Gradings – What do they represent?

A grading is an event where you earn recognition of advancement by demonstrating increased martial competence.

One of the common elements of most martial arts styles, is the concept of rank, as determined through a system of assessment called the grading. Over the years, I have given considerable thought to exactly what a GKR grading represents.

GKR’s motto is “Karate for everyone”, and it’s a concept that I believe passionately in. The idea is simple; karate is not an elite activity suitable only for males in their prime; it’s something that just about anyone can participate in. As a result, GKR has more females, and older students than just about any martial arts style on the planet.

However, for a long time, I have assumed that “Karate for Everyone”, meant the same as “Grades for everyone”, where anyone who trained long enough and hard enough could earn any grade. If you coudn't earn a grade on physical ability, you could earn it with dedication, attitude and hard work. After a conversation with a non-martial friend, I have finally come to realise that it does not (and should not) mean that at all.

So what is a grade? This is the part that my friend helped me with. A grade is simply this: it is an indication of martial competence, relative to others in the club. A higher grade indicates greater competence, and a lower grade indicates lesser competence. A grade should not mean different things to different regional senseis, or in different countries or zones. GKR is a single global club with a single grading syllabus, and that cannot be diluted or interpreted from region to region. But here’s where the issue often becomes really clouded.

Ask your sensei what is needed to pass a grading and they’ll give all sorts of answers: good basics, strong kata, determination, a good work ethic, physical fitness, loyalty, stamina, a good attitude, humbleness, strong kumite, the ability to take a hit without crumbling, a certain amount of time or lessons since the last grade, to have trained at a certain minimum frequency, or have attended additional events.

With respect, I would argue that most of those are not requirements; they are by-products of doing what needs to be done to attain grading standard, or the steps taken to achieve it. As far as I am concerned, the only things that should be assessed at a grading, are those things that affect martial competence: basics, kata, spirit, fitness and most important by far; kumite.

Why kumite? Because the entire focus of our art is learning how to fight, be it for self-defence, or sport. If you have absolutely no ability in that skill, then you have not learned the skill that you train for.

Take tennis as an example: you go to a club and take lessons and practice. You may hit millions of balls to practice you forehand, or ground stroke or backhand. You may go on runs to improve your fitness. You may spend months having friendly matches. But ultimately, the only way that you improve your ranking as a player, is by playing competitive matches and beating people - in other words, you are able to bring all the pieces together and perform at a certain level.

In some martial arts styles, you not only have to fight a number of similar graded peers, but you actually have to beat them. That means that at any grading, only half of the students or less can pass. In GKR, you don’t have to beat anyone, and that’s where I think that GKR offers “Karate for everyone”. Sadly, at many gradings, kumite is not even compulsory until brown belt, which is like giving Nidal or Murray a higher ranking in tennis because they work hard or have a great backhand.

For their grades to mean anything martial, by and large, higher gradesmust be more competent than lower ones.

I’m sorry to say that hard work or a great attitude are not sufficient attributes for progression if they are not coupled with an increase in martial competence, nor are any of the other possible attributes. The bottom line is this: any of the non-martial attributes can be taken to the extreme and used as a reason to grade. Amount of time since last grade: 10 years, give him a black belt. True, he never works and only trains sporadically, but he’s more than done the time. Attitude: he always works hard, sweats a lot and trains 5 days a week – give him his red. Sure he never actually listens, and has no understanding, and can’t remember his katas, but still, look at the great attitude. Oh she’s old, let’s go easy; he’s got an injury, let’s let him past; she’s uncoordinated, never mind; he puked in the grading but kept working, great spirit, and so it goes on and on, until GKR becomes a club with grades that mean nothing about karate.

I think it would be very valuable if GKR found a way to incorporate self-defence skills into our gradings. Then people would also be measured on their actual ability to defend themselves, which to my mind is the bottom line.

Grading on non-martial criteria can produce students who have an elevated sense of their own ability, and that can be dangerous for them in a self-defence situation.

When I look at a line of students, I need to know that their position in the line represents their ability, not their determination, or how fit they are, or if the sensei felt sorry for them, or the fact that they have been around for a long time. It sickens me when I see an adult black belt who is so delicate that the smallest little tap sends them running to mummy. Of course we’re non contact, but for the training to have meaning, we must be increasingly robust and capable as we go up the grades. When students look around them, if they do not see that gradings are strictly a recognition of competence, then it devalues the effort to attain competence, and it demotivates those who strive to achieve it.

I know as a sensei or a regional sensei, it's painful to deny less capable students their grades. It can be painful as a parent to define limits on your child's activities too, but everyone recognises it as a necessary act for your child's health development. When we talk about the benefits of karate, most of the important ones are mental: self-discipline, respect, a good work ethic, integrity. If we then give away grades that are not merited on ability, then surely we don't truly believe in those virtues, for what we are saying is "When the going gets tough, the sensei caves and gives away sympathy grades."