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 8th
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:
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.