Re: The Gordian Knot of Grading
"There are no medals to be won in aikido, since there is no championship"
This is a strong statement, but you ignores a part of the Aikido community which are doing championships.
The rest of the article I can understand your view on grading in aikido. But still there is something strange : in most Modern Japanese Martial Arts, a shodan is rewarded with a black belt, and I think most of the people are proud to become a black belt, on the other hand most of our mentors always said the belt is a tool to keep the dogi closed. Why they gave a black belt?
Just a thought,
Eddy
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