First steps toward a Constructive Analysis of Kendō

Levels System
September 2003

Laurent Chaudron 9 impasse Verlaine, 31270 Villeneuve-Tolosane - France

professional coordinates: Onera-Cert 2 avenue Belin, 31055 Toulouse Cedex 04 - France
Phone: +33 5 62 25 26 55 Fax: +33 5 62 25 25 93 Laurent.Chaudron@cert.fr

Foreword
This document is an essay required for the Shogo Examination Session and submited to the All Japan
Kendo Federation (ZNKR) board in October 2003. It can be refered as follows:
L. Chaudron, “First steps toward a Constructive Analysis of Kendō Levels System”, Essay for 2003-2004
Renshi Examination, September 2003, ZNKR.

The subject was: “Describe the whole concept and the aim that Dan and Shogo are design for and
mention the qualifications that a Renshi should possess.”

1 Abstract
In this article we propose a first synthesis of the main characteristics of the level systems used
in the Kendō community. ie dan and shōgō1 . After basic descriptions, some considerations and
working tracks are proposed.

2 Basic principles
2.1 Definitions
Considering the analysis of a given concept, the first step consists in referring to the regular defi-
nitions. Hence, let us consider the definitions synthesized in [ZNK00], (resp, pages 21 and 91):

◦ dan-i: Rank indicating level of skill; dan rank is higher than kyu rank. In kendō there are
examinations for the ranks from sho-dan (first dan) to hachi-dan (eighth dan).
◦ shō-gō: A title which indicates one’s level of achievement as a kendōist. In kendō, there are
three levels of shō-gō: ren-shi, kyo-shi, and han-shi. These titles are awarded to persons
who have been at the sixth dan, seventh dan, or eighth dan, respectively, for the requisite
number of years and who satisfy the given qualification standards. Dan-i indicate one’s
technical level (mental elements included), while sho-go signify, in addition to technical
proficiency, the level of one’s achievement with respect to one’s leadership and judgment
as a kendōist. The title han-shi is conferred on persons at the absolute highest level of
authority as kendōists.
One can notice that the words used have been cautiously chosen so as to give a precise frame
while avoiding any unnecessary nor fictitious precision. Consequently, these definitions are widely
recognized all over the world (e.g. Internet sites) and consistent with many Japanese documents
(eg: [And95]). This constitutes in fact a very important point we may emphasize as follows: the
dan-and-shōgō is universally recognized as a reference system which meaning goes far beyond a
mere list of objectives. We will try in the sequel to illustrate how the dan-and-shōgō structure may
represent an implicit means for mutual enrichment among the kendoist community. In particular,
the concept of “levels” scales by itself, implies that the assessment of the person concerned is both
collective and dynamic. Indeed, first: the successful applicants pass their examination while the
final decision is made by selected members of a qualified board. This statement is automatically
the result of the judgment of the whole community. Second, the grading level of any kendoist is a
1 in the sequel, we will use the form “dan-and-shōgō” so as to identify the present level system.

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kind of everyday mission: “Now I hold the n-th dan; thus, in every keiko, I must continue to act
and behave as (at least) an n-th dan. Moreover, I must now walk on the way to the next level..”.
Some professors use to say “Everyday is having your grading examination” 2 .
To summarize, any kendo level gets its meaning within two dimensions: the collective one, and
the dynamic one; the later will be developed in the sequel.

2.2 Discussion
Taking into account the various interpretations available in the literature, let us summarize a
tentative list of the characteristics that are generally attributed preferably to each scale:

Level Characteristics
Dan skills, know-how
mental elements
technical proficiency
actual efficiency
Shō-gō achievement
judgment
leadership, teaching
honorary
exemplary
knowledge

In this essay, we will not go further the technical description of the different qualifications
of each level as this could be a mere paraphrase of accomplished existing explanations designed
and promoted by our official organizations ZNKR, IKF and depending federations. Furthermore,
many clever and deep analyzes have been published by qualified high ranking professors, see for
example the very clear document [Ino98], a synthesis of a Professor Inoue S.’lecture in 1998. This
study should deserve a wide and exhaustive state of the art which is not the purpose of the present
essay. Consequently, we just emphasize hereafter the main cues of the different scales.
Is appears to be now clearly understood among the kendo community - including in western
countries - that the relations between dan levels and shogo ones are not systematic, even if the
(inaccurate!) correspondence between the three couples: {(6th dan
renshi), (7th dan
kyoshi),
(8th dan
hanshi)} is frequently suggested as a first approximation of the tuning between the
two scales. Instead of these wrong equations, we propose Figure 1 a visual representation of the
two scales system.

Then, in order to avoid any systematic correspondence, let us refer again to [Ino98] to get a
clear view of the dan-and-shōgō: “ nobody would agree that a kendōist who is just good at striking is
a person who is respected as a man of character (../..) In the new rules, Dan represents technical ability
including some spiritual factors” and Shō-gō represents ”degree of Perfection as a Kendōist including not
only what Dan represents but also leadership and view”.”

