Organizations

[masterphoenix]

I didn't mean to cause any offense, masterphoenix, was just trying to illustrate that if you did a specific style and wanted to grade in it and be guided in it you'd probably be better off under people who also knew what you were doing. So if you did an Okinawan Karate style, no point in us recommending the Kukkiwon.

You do seem to have a lot of experience and since what you teach is your own mix, you could just award the rankings yourself?

Not at all. I'm always thankful that people take the time to respond in kindness. I wouldn't feel comfortable awarding myself any rank since there are established ways to go about getting it, even if it is a rocky road right now due to my circumstances. I know all rank is created anyway, but there are too many 30 and 40 year old self-proclaimed 10th dans with a green belt's experience. It's just something I wouldn't be comfortable with. I will keep exploring options.

[isshinryu5toforever]

I was actually talking about the Dai Nippon Budokai, not the JKA. The JKF does have a very large amount of sway in mainland Japan, and it has the ability to confirm rank in any of the official Traditional Japanese styles of Karate they currently recognize.

As far as finding another person to create a relationship with, I don't know of many. The only person I know is in the St. Paul/Minneapolis, Minnesota area. His name is Dr. Terry Warner, and he has a comprehensive system of his own that he now teaches. I know that he has handled grading for people without associations that do Shotokan, WTF Taekwondo, and ITF Taekwondo. He's about the only person I could recommend. I say impossible, not because of the limitations of humanity, but because most people who are Soke of their own systems have trouble being taken seriously. The other very high ranking people who are well respected belong to associations that put restrictions on the type of thing you're talking about. You might want to see if your current instructor knows anyone he can refer you to when he does decide to retire.

I agree with you that awarding yourself rank can be a slippery slope. I've seen it done before, largely when someone has several students that haven't been promoted in about half a decade, because they've reached the "ceiling" so to speak because of their instructor's rank. They create a committee, and vote to promote their instructor one rank higher, so they can climb the ladder as well. Things like that get difficult. I can understand why you'd want to avoid it.