Perceptzial and Molor Skills, 2000,90,36.

O Perceptual and Motor Skills 2000

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN YEARS OF TRAINING AND JUDGED

PERFORMANCE IN SHOTOKAN KARATE BLACK-BELTS'

CLIVE LAYTON

Insiittrfe of Psychiatry
University of Lotzdotz

Sz~mmary.-The relation between length of training and Dan rank was significant
for 110 male black-belts, although the complication of tied ranks was noted.

A number of writers, most notably Layton, have used years training as a correlate in stud-
ies of black-belt Shotokan karateka. This strategy has been employed primarily so that reliable
interval data can be analysed and intrinsic experience tapped rather than externally judged abil-
ity per se in the form of Dan rank. But what is the relation between years training and Dan
rank? The purpose of this scudy was to present evidence on this association for a large and
highly authoritative sample.
Information on 110 Bridsh Caucasian and Japanese male Shotokan black-belts, with a
mean age of 46.0 yr. (SD, 13.2), a mean length of training of 25.6 yr. (SD, 12), and a median
rank of 4th Dan (with a range from 1st Dan to 9th Dan), was collected from karateka of the
Japan Karate Association, Shotokan Karate International, and from individuals who at one time
were part of these two worldwide bodies that might be said t o follow the same traditional lines.
M British Dan g-adings were based on a minimum training period between gradings that are
officially recognised in Great Britain: 2 years between 1st and 2nd Dan, a further 3 years
between 2nd and 3rd Dan, and so on. A 6th Dan could, therefore, be reached in a minimum
of 20 years after obtaining the initial 1st Dan black-belt, for example. No British individual in
the study was exempt from this ruling and, whilst a few may have graded a little "too quickly"
in the 196Os, 1970s, and 1980s, they later "made up" the years before progressing Funher. The
Japanese operate a similar system, although one needs to be mindful of the JKA instrucrors'
course with accelerated promotion following full-time study after university training, for exam-
ple.
The number of tied Dan ranks could nor be avoided, so in this light the product-moment
correlation, calculated for paired observations in which average tanks were substituted for ties
( I ) , between years of training and Dan grade was .88 ( p < .0001).

REFERENCE
G. S I ~ I I T analysis
1. FERGUSON, I I C ~ ~in psychology and educafiotz. (4th ed.) Tokyo: McGraw-Hdl
Kopkusha. 1976

Accepted November 27, 1777.

'Address requests for reprints to Dr. C. Layton, Department of Psychology, University of

London Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF, England.