degrees

[hixxy]

forgot to ask my teacher this question last night so il ask it now.

when someone has a 4th degree black belt what is meant by the "4th degree or 2nd degree" which ever they have?

and how do they get it?

and is "5th Dan" the same ?

 

[shesulsa]

The test from color ranks to black belt is the "First degree" or "First Dan" test.

Each 'degree' or 'dan' is a different level of black belt and in most systems 4th or 5th degree is the point where they are considered "master."

A 1st degree or 1st dan black belt rank indicates a mastery of the basics which are taught in the color or striped ranks. Once you have the basics then you get to see how the art REALLY works. It's like being a white belt all over again!

A 2nd degree is lower than a 4th degree and most systems go up to 10, some 7, others 15 (I think).

Hope that answers your question!

 

[Grenadier]

Degrees are also sometimes associated with kyu ranks, mostly at brown belt. Some systems may call a 3rd kyu brown belt a "3rd degree brown belt," a 2nd kyu brown belt a "2nd degree brown belt" and a 1st kyu brown belt a "1st degree brown belt." Other systems might reverse that.

Sheslusa is correct, that different styles will have different limits on what the highest rank within the style can be. Most use the 10th Dan rank as the highest rank possible. Some only go up to 5th Dan, while certain systems, as suspected, go all the way to 15th Dan. It can and does vary, even within a given system, since there might not be any 10th Dan holders still alive.

Just as a GENERAL guideline, regarding Dan ranks, most systems will have rigid standards regarding what is needed to go up to your 4th - 5th Dan rank (assuming we're talking about a 10th Dan max system). After that, promotions are generally given out based on what that person has done for the style, and his accomplishments. This is where it can sometimes get ugly in a political way. Not too common, but it does happen.

 

[CuongNhuka]

from a general setting:
Kyu ranks start at 10th degree. kyu means "unranked/ungraded". 10th is normally white.
Kyu ranks end at first. this varees wildly. but it is always that last rank before black.
kyu ranks were at first one rank. thus "ungraded". for the most part now there are 10 if you count white.
Dan ranks start at first. "Dan" means degree. so yes it is the same. and most true masters will say this when you start to truely learn.
there are normally ten dan ranks. starting at fifth dan you start being called "master". Korean styles do the same, but with fourth instead of fifth.
starting at fifth dan your rank depends on what you given to the style, so like grenadier said, now it can get messy.
tenth degree is normally reserved for the head of style & the person who is going to follow.

Sweet Brighit Bless your Blade,

John

 

[Andrew Green]

A little nitpicking...

The number of kyu ranks varies. When I started karate I believe there where 7, in Kendo there was 1 + ungraded. Most TKD systems seem to go with 10.

Dan means "Step" not degree.

"Master" depends on the system as well, Korean systems seem to go with 4th as "Master" quite often, but that doesn't apply to all systems, some don't use the title "master" at all and you would be corrected for using it no matter what the rank.

Generally at some point along the way dan ranks become less about technical skill and more about politics (how many students, how good they are, who you know, how much you do to promote the system, etc.) which makes sense as higher ranks generally require many years, and guys in there 60's are not in there physical prime. Like everything else when this occurs varies a lot.