Ranking at Redlands Aikikai
Students are encouraged to enter the ranking process, as part of their training experience. Prakash Sensei is authorized to conduct the ranking process for all kyu (white belt) ranks and for shodan (first degree black belt); for higher dan ranks he makes recommendations to our shihan and dan tests take place at our seminars or elsewhere. Should you choose to undergo the ranking process as member of Aikido Schools of Ueshiba, it is up to you to (i) be current on both your dojo and ASU dues; (ii) express your readiness to prepare for your next test, having met the minimum time requirements, by filling out and submitting the Aplication for Kyu Rank, along with the testing fee.
Note: A willingness to rank implies a contract between the student and teacher and with the entire dojo, a contract that needs to be respected by all. Please note that, while your primary, overriding responsibility is to train, as often and as sincerely as you can, receiving rank implies an increased responsibility in the dojo.
"There are no contests in the Art of Peace. A true warrior contests with nothing, and so is invincible. Defeat means to defeat the mind of contention that we harbor within."
List of Techniques required for Promotion Tests
These may be found at the Testing Requirements page.
Dates for Testing
Testing for kyu ranks will be conducted
on a Friday, approximately in January, April, July and October, from 6:00 p.m. on.
At the end of testing their will be a formal issuance of previous test
certificates, followed by
a pot-luck dinner. Notice will be given at least two weeks
prior if there is any testing to be done and what the exact date will be. Also,
please check the Schedule of Classes on this
site.
Children and adults will test together and all Dojo members are requested to be
present to support the candidates with their presence and their ukemi. The
candidate needs to be present along with the mentor, starting uke and all
required weapons. Please
warm up before the start of the test period and be prepared to take ukemi for
another person's test. The younger children will be tested first and will then
be free to leave; all other dojo members are requested to stay for the duration
of the test unless excused.
(Note: Students testing for their first rank may be tested in
their regular class periods. This is in order to help them feel comfortable with
testing before doing so in
public, and also so that they do not have to
wait too long for their tests. All other ranks will test according to the above
schedule.)
Testing Pre-requisites
Please be aware that, while fulfilling the time requirements for a rank and being an ASU member in good standing are necessary conditions for being tested, they do not imply that you are ready for the next rank. Thus when you wish to prepare for testing, having completed these requirements, you may ask the Chief Instructor to test you; the date of the test will be determined by him. Remember that a "test" is an opportunity to share your expression of Aikido with your fellow students; it is as much invitation as an evaluation.
Determine that you have completed the days/months requirement for the rank you are testing to.
Request a sempai, not more than three grades senior, to be your mentor in preparation for the test.
Inform the Chief Instructor of your desire to test and have your mentor confirm to him his/her willingness to help you.
Submit the Application for Kyu Rank along with the $35 testing fee to the Office.
Generally at least two weeks notice will be given for testing.
Be prepared to retest, at the Chief Instructor's discretion, a few weeks after the initial test.
Please listen to your mentor, who has the experience and the responsibility to help you. This responsibility includes that of being honest with you about both your strengths and weaknesses (including telling you if you are not quite ready yet), and in checking matters of confusion with the Chief Instructor. It is the both the candidate's and the mentor's responsibility to exchange phone numbers/e-mail with the mentor, and to arrange extra preparation sessions. There is a half-hour before Open III class available for test preparation, but other times can be made available.
FAQ: I don't feel ready to test, but Sensei and my mentor think I am. Should I?
Please note that nearly everyone feels some degree of uncertainty about their own skill level just before a test. This is normal! A person who is absolutely devoid of any nervousness in a rank-test is either: 1.) Being tested much later than they should have been; 2.) Too cocky, and this will be revealed during testing or 3.) 4th Dan or above (that's a joke - we don't test at higher ranks....). This is one reason why a mentor can be helpful: to encourage the student to take the test in spite of their not feeling quite ready. Testing is the closest most people get to the kind of mental condition one has in a combat situation: keep a good spirit and let yourself experience how you do when on the spot. You will often be pleasantly surprised. Either way, the experience will help you grow as a person and as a martial artist.
Grading Protocol
1. Make sure you are well presented and that your dogi is clean. Make sure
that your weapons (and your partner's weapons) are with you on the mat and are easily retrieved when needed. Your uke should retrieve the
weapons when they are required and return them for you after use.
