20 years since shodan - reflections on gradings, mastery and imposter syndrome
August 5, 2021
Today (5th August 2021) marks twenty years since I first graded to shodan (the first black belt grade) in a martial art. It might come as a surprise to many non martial artists that there are multiple black belt grades, and that a black belt does not represent the end of a journey but more […]
Grading in the Martial Arts
December 8, 2015
Last week Donal and I got involved in answering some questions about grading from folks in our aikido club. I thought I would put some of my thoughts here. Other people's thoughts will vary and I'd welcome other perspectives in the comments. These are perspectives on grading in Japanese martial arts, but particularly aikido. They […]