RANKING

I had the pleasure of watching, and taking a bit of ukemi for, several rankings last week at our dojo. It's interesting to note how different dojo cultures are reflected in this process.

In terms of the "testing" aspect, it really varies. At one extreme, I've seen organizations in which real testing for rank never seems to stop: folks who are up for even advanced yudansha ranking are challenged and may well not pass. At the opposite pole, what is done is essentially a demonstration that celebrates the assumption of the next rank, with the uke preselected and no surprises. The most interesting to watch fall somewhere in between: the person is well prepared but things are not scripted or choreographed. My own tests, done so far in three different dojos over the years, have fallen into this category, and managed to be simultaneously challenging and fun. Kind of like aikido in general.

Another difference is in the expectations of how techniques are done. One of the neat things about watching people doing tests for the same rank is how what are nominally the same techniques manifest based on a range of factors (size, age, gender, personality to name just a few). Its sort of like when I worked as an artist's model and loved walking around the studio during breaks to see all the different ways in which painters were interpreting me. At a dojo where I trained some years ago, the instructor was very concerned that everybody do the technique just how his shihan did it. This didn't make much sense to me. So it was nice last week to see peoples' individual natural styles not only tolerated but appreciated.

The thing that was very new to me was that after each person was awarded his or her new rank by the chief instructor, there was an opportunity for every other person on the mat to make a comment. They were very insightful and the cumulative effect was incredibly moving, "It takes a village" indeed.

We have four new first kyu students, and a week later I still smile thinking about that evening.