutting with the Japanese sword). You get a nice certificate...but no black belt, such as would be the case in karate or judo. What's the deal?

The koryu (traditional martial arts of Japan, which does not include newcomers like judo and karate) never awarded colored belts; instead, they awarded a “menkyo.” The menkyo ( 免許) refers to a license to teach within the school or ryu. This system dates back to the 8^th century. And although it is often thought to be used for martial arts, it was, and is, used for other Ways, such as sumi-e (painting), the tea ceremony (chado), flower arranging, kado (also known as ikebana, or flower arranging), and even calligraphy (shodo).

It should be mentioned that in Japan, there are no “kyu” grades (under shodan) for adults in arts such as iaido. I am unsure about arts such as chado and the others. In the U.S., kyu grades for iaido are given to adults, but not in Japan where such grades are only for children.

Moreover, you will never hear a genuine shodan (or above) practitioner of an art such as iaido or any of the koryu refer to him/her self as a “black belt.” There are no belts given for grading...only certificates. One may refer to oneself as a shodan or sandan, but no mention of a colored belt is ever made. And anyway, the obi (cotton sash) worn beneath the hakama to assist in supporting the sword is considered nothing more than a tool and may be any color, depending on one's taste.

Different martial art koryū use different license; one outline is:

• Okuiri : enter into art.

• Mokuroku : certificate, and entered into official rolls.

  • Sho Mokuroku

  • Hatsu Mokuroku

  • Go Mokuroku

• Menkyo: License.

  • Shoden Menkyo

  • Chuden Menkyo

  • Okuden Menkyo

  • Hiden Menkyo

Menkyo Kaiden: Around thirty years' experience

The “Menkyo Kaiden” ( 免許皆伝), (めんきょかいでん), is a Japanese term meaning “license of total transmission.” “Kaiden” ( 皆伝) means “initiation into an art or discipline.” It is a license used by a school of the koryu to indicate that the student has learned the art fully and has passed all aspects of his/her training. It's the highest level of license under the menkyo system; it isn't determined in terms of time spent in training, but how well one has mastered the system. This usually requires about 30 years or so of continuous training. The holder of the menkyo kaiden is often, but not always, the de facto successor to the soke (founder, headmaster) of the koryu system.

Modern aikido practitioners may be surprised to learn that although aikido does issue black belts, they are (or at least weren't) worn with the traditional hakama. To do so was considered...well...tacky, to say the least. But many Westerners, in their demand for recognition, do it anyway.

In China, colored belts were never given to denote one's “rank.” In fact, belts weren't provided at all. What we now call a “kung-fu uniform” is a replica of old Chinese streetwear. No “ranking system” ever existed until fairly recently, when the All-China Sports Committee developed a structure for those of “duan” (meaning “grade” and written with the same character as is used for the Japanese “dan”) ranking. This is applied according to standards set by the Committee, which based it on contemporary wushu standards. Within the traditional martial arts community, there is still no grading system, which creates as many problems as those it allegedly prevents.