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Sometimes
the student may be a Shodan-Sandan (1st – 3rd degree black belt)
for a very long time and a Shihan recommends them for promotion. Sometimes
the student has no sponsoring Shihan (from their own country) and comes
to Japan often for training and promotions. In this latter case, one of
the Japanese or Gaijin (foreign) Shihan who live in Japan may recommend
the student for the test or promotion.
The most common way that we see people recommended for the test is that foreign
Shihan will visit Japan with some of their students, and they are put up
by the Shihan to take the test during the trip. Sometimes a student will
show up with a letter of recommendation from their Shihan to take the
Godan test. (Author’s note: If the Shihan cannot accompany his student
to Japan, this is the most polite way to recommend someone for the test.)
Every once in a while, Soke himself might take a personal interest in someone
during training and ask them how long they have been training, who is
their teacher, etc. and then may tell that person to take the test at
the end of class.
Okay,
so you have a good idea how someone is recommended to take the test. So
what is this test anyway? Basically, it is a test of being able to let
go. The student will kneel down facing away from Soke, close their eyes
and try to be calm. The student should try to relax and reach a state
of no mind called “MU.” Soke will then raise a padded sword
over the head of the student taking the test. Soke will close his eyes
and gather his Ki. Once Soke feels the time is right, he will strike down
with the sword. The student must feel Soke’s intention and do proper
ukemi to avoid being hit.
During
the test, the senior Shihan (both Japanese and Gaijin) will be lined up
along the side of the dojo to observe and grade the test. Soke normally
gives each student one chance to pass the test with him. If the student
fails Soke’s test, they move over to the side and let the next person
take the test until everyone has had one attempt with Soke. After everyone
has gone through once, Soke will select the senior Shihan to administer
the 2nd chance to the students. Normally at Sunday training, if Nagato-san
is there, he will be the first one up to give a student the 2nd chance
at the test. If that student fails Nagato’s test, that student is
done for the test that day. They may try again another time, but not that
day. Nagato will then give the padded sword to the next senior Shihan
(Japanese or Gaijin) to give the 2nd chance to the next student. After
that student is done, the next senior Shihan (usually Ed Lomax or myself)
will give the test, and so on until the students are all done. If there
are no 14th dan or higher present that day, then only Soke will give the
Godan test. He does not normally allow anyone below 14th dan to give the
test now. But sometimes he might make an exception. The Godan test is
not given if Soke is not present. I know of only one exception to this
rule. He allowed me to give the test to a number of my students in Maryland
in February 2003. I filmed the test and sent the tape to Soke for review.
He has approved all who passed that test. There were some special circumstances
why he allowed me this honor, which I will not go into in this article.
Since then, Soke has been very strict and vocal about whom and when can
the test be given.
Okay,
so now you know who and how the test is given. So what does the student
do during the test? Some common mistakes made by the student before the
test even begins are as follows. Most students are nervous and kneel down
too close to Soke. The student must take their time, be calm and kneel
down the proper distance away from Soke. Proper distance can be characterized
as enough room for Soke to take a good stance (without having to back
up) and be able to bring the last 6 inches or so of the sword down on
your head. The next mistake is improper posture. I don’t know how
many students I have seen hunched over in Seiza posture that ended up
failing the test. You must learn to sit up straight, align the spine and
crown of the head, and be centered over your heels. If you cannot kneel
this way due to injury or physical defect, it is okay to sit in Zazen
posture. Again, you must sit with a straight spine and crown. The next
common mistake is not relaxing or letting go. You must be willing to fail
the test in order to pass it. Only by dropping your ego will you be able
to sense the Sakki and avoid the sword. There is no way to hear it or
out think this test. You simply must feel it coming and move at the proper
time.
Okay,
so how about during the test. Well, there are only three things that can
happen. The student senses the Sakki and moves with impeccable timing
and ukemi to avoid the sword. Hurray, that student passes! Or the student
flinches and moves too early. Sorry, you fail. This is normally due to
not letting go of ego. Soke may let you have a “do over” or
he may say that was your 1st chance. It depends on Soke. The final thing
a student can do is to get hit! Sorry you fail. This can be caused by
the students not dropping ego and forcing themselves to try to out think
the cut. In some rare cases, I have seen the student actually fail the
test on purpose as a result of ego. The other reason is poor ukemi. The
student is not able to move out of Seiza or Zazen properly to avoid the
sword. This can be remedied with training.
So,
what about the story? Okay, I’ve set the stage for you. Only two
students wanted to take the Godan test that day. The first one knelt down
and crowded Soke. We asked this student to move forward. The student could
not relax or let go and failed the test by moving too soon. Soke let the
person have another try and he ended up whacking them on the head. The
second person did pretty much the same thing. Soke sat down and let Nagato
administer the 2nd chance to both students. As the first one was getting
ready, Soke asked how long the student had been training. The student
said 4 years. Soke said that was too soon and the student would not pass.
Sure enough, Nagato whacked the student on the head. The second student
got up and Soke asked how long had he been training. 4 years was the reply
and again Soke said, too soon and the student failed the 2nd chance. Soke
then said, 4 years is not long enough training time to be ready to take
the Godan test, especially for someone who lives in a foreign country.
Soke said a proper amount of time would be more like 6-8 years or longer.
He went on to say there are always exceptions, like if the student lived
in Japan and trained all the time in the Hombu and with good Shihan. Or
if the student had been in combat or real life threatening situations
(such as a police officer might experience). Soke said the time for quick
advancement in the Bujinkan is over. There was a need in years past to
promote students, especially international ones, in a quick fashion. The
Bujinkan is okay now and there is no need to do that any longer. Rank
should not be held up for good students, as some disreputable and former
Bujinkan Shihan have done in the past, but neither should it be so quick.
Soke encourages all Shihan to visit Japan for training at least once per
year in order to understand this.
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So,
bottom line is, don’t be in a hurry!
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(Author’s
note: The normal rule of thumb I use in the BTSD for rank is: 2-3 years
for Shodan, and then 1-2 years for each subsequent dan grade. This depends
on how often they train with me, or a senior in the BTSD, and how often
they come to Japan (in the past how often they went to TaiKai also was
a factor, but Soke does not do TK outside of Japan anymore). So a very
dedicated student who comes to Japan a couple of times over the years
would be taking the Godan test at about the 6 year mark. A student who
doesn’t train as often and/or doesn’t come to Japan often may
take 10 or more years to get to the Godan stage. Also for now, all students
must come to Japan to take the Godan test as Soke is not traveling outside
of Japan anymore.)
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