Karate Rank Examination Information

Background

When Funakoshi Gichin brought Karate from Okinawa to Japan at the beginning of the 20^th century, there was no uniform or ranking system. You were either a student or a teacher, and that was it. However, Mr. Funakoshi was eager to popularize Karate in Japan and believed that it was quite natural to transform it into a truly Japanese martial art. During his early years of teaching in Japan, Funakoshi was helped by the founder of Judo, Kano Jigoro. The uniform and ranking system of Shotokan is a direct result of the influence of Judo. The uniform (dogi) is a modification of the Judo uniform and Funakoshi adopted the Kyu/Dan ranking system of Judo. Originally, there were two colored belts were worn by karate enthusiasts. Kyu graded students wore a white belt and Dan graded students wore a black belt. Originally, there were 8 kyu ranks and 5 dan ranks.

Ranking Structure Today

As time went on, colored belts were adopted for the various kyu ranks to help tell the relative experience of the student. White, green and brown were used initially to indicate beginner, intermediate and advanced. More colors were added later in order to reward students for progress at shorter intervals. Additionally, the dan ranks were expanded to include 10 dans (levels). Today, we use the following color scheme in the International Shotokan Karate Federation (ISKF):

Rank	Color
9^th kyu	white
8^th kyu	yellow
7^th kyu	orange
6^th kyu	green
5^th kyu	purple
4^th kyu	purple
3^rd kyu	brown
2^nd kyu	brown
1^st kyu	brown
1^st(sho) dan	black
2^nd(ni) dan	black
3^rd(san) dan	black
4^th(yon) dan	black
Etc.	black

For kyu grades, half ranks are also used and are denoted by a “b”. Half ranks are given when a student does ok on the examination but there is some flaw that the examiner would like the student to correct prior to awarding a full kyu advancement. There are some things to note about the black belt ranks. Firstly, half ranks are not used. You either pass the exam or are asked to try again after 3, 6, or 12 months. Secondly, no stripes or any other indicator of rank are used at the black belt level – the writing you see on Shotokan practitioner’s belts is the style/association name on one end and their name on the other end. It should be noted that the higher dan ranks also come with various time in grade and age restrictions so that above 4^th dan, there are fewer and fewer people at those ranks. For example, 5^th dan requires a minimum of 5 years of training after receiving 4^th dan and the examinee must be at 35 years old. For eighth dan, the examinee must be at least 55 years old and for 9^th and 10^th dan, the person must be at least 70 but it should be noted that it would be impossible to be a 70 year old 10^th dan because you must wait 10 years after receiving 9^th dan and so you must be at least 80 years old to be a 10^th dan. Therefore, there are no living 10^th dans in the Japan Karate Association (JKA) or any of it’s affiliated groups such as the ISKF (yet).

When and Who Conducts the Examinations

In the JKA and the ISKF, only certified examiners may grant kyu and dan rank. This requires the instructor to have completed the Instructor Training Program and pass the examination for examiner. There are 4 classes of examiner (D, C, B, and A) with varying authority depending on dan rank and experience. A class D examiner can conduct examination for any kyu rank. For our club, kyu exams are generally conducted 4 times a year by Mr. Najib Amin at the Randallstown club. Sometimes, other certified examiners such as Mr. Rielly or Mr. Okazaki himself with conduct the examinations at the Randallstown club. Dan examinations are conducted twice a year at ISKF headquarters in Philadelphia by Mr. Okazaki and a panel of high ranking instructors from around the region. In the case of kyu ranks, you will receive your rank certificate within a few weeks of the exam. These come from ISKF headquarters and are forwarded to me from Mr. Amin. In the case of dan certificates, these are registered with JKA Headquarters in Tokyo and can take several months to arrive.

Copyright 2005 – Paul Willoughby