To go further3 we must notice that if the dan-and-shōgō importance is recognized within the
kendoists population, the integration of the dan-and-shōgō system must be thoughtfully organized
within the legal context of each country. In France, for example, the Dan system is currently
studied by the French National Assembly [Ler99] so as to promote a efficient recognition of the
kendo level (including the teaching qualifications [HCT00]) in the society.

2 this probably inspired by the famous old Zen say (written at the entry of the Byōdō-In temple, Kyōtō) “Everyday

is training.”
3 this remark is particularly important in non-Japanese countries.

2
 Hanshi

8
Kyoshi

Renshi

3
2
1

Figure 1: A synthesized representation of the levels system

2.3 The dan-and-shōgō and mutual enhancement

Now that the differences and correspondences between the two scales are described, a question
could be: why not integrate the two scales in a unique one? the resulting ordered sequence could
be for instance:
{6th d  renshi  7th d  kyoshi  8th d  hanshi}
One must understand that this interpretation would be a nonsense regarding the fundamental
concepts of kendo. First because of the mere melting of the specific notions of each scale. Sec-
ond because the interest of the existence of two scales so as to provide enrichment capabilities
within a structured community can be justified. This is the purpose of this section referring to
the improvement and progress concepts of Kendo [ZNK00]. Indeed, let us begin by the classical
situation of a Professor P and a student S. If the fencing capabilities of P are much greater than
those of S, the difference between their technical level is relative and S may get P as an objective
to target (left part A of Figure 2):
But, thanks to a common reference scale (and also due to the teaching qualities of P, as he/she
acts as a “Shido” ie. a leader, a guide) the relation can be more efficient: P may adopt - during
the time of the keiko for example - a temporary less unbalanced gradient of levels as putting
himself/herself at a convenient P’ level posture (middle part B of Figure 2).
Then, and thanks to the reference scale, the iterative improvement of both P and S becomes a
positive spiral process (right part C of Figure 2).
Such positive dynamic of progress is well known, for example in the cross-cultural fertilization ap-
proaches [CET98], but more generally in any mathematical measure model: it is well known now
that a multi-scale measurement means appears to be a pivotal property of any dynamic system.

Finally, it is possible to extend the positive spiral progress principle both within the dan scale
and the shōgō one as well, but also at the meta-stage of the inter-scales enrichment (Figure 3).

This should provide a strong and basic argument so as to preserve and polish the dan-and-
shōgō system as a fundamental structure of the Kendō community.
Let us focus in the last part to a tentative analysis of the specific situation of the Renshi.

3
 P P

∆
P’
δ
P’ S
S S

(A) (B) (C)

Figure 2: The different views of the Professor-Student relation

Figure 3: The global positive spiral process

3 The particular case of the Renshi

3.1 Toward a basic definition
In non Japanese countries, any kendoist must pay attention to inaccurate interpretations of the
Japanese concepts and terms. Thus the permanent reference to the Japanese professors and
publications can be considered as the basic practice of each western dan holder. This implies that
the working program of non-Japanese shōgō level holders includes a large part of intelligence of
the Japanese culture and history (while avoiding any improper mere imitation attemps..). For
example, a very clever and rich analysis of the Shōgō level system is proposed in [Smi03]. In this
article, the author (a karate instructor) explores the different dimensions, properties, common
interpretation errors and precautions of the Shōgō in the general context of Budo.
After a recall of the usual definitions, the translation precautions are explained (including the

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“shi” analysis), the distinction between the shōgō titles and mere considerations about the only
teaching questions (a frequent western error) are analyzed, finally the shōgō levels are detailed.
According to this approach, the renshi situation can be defined as follows:
The ”ren” in renshi means many things such as practice, gloss, train, drill, polish, or refine. Thus renshi
may be defined as one who is a ”polished warrior.” In terms of a teaching grade, we informally refer to this
shogo as the ”polished teacher.” A renshi is a person who has progressed through basic practise to ”renshu”
meaning polished practice. The shogo renshi is awarded to someone who has ”mastered him/herself.” The
traditional martial arts sentiment is that a person cannot justly teach others well until he or she has
mastered their own art and life. One must remember, however, that mastery does not mean flawlessness.
There is no such thing as true perfection.
If we consider this proposal as a starting frame to a better understanding of the renshi role and
qualifications, we can suggest that a candidate to a renshi role, must prepare him/herself to aim
an expert instructor level. In this way a renshi is naturally at the “shu” step of the traditional
“shu-ha-ri” dynamic process, in the shōgō scale.
Let us finally detail the specific program he/she could manage to that purpose.

