So I walked into the dojo yesterday morning, and heard something pretty disturbing.  What, you ask?  That all students who are up for shodan are required to test at the hombu dojo in Philadelphia.

I asked if this applied to people outside of the US as well, but was told that this only applies to the US East Coast for now.  I don’t know if this will eventually spread, or if shodan will have to be done at the regional level (the ISKF hombu dojo also serves as the regional HQ for the US East Coast).

The upcoming test is this August, and we have a few people who were scheduled to test that now won’t be able to.

Now I worry about history repeating itself.

ISKF separated from JKA in 2007 for similar reasons: if you tested for godan or above under Okazaki, the JKA did not recognize that promotion.  You actually had to test in Japan.  Okazaki decided he’d had enough, and now it’s separate.

I also read something a few years ago, where someone decided to go independent because the head of the organization presided over black belt testing for one cycle and failed everyone (this wasn’t ISKF, I don’t even think they were Shotokan).

Now I’m wondering what’s going to happen.  Karate training already costs at least three times the price of a regular gym membership, and now people are being asked to take time off of work, book a hotel room, and either take a road trip or buy plane tickets and get a rental car.

I also imagine that one of the proudest moments for a sensei is when he promotes one his students to black belt, and now that’s being taken away from them.

I do foresee some dojos leaving ISKF over this, and either forming a separate organization.  There’s also the possibility that Frank Woon-A-Tai knows about what’s going, and would be looking to fold some of these dojos into IKD.

What is MY sensei going to do?  I didn’t ask.  But I do expect to hear more after the test.  Dojos will likely lose students over this, so their hands will be forced to do something about it.

Edited June 28Jun 28 by Furinkazan

The twilight zone of Governing Bodies and those dojo’s under said Governing Bodies umbrella. 

Those dojo’s will have to kowtow to the powers that be or separate themselves by surrendering their membership.

Per our own Governing Body, the SKKA, required all Testing Cycle candidates starting at Godan had to test at our Hombu. JBB to Yondan could test at their networked dojo. Furthermore, any rank could petition to be tested at our Hombu’s Annual Testing Cycle. 

Governing Bodies authority can make things difficult at times. For example, the SKKA By-Laws state that  no student can test unless the Governing Body approves said candidate. This means that first the student had to petition their CI for the next upcoming Testing Cycle, then, if approved by the CI, the CI then submits said petition for the next Testing Cycle to the Hombu, and if approved, said student can attend at the next Testing Cycle. However, if the Hombu denies said CI’s submitted petition, that said student had to wait a full year to apply for a Testing Cycle. No exceptions!!

We had it easy compared to what @Furinkazan OP is talking about because both our Hombu and the SKKA’s Student Body were all in the USA, primarily in California.

The SKKA abolished all Testing Cycle fees around the COVID-19 pandemic because during that time many jobs were either closed, not essential, and/or laid off temporarily or permanently. We even cut class fees to 50% off or free at the discretion of said dojo. We continued to abolish all Testing Cycles after the end of the Covid-19 pandemic. As far as the class fees were concerned, we still left that to the discretion of said dojo post Covid-19 pandemic.

None of these things mentioned here were reasons why the SKKA/Hombu closed permanently. That was because of the civil war that destroyed the entire SKKA infrastructure completely. Closing for cause is never a good thing because the Student Body is the one that suffers the most.

Whatever your Student Body is forced to do something about, the situation is a very sensitive one to be for sure.

I wasn’t there in 2007, so I’m only speaking on what’s been passed on to me.

I do know that all ISKF students, worldwide, have to test for godan and above at the annual master camp just outside of Philadelphia.

So when Okazaki separated ISKF from JKA, it was less about the convenience of the students who wanted to test and more about his authority to promote, which is completely understandable.  If you can make yondan, you’re probably already dedicated enough to buy the plane ticket and book the hotel room.  Especially considering the fact that it’s a five year wait from yondan to godan, six years from godan to rokudan, and so on and so forth - so you have plenty of time to get your affairs in order.  And even if you’re not “that” dedicated, yondan is more than a high enough rank for someone with a life outside of the dojo (job, family, etc) to be content with.

I think the biggest slap in the face here is not the potential loss of students, but loss of faith in the judgement of the instructors to assess their students testing for shodan.

 

3 hours ago, Furinkazan said:

I think the biggest slap in the face here is not the potential loss of students, but loss of faith in the judgement of the instructors to assess their students testing for shodan

That’s a big slap in the face, indeed. When faith of the instructors is tested and questioned, the Student Body suffers. The powers-that-be can often put themselves above others selfishly and without the slightest hint of integrity.

It will be interesting to see what the numbers hit will end up being.  Making arrangement to travel like that can be challenging for many.  I think for third dan testing and up, all testers are required to be at out HQ, which is located in-state for me.  But others come from North Carolina, California, North Dakota, which are not short trips.  Our organization is not huge compared to others, though, but I'm sure that ends up limiting testing opportunities at the upper levels for some students.

Hopefully, this change only affects the East Coast and not other areas, but high ranking officials in governing bodies have a tendency to try to micro-manage and control things.  Hopefully this doesn't happen to your organization.  It sounds like, though, the head of your organization may be looking to commit the same mistakes of the past.