From: bowers@rigel.dfrf.nasa.gov (Al Bowers)
Subject: Re: Can anyone be a black belt?
Organization: NASA Dryden, Edwards, Cal.
Distribution: rec
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1992 21:38:31 GMT


Robert Stroud and I having a disscussion (of which I know nothing):

>>>Question: do any other systems have such "regulated" black belt promotions?

>Al you should have known I'd nit-pik this post and then
>you could have flameproofed it. 

:-)

>>The answer to this question from my perspective involves three
>>dedicated and diverse groups of people.  The first is the Zen Nihon
>>Kendo Renmei (All-Japan Kendo Federation).  Then there are two groups
>>who represent the USA in kendo, they are Beikoku Kendo Renmei
>>(American Kendo Federation) and the US Kendo Federation.
>                                     ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Robert has corrected me about this before.  And I still get it wrong.

>Actually the name is Kendo Federation of USA (KFUSA) and the ZNKF
>is not the founding body (Parent Organization).  The parent 
>organization is the International Kendo Federation (IKF).  The 
>IKF governs the kendo federations for memeber nations.  The
>ZNKF however is a member of the IKF.

I would dispute the IKF as the parent organization.  The umbrella
organization under which all kendo is regulated, perhaps, but the ZNKF
existed _long_ before the IKF did.  I will agree that the IKF is
_supposed_ to be the world wide repository for all kendo.  But such is
not the case (and that is partially the current problem).

Of interest, the central line of the Muso Shinden Ryu goes back to the
late 1500s.  The ZNKR traces its roots back to the late 1800s.  The
Butokukai goes back to about 1950 (perhaps as early as 1948).  And the
IKF goes back to the 1960s.  So while the IKF maybe the governing
body, they in no way, spawned the organization of Kendo in Japan.  And
if the Japanese do not recognize the international sport as kendo, is
it really kendo anymore?

>Currently the KFUSA is a member of IKF and the BKR is not.  This
>is not really a concern because all rank and file kendo members
>want to belong to a single group regardless of the name.  As
>with all MA federation the BKR-KFUSA confusion is due to surprise
>POLITICAL DIFFERENCES between the people at the top.  At least
>we can take comfort? in the fact that the ZNKF is not the only
>federation for kendo in JAPAN.  THe Butokukai is another large 
>kendo federation that doesn't get along well with the ZNKF.

In a way, this is similar to the distinctions between classical
bujutsu and modern bujutsu and classical budo and modern budo.  Most
of this is moot to me, but it is quite important for Robert and his
organization.  I'll explain in a bit...

>>ZNKR is the founding body and all kendo applications for rank and
>>teaching certificates (yes, they are two seperate and distinct things
>>under the auspices of the kendo federation) must be approved by the
>>home office (Tokyo, Japan).  The ZNKR has connections to the BKR and
>>the USKF.

>I have tried to figure out how to explain the relation of the
>ZNKF standards for ranking and the other member nations.  It
>is SURPRISE a little confusing as well.  Roughly member
>nations are allowed to use what ever standard they want but most
>choose to adopt the ZNKF guidelines.  It is amusing that some
>of the IKF and ZNKF guidelines (Particularly with regard to 
>time between ranks) disagree.

Part of this stems from the following.  The IKF ranks are not
recognized by the ZNKR, but ZNKR ranks _are_ recognized by the IKF.
Now the USAKF (did I get it right this time?) has chosen to align
itself with the IKF.  This caused a split in some of my local dojo, as
we had very strong ties to the ZNKR.  So was born the BKR, which is
aligned with the ZNKR.  The rankings from the BKR _are_ recognized by
the ZNKR (and in fact are recorded there), as well as by the IKF.  I
don't know if the USAKF recognizes BKR rank or not.  Got it?

It should be pointed out that bueareaucratic gibberish caused Robert
and his group to be snubbed by the officials in the BKR, and Robert
tried very hard to get his group recognized by both.  A difficult
situation.

My own situation has few options.  The headmaster at my dojo _IS_ the
president of the BKR.  He also happens to be my sensei's sensei.  And
he also happens to be in direct lineage to the central line of the
Muso Shinden Ryu Iaido for the members of our dojo (we are gifted in
having two sensei that go back to the central Muso Shinden Ryu line).
I have no desire to be recognized by the IKF or the USAKF.  It _IS_
important to me to have my dan recognized by the ZNKR.  As far as I
know, Butokukai does not have any associations with Iaido.  There is
also a Zen Nihon Iaido Renmei in addition to the ZNKR (which also
oversees iaido).  I have _NO_ idea if ZNIR recognizes rank from ZNKR
or conversely (I'd have to speculate that they do not recognize one
another, but who knows?).

>Al I know all too well what you mean by questioning the idea
>that the average kendo player would understand how to use a 
>real sword.

I prefer the word "exponent" to "player" (player can have a bad
connotation in English).  I do not doubt their ability (they beat me
continually), so I guess I'll never know how good a kenshi (iaidoka) I
am against them.  I know I'm a lousy kendoka...

--
"Time is simply the illusion of the passing of history, and history is
simply the illusion of the passing of time..."
                                -The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
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