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Old 08-02-2006, 11:10 AM   #1
David Racho
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 17
Philippines
Offline
Question "super" high ranking yudansha?

Hi there,

Is there a list of Yudansha at 8th dan, 9th dan and 10th dan? (Excluding the Doshus, which I've read elsewhere that are equivalent to 10th dan, but at the same time are outside the ranking system. Koichi Tohei at one time referred to Kisshomaru Ueshiba as 8th dan when Koichi Tohei was 9th dan.) - Dead or Alive. If I recall correctly, there are only 2 living 10th dans and 2 living 9th dans, all of which are Japanese and live in Japan.

I understand Koichi Tohei is no longer Aikikai as well as Hitohiro Saito, but both were a part of them, and Tohei is one of the few 10th dans when he was given that rank in 1969. I've also read somewhere that Iwama ryu has been integrated into Aikikai, or more specifically, the dan ranks of Iwama promoted aikidoka are officially recognized by the Aikikai.

Is there a list of just 6th dans Aikikai? and not just women. If it's less than 1000, I'd like to see it. Or if it's too long, maybe categorized by location. I'm pretty sure it's pointless to request for 1st Dans to 5th Dans, unless the Aikikai makes that information public. (Would be nice if they did, through their website, or some sort of verification process.)

I've also read somewhere that Aikikai registers kyu grades, and not just in Japan or Hombu. Imagine what a boon or convenience it would be for someone else to be able to verify your kyu or dan ranking just by putting in your serial number at their web site, as opposed to looking at a card (Aikikai gives a card or book to registered members?)

As an extra, if people have information on how long certain people took to get to these ranks, and how long in between, that would be nice as well. From an informal study it seems that 7th Dans average a total of about 40 years (from 6th kyu or from whenever they started.)

P.S. I've seen the list of high ranking non-japanese yudansha which can be found here http://www.aikiweb.com/wiki/nonjapanese , thus the title "super high ranking" for this one.
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