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Ryukyu Kobudo Hozon Shinko Kai


Menu
 * Home
 * Overview
 * Dojo & Instructors
   * Yukio Kuniyosh
   * Emile van Heerden
   * Valeriy Kusiy
   * Hennie de Vries
   * Yui Nakama
   * Tomotaka Iraha
 * History
   * Taira Shinken
   * Eisuke Akamine
   * Kanga Sakugawa
   * Itosu Anko
   * Kenwa Mabuni
   * Shigeo Izumi
 * Kobudo Kata System
   * Grading System
 * FAQ
 * Chronologicals
 * 

Frequently Asked Questions or FAQ, by Tim Jurgens (2006)

Below are the questions and answers reconstructed from notes taken 21 July at
the local izakaya that is so often the stopping point for a quick bite of local
cuisine and a refreshing drink after hard training at the Hombu.

Question 1. What are the Kanji characters for Doko Kai and what are their
translation to English?

同 ＝ Do This character is most often seen as 同じ or Onaji or same or sameness.
好 = Ko　Usually seen as 好き Suki to like. It is made up of the radicals of mother
and child to indicated the feelings of like as being like that of a mother for
her child.
会 = Kai This means association or gathering.

So Dokokai means a gathering of people who like the same thing. In this case
Kobudo. As there were situations where people wanted to gather together to train
Kobudo where a certified instructor was not available the Dokokai system was
adopted.

Question 2. What is the significance of the strips on black belts and how does
it work with our association? How does it compare to schools that use red and
white belts?

One Stripe = Renshi 錬士 = 6th Dan 六段
Two Stripes = Kyoshi 教士 = 7th Dan 七段 – 8th Dan 八段
Three Stripes = Hanshi 範士　= 9th Dan 九段 – 10th Dan十段

For Read and White Belts our association does not use them and they are not so
common on Okinawa although some schools such as the Shorinkan School do use
them. These come from the Judo system more popular in Mainland Japan.

Most likely a striped belt signifies 7th – 8th Dan and a solid Red Belt
signifies 9th – 10th Dan. This is not to be confused with some Korean based
associations that use a Red Belt as a pre-Black Belt ranking. There is also
potentially some significance in how the belt is constructed in terms of whither
it starts with Red or starts with White but it may be best to as someone in an
association that uses them to get the best explanation.

Additional explanation of the titles above.

Renshi 錬士 The character on the left means hardened. It is used in words such as
Neru 練る or Kitaeru　knowｎ by many people who have trained bone hardening
techniques. The right Character 士means person perhaps best know as Bushi武士 and
as an alternative writing of 侍 or Samurai.　So a Renshi is someone who has been
hardened by his or her years of training.

Kyoshi 教士 The character on the left again is significant here. The right
character is the same in all three titles. Oshieru 教える　means to teach, so a
Kyoshi has the meaning of a teacher.

Hanshi範士Again focusing on the left as the right is the same the character is
also used in Mohan 模範 which means perfection. This leads us to the meaning of
one who has attained perfection. This is usually a title reserved for only
persons who have spent decades training and it is unusual to see anyone below
their 70’s with this title.

Now it is most interesting to note that the Ryukyu Kobudo Hozon Shinko Kai does
not use the striped belt system. There are several photos of some of our members
with striped belts but in those cases the belts were from their Karate
Associations. As the grades between Kobudo and Karate are not linked there is no
meaning, however as it is a bother and expensive to maintain two belts at times
people will just use the belt that is available. It is also of interest to note
that our Second President Eisuke Akamine is featured in several well publicized
photos wearing a striped belt. That belt was a gift from the Shureido shop in
Okinawa and they put the stripes on the belt.

Lastly the titles Renshi, Kyoshi, and Hanshi are relatively new to Okinawan
associations and they are not used to a great extent in the Ryukyu Kobudo Hozon
Shinko Kai. Instead the titles used are Shidoin 指導員　and Shihan 師範.

Shidoin 指導員 means one who has a teaching certificate. In our association persons
who have attained 3rd Dan 参段can apply for a Shidoin certification. Additionally
Dojo Licenses can be applied for at this grade. They are not always requested
and are not obligatory to be issued. A person who is training at a major dojo
for instance may not feel the need to apply for one. Also a person who may not
yet be ready to teach despite having proficiency at the San Dan level may not be
issued a license. Shidoin can grade people to two grades below their own.

Shihan 師範 are persons who have received from their direct instructor a
Menkyokaiden 免許皆伝. Again this can only be granted by the students teacher and
this should be the goal of a serious martial artists. A Menkyokaiden is a
license to teach all and is an indication that the teacher has come to a point
where he has full confidence in his student’s ability to carry on the art.

First instalment by Tim Jurgens with assistance with getting the characters to
come out of the IME right from my wonderful wife Mikako

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