PeterR

Hi Tiyler;

Shodan (1st Dan) means beginning level. The idea was that at this level you reached the point where you understood a core curriculum and could do or be done relatively safely. That is why in Japan, with a certain intensity of training you get there in about two years. Less intense - longer time. Aikido is about free expression of your technique - something you can only begin to do once you are past the hand here foot there stage.

Why in the West we've gone up to in some warped cases to 10 years to Shodan I'll never know.