How the Masters Got Their Ranks:
Origins of the Karate Rank System

Throughout the course of our karatedo training, we take for granted
the grading system that awards our belt ranking and titles. Sometimes
this system is manifestly personal, with the headmaster--and only he--
bestowing each promotion directly, according to his own standards.
Often, the testing for and awarding of rank is a more bureaucratic
affair, with a committee exercising a perfunctory duty in a formally
standardized and even routine mannerless ceremony, yet somehow more
officious.

The recent writings of Hanshi Richard Kim of the Butoku-kai (Dojo
Fall 1993) taught how the dan/kyu (degree) system was adopted by
modem budo systems, promulgated by the Butoku-kai, and codified in
its final form for Japanese karatedo by the Federation of All Japan
Karatedo Organizations (FAJKO). To truly understand this ranking
system, it is important to gain a clearer insight into how the
various masters obtained their ranking, since that forms the basis
for your rank.

This much we know for certain: On April 12, 1924, Gichin Funakoshi,
the "Father of Modern Karate," awarded karate's first black belt dan
upon seven men. The recipients included Hironori Ohtsuka, founder of
wado-ryu karatedo, Shinken Gima, later of gima-ha shoto-ryu, and Ante
Tokuda, Gima's cousin, who received a nidan (second degree) black
belt. Like Gima, Tokuda had trained extensively in Okinawa before
coming to Japan proper. The others were Kasuya, Akiba, Shimizu and
Hirose. This beginning was a highly personal, yet formal ceremony in
which Funakoshi is said to have handed out lengths of black belting
to his pupils. Still there is no evidence that Funakoshi himself had
ranking in any budo under the dan/kyu system.

Actually, Funakoshi was greatly influenced by Jigoro Kano,
aristocratic founder of judo, and originator of the dan/kyu system.
Kano was a highly respected individual, and Funakoshi prided himself
on being an educated and "proper" man who rightly believed that he
was acting correctly. Kano's system was not only being applied to
judo, but to other budo as well under the aegis of the Butoku-kai and
the Japanese Ministry of Education. Funakoshi, then, just adopted the
order of the day: a ranking system officially sanctioned by Japan's
greatest martial arts entities. Funakoshi's own rank was of no
consequence, since it seems that belt ranking was really just
something for the students, not for headmasters.

For its part, the Butoku-kai issued instructor's licenses: the titles
renshi (the lowest), kyoshi, and hanshi (the highest). It would be a
while before the dan/kyu system became universal in karate. By the
end of the 1930s, each karate group was called upon to register with
the butoku-kai for official sanctioning, and in 1938, a meeting of
the Butoku-kai's official karatedo leaders was held in Tokyo. Its
purpose was to discuss the standards for awarding rank within their
art. Attending, among others, were Hironori Ohtsuka of wado-ryu,
Kenwa Mabuni of shito-ryu, Kensei Kinjo (Kaneshiro) and Sannosuke
Ueshima of kushin-ryu, Tatsuo Yamada of Nippon kempo, Koyu Konishi of
shindo-jinen-ryu, and a young Gogen Yamaguchi of goju-ryu. Most of
these men were founders of their own styles, and as such
automatically became the highest rank that their agreed-on respective
standards allowed. Yamaguchi assumed leadership of goju-ryu because,
we are told, goju-ryu's founder, Chojun Miyagi, personally asked him
to take the leadership of the style in Japan. About then, Funakoshi
also finalized the grading standards for use at his shotokan dojo.

Of course, the Butoku-kai continued to sanction head teachers
directly. This was not without controversy, however, since Konishi
sat on the board that awarded Funakoshi his renshi and Konishi had
been Funakoshi's student. Of course, Konishi had inside ties to the
Butoku-kai by virtue of birth, something the Okinawan Funakoshi could
not have.

Back on Okinawa, the dan/kyu system did not become universal until
after World War II. It was not unknown there, however, and some
individual teachers did utilize the black belt. Judo had been
practiced on Okinawa at least since the 1920s. In fact, it was at a
Judo Black Belt Association (Yudanshakai) meeting on Okinawa that
Miyagi and shito-ryu's Kenwa Mabuni demonstrated karate kata (forms)
for Jigoro Kano garnering praises from the judo founder. Miyagi, it
should be noted, became the first karate expert given the title of
kyoshi (master) from the butoku-kai in 1937. Miyagi was then
appointed chief of its Okinawan branch

After the ravages of war in the Pacific, the surviving karate leaders
had to begin anew. With the Butoku-kai administration shut down for
years to come, each karate group was on its own. The acknowledged
leaders of each faction, as well as individual dojo chiefs, gave out
dan ranks based upon all original sanctioning by the Butoku-kai or
mandates inherited directly from the ryu's founder.

