Bujinkan Taiken Dojo - Budo Taijutsu

 

 

 

On Being Given 10th Dan

Firstly, please note that I chose not to write "becoming a 10th Dan" but "being given a 10th Dan", in my mind the difference is very important.

On the day long ago in Japan when I was given 1st Dan, a friend asked "well, how does it feel to have your blackbelt?" I searched my feelings, shook my head and said "No different really, I'm still making the same mistakes I was making half an hour ago." He smiled - reality as opposed to the illusion.

I'd always thought that getting a blackbelt in martial arts was accompanied by some sort of magical transformation, perhaps I was wrong, or perhaps it happened at 5th Dan.

The day came, I'd enjoyed the training and at the end of the lesson Hatsumi Sensei said that we had been studying Shinken Gata and that we should be able to understand this very important real fighting feeling. And, who wanted to take the 5th Dan test?

After what I'd just heard I thought "If I can't feel it now, I'm never gonna get it", so up went my hand. In truth of course I wanted to pass the test, (no one from our dojo had failed yet), but more than that I wanted the experience of the test, I wasn't too bothered by the thought that I might get whacked.

Anyway without any dress rehearsals or coaching in how best to move or pass the test; I just stayed calm, moved and passed first time.

Yet still I felt the same. Same body, same mind, same mistakes, and no mystical changing. When would it happen?

And then in November 2001, I was given 10th Dan, after I had gracefully (or so I thought) let the matter slip three times previously during Soke's training, Nagato Sensei told me that Hatsumi Sensei had asked him to recommend me for 10th Dan - so that was it. Paul Harper, 10th Dan.

I knew I wasn't good enough, and said so. Nagato Sensei explained that Hatsumi Sensei saw the grade as encouragement to "keep going" rather than anything else such as an indication of a level of ability - (reality again). And still no magic!

Often in the last few years when asked what my grade was I didn't know. I really do forget what grade I have, because it's not important. If you get punched in the head, do you think your grade is important at that moment? I think not, (if you're not sure try it).

Whether or not we can successfully deal with real attacks, be they punches, kicks or whatever is more a matter of how correctly and honestly we have been training, (not of how many years training or what our grade is), and of course whether our uke have been doing their job properly, (just in case you're wondering they should be trying to hit you).

Within the Bujinkan grades are only a very rough guide to a person's ability, and the boundaries are very wide.

True ability exists beyond any limiting idea of grade, and is a matter of experience, correct training and natural talent.

Apart from the day, month and year written on my certificates the only other differences between 1st Dan and 10th Dan are the written Japanese characters for 1 and 10. That's not much of a difference is it?

I'm gonna get deep for a second now: -

It's not what's written on the certificate that matters but what's written by experience in our hearts and bodies. That's what makes us who we are and is the measure of our true ability.

Over the years I've come to realize that Hatsumi Sensei gives out the blackbelt grades as a test. A test that most people have failed because it's a test without end. It is a very real test of our honesty and strength of character to see if we can handle the responsibility that comes with our grade, and, to see if we can keep going with a true heart.

Many people (at all different stages) still come to training, take part or even teach, but they do not "keep going". They have come to a standstill in their Budo.

Their Budo has no life; the very thing real Budo must have is life, yet theirs' has none. Perhaps they don't see it, but I suspect that if they are honest, in their hearts they know that something is wrong.

To progress our Budo must be alive.

In my mind, to be a 10th Dan is to be very good at all of the Bujinkan Budo. That certainly isn't me, (yet). If this Budo is truly without end, then I still have a long way to go.
I change little by little and have discovered that there is magic within Budo (and in Life), but it has to be earned through commitment and perseverance. I am enjoying the process of discovering true Budo more and more each year.

"Keep Going" - how can so few words contain so much? - More later.

Please find a way to enjoy your training and to keep going no matter what grade you are given. And remember a grade/certificate is only a piece of paper, that's all. Don't hold it in front of your face if someone tries to hit you. Moving correctly works much better, (but it's only a suggestion, you're free to disagree of course).

Until next time- "Keep Going"

Paul Harper
Student and Shidoshi
Bujinkan Taiken Dojo
24 February 2002