8 posts / 0 new
Last post
Antonio G
Antonio G's picture
The true meaning of Karate ranks

Hello, do you really know the meaning of your belt / kyu / dan ? Let's talk a little bit about history !

http://www.karatecolombes.fr/en/the-true-meaning-of-karate-ranks/

Thank you for your comments :)

Antonio

Iain Abernethy
Iain Abernethy's picture

Thanks for sharing the article. It’s nice piece. Well written and informative.

As a minor point, you stated that the minim ages in France are “practically identical to the WKF”, but there is some significant difference from what is stated and WKF’s policy (section 2.1) on dan grades:

https://www.wkf.net/pdf/rules/wkf-dan-grade-regulation-en-990.pdf

WKF states 15 years old for 1st dan – Article states 14 years old

WKF states 17 years old for 2nd dan – Article states 17 years old

WKF states 20 years old for 3rd dan – Article states 21 years old

WKF states 24 years old for 4th dan – Article states 25 years old

WKF states 29 years old for 5th dan – Article states 30 years old

WKF states 35 years old for 6th dan – Article states 40 years old

WKF states 42 years old for 7th dan – Article states 50 years old

WKF states 50 years old for 8th dan – Article states 60 years old

The WKF’s policy seems to be based solely on the minimum time between grades, whereas the stated French policy has defined minimum ages.

The EKF (English Karate Federation) policy is closer to the WKF’s with the key difference being that 16 years old is the minimum age for 1st dan (although there can be junior dan grades under that age). After that it progresses with minimum times such that the EKF minimum ages would be 1 year older than WKF policy.

I like the article and I thank you for sharing it with us.

All the best,

Iain

Antonio G
Antonio G's picture

Hello Iain,

thanks for your comments. You're right, there are bigger differences starting from 6th dan. Few years ago, it was also 16 yo in France for 1st dan. The period of training between two dan is the same as WKF in France : you have to train X years for dan X

1 st Dan (shodan) Minimum 15 years of age - Minimum 3 years of training

2 nd Dan (nidan) Minimum 17 years of age - Minimum 2 years since 1st Dan

3 rd Dan (sandan) Minimum 20 years of age - Minimum 3 years since 2nd Dan

4 th Dan (yondan) Minimum 24 years of age - Minimum 4 years since 3rd Dan

5 th Dan (godan) Minimum 29 years of age - Minimum 5 years since 4th Dan

6 th Dan (rokudan) Minimum 35 years of age - Minimum 6 years since 5th Dan

7 th Dan (nanadan) Minimum 42 years of age - Minimum 7 years since 6th Dan

8 th Dan (hachidan) Minimum 50 years of age - Minimum 8 years since 7th Dan

9 th Dan (kyudan) Awarded for exceptional lifetime achievement for karate

10th Dan (judan) Awarded for exceptional lifetime achievement for karate

Best Regards ! :)

Iain Abernethy
Iain Abernethy's picture

Antonio G wrote:
he period of training between two dan is the same as WKF in France : you have to train X years for dan X ...

The ages in the article are not the same as stated above i.e. you said minimum age of 50 for 8th dan in the above post; whereas the article states 60 years old. Are the ages in the article in need of updating?

The article states, “In the table below is the minimum age required for the granting of a dan in France (this is practically identical to the WKF).”

But they are different from what you stated above. What is the official position in France?

All the best,

Iain

Antonio G
Antonio G's picture

Iain Abernethy wrote:
The ages in the article are not the same as stated above i.e. you said minimum age of 50 for 8th dan in the above post; whereas the article states 60 years old. Are the ages in the article in need of updating?

The ages in the article are for France.

Iain Abernethy wrote:
The article states, “In the table below is the minimum age required for the granting of a dan in France (this is practically identical to the WKF).”

But they are different from what you stated above. What is the official position in France?

Ok, know I understand : "practically" is a very bad translation, the right word should be "almost"  (almost, except from dan 6, 7, 8 ...)

I will chage the tranlsation ASAP :)  -> done

thanks !

Iain Abernethy
Iain Abernethy's picture

Antonio G wrote:
Ok, know I understand : "practically" is a very bad translation, the right word should be "almost"  (almost, except from dan 6, 7, 8 ...)

I will chage the tranlsation ASAP :)  -> done

I’m with you! Thanks for clarifying. Thanks once again for posting!

All the best,

Iain

Marc
Marc's picture

Hi Antonio, thanks for the article.

This topic has been partially covered in another forum thread: 9 Year Old Black Belt?

I quote part of my comment on the age restrictions in the German Karate Association here, so the overviews for France, England, Germany and maybe more to come are all in one place.

Marc wrote:

In the grading regulations of the German Karate Association (DKV, Deutscher Karate-Verband) age restrictions for Dan grades apply as follows:

  • Junior Dan, 12 years old, valid until 16 years old, then the exam for 1. Dan has to be taken
  • 1. Dan, 16 years old, 1 year since last grading
  • 2. Dan, 18 years old, 2 years since last grading
  • 3. Dan, 3 years since last grading (so min 21 years old)
  • 4. Dan, 4 years since last grading (so min 25 years old)
  • 5. Dan, 5 years since last grading (so min 30 years old)
  • 6. Dan, 45 years old (so up to 10 years since last grading)
  • 7. Dan, 50 years old (so up to 5 years since last grading)
  • 8. Dan, 60 years old (so up to 10 years since last grading)

 

Antonio G
Antonio G's picture

Thanks Marc !