Rushing in to fill the vacuum left by the Butoku-kai, various dojo
coalesced to perpetuate the art and legitimize its members' ranks. In
the late 1940s and early 1950s, each new association, including the
Gojukai, Shito-kai, Chito-kai, Shotokai and Japan Karate associations
codified their rules and issued rank accordingly. Generally, several
instructors created a board of directors or council to govern the
association. Some officer, be it the chief instructor, president,
director or chairman would have signature authority on menjo (rank
certificates). In this way, the senior-most members would attain
their rank by being acknowledged and "signed off" by the board or
committee. Other times, a senior member of one faction would attain
high enough rank from the faction-head to then go out and form his
own style or organization. Supposedly, the famous Masutatsu Oyama
received his eighth dan from Goju-kai head Gogen Yamaguchi. Oyama
later formed his own style that was not completely a type of goju-ryu.

Usually in a legalistic and officious way these groups would simply
adopt or adhere to some even higher authority or granting agency to
further legitimize their actions. Recognition by the Japanese
Ministry of Education was the ultimate sanction for individuals and
groups in these times. Also new associations -- both in Japan proper
and in Okinawa -- appeared. These became the grantor ranking
authority, much in the way the Butoku-kai had acted previously. These
new organizations were to set the pattern and be the original source
for today's ranking. As with the single-style clubs, the head
instructors often assumed the rank for which they were qualified,
based on criteria they wrote themselves.

One of the first was the All Japan Karatedo Federation, which seems
to have started shortly after World War II as a confederation of
headmasters such as Funakoshi, Chitose, Mabuni, Yamaguchi and Toyama.
They regularized the dan/kyu system to some extent, and with this
group the modern Japanese karate ranking system became the norm. This
unity did not last however. For example, the ranking was not
consistent from group to group in the upper levels. The shotokan
associations such as the JKA and the Shotokai only used up to godan
(fifth rank) at this time. As a result, some groups had ceased to
participate by the early 1950s.

Even more reminiscent of the Butoku-kai was the International Martial
Arts Federation (IMAF), known as the Kokusai Budoin. Originally named
the National Japan Health Association, IMAF was launched in 1952 by
powerful martial artists from several disciplines. From judo there
was Kyuzo Mifune, Kazuo Ito and Shizuo Sato. From kendo came Hakudo
Nakayama and Hiromasa Takano, and from karatedo there was Hironori
Ohtsuka. Its first chairman was Prince Tsunenori Kaya. From the
start, IMAF was set up by senior martial artists to preserve and
promote various budo to create a mutually supportive network. A
ranking system consisting of first through tenth dan, as well as the
title system of renshi, kyoshi and hanshi, was adopted. Now highly
respected and skilled instructors could have a direct avenue for
promotion themselves. Several karateka including Gogen Yamaguchi,
Hironori Ohtsuka (I and II), and more recently, Hirokazu Kanazawa of
shotokan, received their highest grades through IMAF.

For Okinawa, the dan/kyu system did not really take hold until 1956,
with the formation of the Okinawa Karate Association (OKF). Chosin
Chibana, first to name his system shorin-ryu, was the first
president. According to the historical data of the Shudokan (a
Japanese group started by Kanken Toyama in Tokyo), Chibana and Toyama
were officially recognized by the Japanese Ministry of Education to
grant any rank in the art of karate, regardless of style. Chibana
helped organize the OKF, and it was then that the mainstream Okinawan
groups, on a widespread basis, began differentiating their black belt
ranks as other than simple teacher and student demarcations.

A talented and, some say, colorful character, Toyama gave several
certifications as largess to dojo heads in Okinawa and Japan proper.
These were usually shibucho ("superintendent," from the feudal area
commander title) diplomas. These certifications set up the
individuals so named as head of their own branch of the All Japan
Karatedo Federation and, by extension, of their own groups. Eizo
Shimabuku, founder of the shobayashi-ryu/shorin-ryu faction (a Kyan-
type tomarite/shurite shorin-ryu blend), traces his own tenth dan to
a Toyama certification. Shimabuku's assumption of the tenth dan, and
his wearing of a red belt, was not without dispute, and it was
controversies of this type that led most Okinawan leaders to eschew
the red belt altogether.

The AJKF did not last as a unified group of different styles in Japan
proper. Toyama's foray back to Okinawa did lead later to the
formation of the AJKF-Okinawa Branch with the organizing help of
Isamu Tamotsu. Tamotsu became a student of Okinawa's Zenryo Shimabuku
(of Kyan-type shorinryu) and would become known as the soke (style
head) of the Japanese faction of Shorinji-ryu. In 1960, the Okinawan
branch of the AJKF organized with Zenryo Shimabuku as president. A
constituent group of this AJKF was the Okinawa Kempo League headed up
by Shigeru Nakamura and Zenryo Shimabuku as a loose confederation of
various technique sharing dojo.

