Janet Rosen

 

We often see family attend rankings for kyu ranks, not just shodan. This has been true at a couple of the dojos I've been a member of.

We had several people up for higher kyu ranks recently and one thing that impressed me, that I hadn't seen the other places I've trained, is that after each person is told s/he has passed, there is an opportunity for every other dojo member present, starting with sensei and moving down through the newest newbie, to saw something about the test or about training with the person. It made it very personalized, very much a community event (recognizing both the person's role in the dojo community and the role everyone plays in his achievement) and was incredibly moving.