Dan (rank)

A Dan is a measure of advanced rank, often used in martial arts and the board game go.In Japan, Dan ranks are given by Nihon Ki-in and Kansai Ki-in. It usually ranges from 1 to 10, with higher numbers indicating greater skill. In martial arts, it is used for black belts only.Dan Overview. Retrieved October 20, 2010. In go or shogi, players of 1 Dan or above can be considered "masters". Dan literally means "step" in Japanese.

 Composition 

Usually, the belt of a Dan martial artist will have a number of strips according to the person's rank.Dan Stripes. Retrieved March 15, 2010.
Dan in Japan
This table shows how to call dan in Japanese.

Degree1st Dan2nd Dan3rd Dan4th Dan5th Dan6th Dan7th Dan8th Dan9th Dan10th DanPronunciationShodanShodan is "beginning grade".NidanSandanYondanGodanRokudanShichidanSometimes also pronounced Nanadan.HachidanKudanJūdanKanji初段弐段/二段The older kanji for "2"--弐--is usually used.参段/三段The older kanji for "3"--参--is usually used.四段五段六段七段八段九段十段
Notable players with higher dan
Go and shogi players are usually called by their dan by media like NHK and Asahi Shinbun.
DanJapanese and ChineseName of players9九段Rui Naiwei, Go Seigen, Eio Sakata, Masao Kato8八段Mika Yoshida, Kazuko Konishi7七段Ayumi Suzuki, Ichiyo Shimizu6六段Kana Satomi, Hiroe Nakai, Xie Yimin

 References and notes 

Category:Martial arts