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Old 01-30-2001, 06:52 PM   #8
Chris Li
 
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Dojo: Aikido Sangenkai
Location: Honolulu, Hawaii
Join Date: Dec 2000
Posts: 3,313
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Quote:
Aikidoka2000 wrote:
How do you feel about belt ranking?
Obviously there must be a benchmark for a Sensei in order to facilitate observance
of any level of proficiency as it pertains to perception to students, however do you
feel Is it necessary to rank students who are below shodan?
Not so obvious to everyone, I would think. There has been no belt ranking in Shinto Katori-ryu for 500 years, and it doesn't bother my instructor at all.

The whole belt ranking thing is fairly new - around 50 years in Aikido (for general use), and just over 100 years in Japanese martial arts in general. Before that people functioned and schools flourished in Japan for hundreds of years without them.

There are pluses and minuses to ranking, but I wouldn't term it "necessary" for anybody, either below or above shodan.

Best,

Chris
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