Shodan

Shodan, or what is commonly referred to as the 1^st degree black belt, does not actually mean first degree black belt at all. Shodan literally means 1st level (or step). It implies that a student is officially at the first level. To the Okinawan and Japanese Sensei, all the obtaining of a Shodan means is that one is now ready to learn. Too many people receive their “black belts” and think they are now qualified to teach, or that they even know enough to comment on budo. They think that the “black belt” is the equivalent of the Holy Grail or some such non-sense.

I have heard my father tell his students (hundreds of times) the following “You have no opinion about anything until you reach Shodan, and then you only have an opinion about the kyu grades”.  I also once heard him tell another yudansha (holder of a dan grade) that when he had 25 years of training, that he would consider listening to his opinion. Now I know someone is going to say something about what an ego, or something derogatory, but what he meant by that is that until one has spent 25 years of austere training, on the dojo floor, that they have not earned the right to have an opinion.

When I was in the 8^th Grade, I lived in Phoenix, Arizona with my Mother. While there I had the opportunity to learn karate from several teachers, Robert Trias, Jiro Shiroma, Al Sadler. I remember going to my Father’s to visit for the summer. After he picked me up at the airport, on the drive he asked me about how my training was going and what I had learned, we had a nice conversation and when we arrived at the dojo, he asked me – Do you remember   Seiunchin, do you know it?”  Seiunchin kata, was my favorite at the time, and I practiced it every day, so I replied “Yes, I know it”, his reply threw me a little; he said “Really, because I have been practicing at it longer then you and I still don’t know it, I know of it, but I don't know it”.

It really wasn’t until years later, that I truly understood what he meant. Since then as I learn something, I have found that even thought I have been doing Gekisai Dai Ichi and Sanchin for almost 35 years, each time I practice them, I find something else hidden with-in, I peel away yet another layer of it.

Today, I see to many dojo ran by people that have only trained for a few years, when you consider that the average person now gets their shodan in 2 or 3 years, then they run out and open a dojo. My father trained under his teacher for 10 years before he was allowed to open a branch dojo, I trained for 17 years before I opened my first dojo. People today are in too much of a hurry to get to what they consider the end.

This may be harsh but shodan’s need to just keep their mouths shut and train. As a shodan, you have not even been shown anything of substance yet, let alone do you have any authority to offer an opinion on anything. Karate (or any martial art) is and should be a lifelong endeavor. Pace yourself and enjoy the view, because it takes years to see any real knowledge. I have been at it on a daily basis for 34 years and 10 months, and I still don't "know" anything, I know of it, but i am not sure I will ever truly know it.