How can this dojo have two 10th Dan instructors?

[Lxixboss]

I am 66 years old and have been practicing Shotokan karate for two and a half years. Two days ago, I received my brown belt (3rd kyu). I love my dojo and, despite my creaky old bones, I love the karate.

The problem is that my sensei is getting on in years (age 64) and has hinted that he may close up shop. I would therefore need a new dojo.

There is a nearby dojo that I could join but some aspects have my spider-senses tingling. The most glaring thing is that, despite being a small town local dojo, two of its instructors are 10th Dan and one is 9th Dan. I had always been under the impression that these ranks were exceptionally rare and to find so many in one small place is… surprising.

When I contacted the dojo, I asked them what style they taught, the fellow said “Karate”. I told him that I had been doing Shotokan and he said that they did that. He asked me what rank I was. When I told him that I was 3rd kyu brown, he said that that was not a “real” karate ranking. I did not respond. He told me I could drop in to the dojo and speak with him.

Opinions and suggestions, please.

[JazzKicker]

The short answer is, their rank is almost certainly bogus, and the comment about your own rank only confirms this. Go watch a class, have a chat, but be skeptical.

Change is inevitable. Enjoy where you are training right now, and that you're able to. When the time comes for your instructor to close his school, there will be some kind of transition, and your fellow students will be looking for a place to train as well.

[DarthPenguin]

Multiple red flags popping up there! Even ignoring the oddity of there being two 10th Dans and 9th Dan teaching together in a random location which is so unlikely as to be almost impossible to quantify (plus to be a legit 10th Dan in shotokan you would need to be an absolute minimum of 70yrs old, with 3rd dan at 21 and then minimum possible times in Grade).

For me, not knowing what a Kyu grade is is actually a bigger red flag as it's the standard term in karate for a pre-black belt grade! To not know that they are almost certainly not legitimate so i would stay clear!

[aurik]

Definitely lots of red flags here. I can only speak of Uechi-Ryu, so take what I say with a grain of salt. In Uechi-Ryu, 10th dans aren't exceedingly rare, but the number of 10th dans in the USA is very small -- 4 that I can think of. In Uechi-Ryu, once a teacher gets above a certain grade, they are somewhat expected to travel and teach at seminars. So a quick google search of their names should give you an idea whether they actually do this.

Another resource you should try -- your current instructor. My CI has pretty good relationships with many of the other martial arts schools in our area. (Funny story, the heads of one of the other local schools asked to come along on one of his trips to Okinawa, because they don't speak Japanese and our CI does). So your current instructor should have a pretty good idea whether these guys are 'legitimate' or not.

And as DP has said, if you don't know what a "kyu" grade is but claim to teach Shotokan, then you definitely don't teach Shotokan.

[DarthPenguin]

Yeah from a UK perspective 10th Dan's are incredibly rare (can't think of a Shotokan one in the UK off the top of my head - there is a Judo one in Edinburgh and when he got it it actually made the national news as there are so few globally!) but it is theoretically possible that someone could make it and have friends that are at the same level and live together. Vanishingly small chance but still technically possible.

The Kyu thing and not mentioning the style are both big red flags. When i think about it the style one is pretty bad too. To get to any really high Dan rank (say 7th Dan plus) is a lifelong commitment. Someone who has been that dedicated to a style is going to be (rightfully) proud of the work they put in and would be very open about their style. I will stick my neck out here and say that would be pretty much universal across all combat sports with a ranking system.

[sensei8]

I'm with everyone thus far. If nothing else, as suggested, a visit to that dojo while watching a few classes of varying ranks might clear up the air, and if nothing else, it might be a good laugh. If they don't recognize Sankyu, or the Kyu system in general, I wonder if they even know what's a "dojo"?!?

[Lxixboss]

Thanks to everyone for their thoughtful responses. I think that the wisest course of action for me is to stop worrying about my dojo closing and just keep loving it. If and when the dojo closes, Sensei, Sempai and all of the other Yodansha should be able to help me find a suitable dojo. Domo Arrigato.

[sensei8]

Thanks to everyone for their thoughtful responses. I think that the wisest course of action for me is to stop worrying about my dojo closing and just keep loving it. If and when the dojo closes, Sensei, Sempai and all of the other Yodansha should be able to help me find a suitable dojo. Domo Arrigato.

Your wisest course of action is very wise. Any of the Yudansha's willing to open their own dojo part time or run classes at some very affordable venue's once your current dojo closes??

If not, I'm sure that another solution might present itself whenever the time is right.

Please keep us updated. Good luck.

[KarateKen]

The entire thing sounds very suspicious.

[Montana]

I agree that this seems a bit "questionable" at the least. Do they have a link to a page we can all take a gander at? Or the name/location that we can google?