I'm going for my 1st Dan Black Belt in Shotokan this Summer... before i can test or do the 2 pretests i have to do some paperwork.... i need to know which Black Belt rank must be achieved before you can officially grade someone to first Kyu?

 

[ This Message was edited by: Patrick on 2002-04-14 14:30 ]

Theorectically (sp) the tester should be 3 full grades higher than the rank the student is testing for.

 

 

This is a complicated issue, which is different in many associations.

 

'We' recently graded a man going for his 3rd dan in Freestyle Shukokai (yes, a new modern deviation from kickboxing/karate)

 

There were no 6th dans on the panel, but the association specify that to grade a person up to 3rd dan there must be a 10dan panel.

 

The panel for that particular grading was a 4th dan kickboxer, 3rd dan karate (and head of an association), 2nd dan karate, another 3rd dan karate.

 

I believe that adds up to 12.....

 

But generally, yes, it should be three grades higher