Like other associations, the AJKF Okinawa Branch provided for the
ranking of its member instructors. It operated as a rival to the
Okinawa Karate Federation. However, it did not last long either and
its member schools drifted away and formed other alliances. Its
emblem did not die, however. The same patch is still used by Tsuyoshi
Chitose's Chito-kai. The center karate leaders continued on their own
or became part of other groups, using authority inherited mostly from
members of one of the original Okinawan organizations, the most
significant is the All Okinawa Karate and Kobudo Rengokai. Formed by
Seitoku Higa as a successor to the Okinawa Federation in 1967, the
Okinawa detail of the emblem was used to distinguish each member
group.

Chitose was a founding member of the original Japanese AJKF, but his
tenth dan was issued in 1958, according to the Chitokai, by the All
Okinawa Karate Kobudo Rengokai. His hanshi title was issued by the
same group in 1962. This is confusing however, since the AOKK-
Rengokai was not formed until 1967. It grew out of an earlier group:
the Okinawa Kobudo Federation that was organized in 1961. This later
group was organized by Seitoku Higa (of various lineages related to
shorin-ryu) and Seikichi Uehara (molobu-ryu). Higa had been ranked by
Toyama while living in Japan and may have been connected with the
original AJKF.

As we learned from Richard Kim, the most significant event in the use
of the dan/kyu system in karate was the formation of the FAJKO in
1964. All the major groups and factions of Japanese karatedo were
brought under FAJKO's umbrella. By 1971, a ranking structure was
adopted that standardized all the systems. High rank was issued to
FAJKO member instructors by the organization's board. In this way,
heads of constituent organizations could be upgraded, much as in
earlier attempts at confederacy. An earlier, but smaller, confederacy
of schools with rank-sanctioning authority was the Japan Karatedo
Rengokai, which still exists and is a member of FAJKO.

After the birth of FAJKO, the JKA upgraded its own ranking
requirements to conform. Sixth and eighth dans were awarded in the
JKA back in the mid-1960s, and Hidetaka Nishiyama in Los Angeles was
one of those upgraded at that time. Though not all groups participate
in FAJKO these days, most still are tied to that organization in
terms of rank structure and sanction. Others, not so tied, have
conformed to the FAJKO criteria and standards nonetheless.

Shortly after FAJKO was launched, the Okinawans formed the All
Okinawa Karatedo Federation as a successor to the old OKF. Members of
both the OKF and AJKF-Okinawa Branch became part of the new
association. Some of Okinawa's most mainstream karate leaders formed
the AOKF board. These included Nagamine, Zenryo Shimabuku, Meitoku
Yagi of gojuryu, Kanei Uechi of uechi-ryu and Yuchoku Higa of shorin-
ryu. They adopted a dan/kyu and renshi, kyoshi, hanshi (plus a
hanshisei) system almost identical to FAJKOs.

Other karate leaders continued on their own or became part of other
groups, using authority inherited mostly from members of one of the
original Okinawan organizations. Probably the most significant is the
All Okinawa Karate and Kobudo Rengokai. Formed by Seitku Higa as a
successor to the Okinawa Kobudo Federation in 1967, the Okinawa
Rengokai also adopted very similar standards to the AOKF. Higa's
organizations had certified as hanshi--and hence supreme instructor--
several who were style or group heads in their own right. These
included Shinsuke Kaneshima of Tozan-ryu from shurite, Hohan Soken of
matsumura shorin-ryu, Shinpo Matayoshi of matayoshi kobudo Kenko
Nakaima of ryuel-ryu, ShianToma of shorin-ryu (Kyan type) and motobu-
ryu, Tatsuo Shimabuku of isshin-ryu, Shosei Kina of uhuchiku kobudo,
and Zenryo Shimabuku of shorin-ryu.

It is clear that karate ranks sprang from several original sources --
a relatively modem construct on an old martial art. It was issued by
individuals and institutions with set standards that were recognized
by other prestigious groups and individuals. And this is the crux of
the matter: For rank to be recognized, the bestower must be
recognized within karate's mainstream community. It must be based in
tradition, and linked to a body or sanctioned individual who is
perceived as beyond reproach. The standards by which rank is achieved
and given must be recognizable, and conform to already existing norms
in the Okinawan/Japanese martial arts hierarchy. Anyone can print up
or write a fancy certificate, but absent of any governmental or legal
guidelines, it is the recognition and acceptance by existing groups
and institutions that give each ranking group or individual its
legitimacy.

The development of the ranking system is a typically human
development, with rivalries and contradictions, and our own masters
received their rank in different ways. The highest-ranked of the old
masters did not-could not-receive the tenth dan from their "style."
They were invariably ranked by someone else and applied this grade to
their own group. This is still true. As in a medieval European
knighting, originally any knight could dub another, then regal
institutions took over. However, it is the skill and knowledge that
gains the rank, not vice versa. The quest for rank, per se, misses
the point.