2. Sit quietly and attentively in seiza while watching others test. Participate
as uke in others' tests when possible and within reason.
3. When your name is called, move forward swiftly and line up in seiza, facing
the shomen.
4. At the panel's instruction, bow to the shomen (the front of the dojo). Turn
and bow to the panel, then turn and bow to your uke.
5. Listen carefully and attentively to instructions.
6. Each technique should be performed omote (front version) on the right and
left, then ura (rear version) on the right and left and, whenever appropriate, finished with osae (a
pin).
7. Tests should be sharp, energetic and vigorous while the mind remains calm.
Keep a strong spirit!
8. Upon completion of the test and at the panel's instruction, bow to your last
uke and say: "arigato gozaimashita." Then turn and bow to the panel, and finally
to the shomen.
9. Move swiftly back to the edge of the mat and sit in seiza.
(inspired by Grading Protocol of Aikido Kenkyukai of Australia)
Criteria for Ranking
There being no competition in Aikido, ranking is based entirely on the instructor's observation of the development of such things as physical skill (both in executing the techniques as nage and in receiving them as uke), mind-body coordination, training spirit, care for the dojo and fellow students and overall character. In addition to the guidance and list of required techniques spelled out above, you might also find the following criteria useful:
personal: attitude - humility, courtesy, respect, caring for the dojo;
spirit: dedication to training, aliveness, vitality, willingness to push to the edge;
interaction: appropriateness in training with others, consideration towards others on and off the mat;
proficiency: demonstrating knowledge of technique;
ukemi: skill at receiving arts at a level similar to that in performing them and so demonstrating understanding of technique;
stamina: endurance and conditioning appropriate to age and bodily history.
(thanks to Frank Doran Sensei , Division Head of the Aikido Association of Northern California for allowing us to adapt the above from the AANC handbook)
For those training towards dan ranks please note the following excerpt from an article by our founding Shihan:
Yudansha Ranking
by
Mitsugi Saotome, Shihan
ASU Newsletter, January 1986
"Yudansha ranking is given for many reasons, not just technical ability. Just because a person receives a certain yudansha rank does not mean that he or she has attained that ability at that moment. It means that I feel the person is on the threshold and will grow into that rank with the pressures of added responsibility. Of course, receiving a promotion to any yudansha rank presupposes a certain technical proficiency. But this alone is not enough. My eyes see differently when I watch a student practice. I see that student's personality as well as his or her growth. I often know what kind of special difficulties the student has had to overcome. I have a good idea how much that person has done for his or her group, how much responsibility has been shouldered and how much he or she has done to help others. I know that person's social and spiritual growth and leadership abilities. I've been asked many times how a student should train and with what goals in mind for each yudansha level. Most of this cannot be put into words and must come from the individual student's heart as he or she grows in understanding; but I can give you a little guidance.
To train for shodan:
You are training to become a beginner, no longer just a guest in the dojo, but a
student with very real responsibilities. One must study the basic technical form
and basic physical principle until the correct movement is automatic and feels
natural.
To train for nidan:
The power of movement must be emphasized and developed. The functional reality
of technique must be explored and an understanding developed of what really
works and why.
To train for sandan:
The student must develop an understanding of aiki principle and begin to break
out of technique.
To train for yondan:
The student must discover the philosophy of aiki principle and how it relates to
technique. The technical form must be deeply refined according to this
understanding and the student must seriously begin to develop the art of
training others. Personal training is not enough. The student must understand
social responsibility.
To train for godan:
One must make aiki principle a direct part of his or her life, developing an
awesome spirit, leadership qualities and the spiritual and social application of aiki principle. A complete spontaneity of technique must develop which is no
longer technique but the principle which underlies technique. There must be, at
this point, a complete dedication to the art and a great social and spiritual
growth. A growth which produces not a narrow local concern for one dojo or one
area, but an active concern for all students and all people of the world.
Throughout all these years of training, your physical, mental, social and
spiritual understanding and power must steadily progress. The spontaneous
application of aiki must progress. If you stop training on any one of these
levels, your aikido will no longer grow.
Just putting in your time has no meaning. The quality and intensity of your
training, the discoveries you make each day, these things have meaning. You must
train hard and discover the answer for yourself."