3.2 Proposal for a program toward the renshi role

This last short section must be considered as a submission for a non-Japanese renshi student - say
Sr in the sequel - in the shōgō way.
◦ Practice: back to the global “dan-and-shōgō” system the practice of the S r must be as deep
and permanent as possible. Non Japanese kendoist have a kind of intrinsic level delay on which
to permanently work. This due to the lack of cultural and training references: footwork, basic
skills, basic coordination... This is justify by two old says: “thinking without practice is just mere
words” and: “One day without keiko, your body knows. Two days, your opponent knows. Three
days, the audience knows.” This all means that Sr must train personally every moment especially
considering that he/she needs to obtain an exemplar attitude. This will lead to the next point.
◦ Attitude: in order to get on toward an exemplar attitude, Sr must not only polish his/her
practice, Sr must also erase his/her proper ego cues, so as to be as neutral and respectful as
possible. As an example, if Sr is skillful in a given technique (eg: kote-men) and if he continues to
show and teach it with his/her personal manners, Sr will not succeed in a proper contribution to a
correct transmission of this technical skill as his/her teaching performance is polluted by personal
biases. This means that Sr must perform a mental work so as to provide a as neutral and good
demonstration [Cha03].
◦ Knowledge: if kendo practice is the first and pivotal point of the program, the capacity of
understanding, mine, compile and study documents related not only to the kendo itself and the
Japanese cultural context, but also any useful information related to fencing4 and its thoughtful
analysis compared to kendo.
◦ Mediator: finally, inspired by the cautious observation of high ranking professors and shō-gō
holders, Sr can become a mediator of the kendo knowledge and virtues, thanks to the global
positive spiral process described in the previous section.

4 Conclusion
Already in the 18th century, a philosophical essay [Abb84] showed that heterogeneous worlds
could cooperate thanks to common scales so as to build a incommensurable common enrichment.
Consequently, it could be suggested that one of the final role of a two-spectral levels system as
Dan-and-Shō-gō is to naturally provide different ordered scales that induce, for the community of
the participants - ie, the kendōists - a natural and rich-full means for mutual enhancements.
Thus, as a matter of reflexion, we must notice that some arithmetical coincidence should deserve
4 eg: in a 1631 fencing treatise (“L’art en fait d’armes”), a French “maı̂tre d’armes” M. Labat described the

action of the stamp footwork so as to provide energy and complete accomplishment of the sword action... ie a very
modern description of the ki-ken-tai no ichi action!

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to be cautiously studied5 : the present levels system is based on an 3 shō-gō and 8 dan scales; in
1241, in the Kōshōhōrin-ji temple, near Kyōto, Dōgen delivered an important lecture: Busshō.
The four very last words of this text [SRV02] are said to be an exhortation to a living (and pure
fighting) practice of meditation and wisdom. These words are:
three heads eight elbows
and they may allow to consider the Dan-and-Shō-gō levels system as the fighting wisdom mediator
for the kendō community improvement.

References
[Abb84] Edwin A. Abbott. Flatland, A Romance of Many Dimensions. Seeley&Co., Ltd., London,
1884. Reprint: Dover Publication, New-York, 1992.
[And95] Kozo Ando. Kendo vocabulary. Ando pub., Tokyo, Japan, 1995.
[CET98] L. Chaudron, J. Erceau, and C. Tessier. Cultural differences? an opportunity for a
mutual knowledge enhancement. In Proceedings of PRICAI98, Pacific Rim Intl. Conf. on
Artificial Intelligence, Workshop “Issues of Cross Cultural Communication”, Singapore,
22-27 Nov. 1998.
[Cha03] L. Chaudron. Prerequisites for the didactic motor performance. Technical report, 2003.
nr DCSD/T/C-192/03.
[HCT00] Claude Hamot, Laurent Chaudron, and Catherine Tessier. Teaching kendo in france.
Journal of the Saitama Academy of Budo, 3:29–33, 2000.
[Ino98] S. (hanshi 9 Dan) Inoue. Kodansha Shinsa Seminar Lesson. AUSKF internet site:
http://www.kendo-usa.org, December 11 1998.

[Ler99] Patrick Leroy. Ranks assessment procedures in martial arts. Rapport 1668,
http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr, June, 3 1999. In French: ”Rapport ../.. sur la
proposition de loi, modifiée par le Sénat relative la délivrance des grades dans les dis-
ciplines relevant des arts martiaux.”.
[Smi03] Darren Smith. Shogo. Internet article http://www.ykkf.org/2003/content/articles/ykkf shogo.html,
2003.
[SRV02] Eido Shimano-Roshi and Charles Vacher. Dogen: Bussho. Encre marine, 2002. A
Japanese-English-French analysis of Dōgen’s Shōbōgenzō 1241.
[ZNK00] ZNKR. Japanese-English Dictionary of Kendo. All Japan Kendo Federation, pub., 2000.

5 including the simple fact that 3 and 8 = 23 are prime to each other.