Home
Here's an extract from Shozo Awazu-sensei's Itsutsu-no-kata clinic held in 2011 as part of the French Judo Federation's annual High-dan Grade Colloquium:
Awazu-sensei was born on 18 April 1923 in Kyoto and is currently a Kodokan 9 dan holder. Starting judo aged 10, he attained 1 dan at the age of 13 and 6 dan at the age of 26. In his prime he was a fearsomely tough and ferocious judoka. Awazu-sensei is a product of the DNBK and the Kyoto Busen. He is now a Kodokan 9 dan having declined 10 dan from the FFJDA though his achievements would merit a Kodokan 10 dan.
In 2012 Awazu-sensei became technically (in terms of time-in-grade) eligible for promotion to Kodokan 10 dan As one knows by now, such promotions unlike in the West are not automatic, or more correctly, one does not become entitled to a higher rank simply because one has held the previous rank for a long time. Hence most Kodokan 8 dan holders will never become Kodokan 9 dan holders, and even less will most Kodokan 9 dan holders ever become Kodokan 10 dan-holders. While it remains unlikely that the Kodokan would for the first time ever promote a Japanese to 10 dan who is not residing in Japan, or for the first time in more than 60 years would make a 10 dan promotion of a living Japanese who is not residing at the Kodokan or in Tokyo, it will be the first time that anyone outside of Japan comes this close to Kodokan 10 dan. Kobayashi-sensei in Portugal will not be eligible for several years
The video is interesting because of (at least three reasons):
1. It shows the great interest, popularity and many high-ranked judoka in France.
2. You can clearly see the difficulty even the high ranks have with learning and getting the movements correct, which illustrates the tremendous difficulty of Itsutsu-no-kata, even though it is not so difficult to simply move through the patterns.
3. It illustrates that similar to the situation at the Kodokan, not even the highest ranked teachers commonly during clinics will teach anything that goes beyond the mere mechanics of the ri-no-kata hence making it even more difficult for the future and younger generation to actually grasp the kata, what its essence is, and what it attempts to convey.
Contribution by Cichorei Kano
Awazu-sensei was born on 18 April 1923 in Kyoto and is currently a Kodokan 9 dan holder. Starting judo aged 10, he attained 1 dan at the age of 13 and 6 dan at the age of 26. In his prime he was a fearsomely tough and ferocious judoka. Awazu-sensei is a product of the DNBK and the Kyoto Busen. He is now a Kodokan 9 dan having declined 10 dan from the FFJDA though his achievements would merit a Kodokan 10 dan.
In 2012 Awazu-sensei became technically (in terms of time-in-grade) eligible for promotion to Kodokan 10 dan As one knows by now, such promotions unlike in the West are not automatic, or more correctly, one does not become entitled to a higher rank simply because one has held the previous rank for a long time. Hence most Kodokan 8 dan holders will never become Kodokan 9 dan holders, and even less will most Kodokan 9 dan holders ever become Kodokan 10 dan-holders. While it remains unlikely that the Kodokan would for the first time ever promote a Japanese to 10 dan who is not residing in Japan, or for the first time in more than 60 years would make a 10 dan promotion of a living Japanese who is not residing at the Kodokan or in Tokyo, it will be the first time that anyone outside of Japan comes this close to Kodokan 10 dan. Kobayashi-sensei in Portugal will not be eligible for several years
The video is interesting because of (at least three reasons):
1. It shows the great interest, popularity and many high-ranked judoka in France.
2. You can clearly see the difficulty even the high ranks have with learning and getting the movements correct, which illustrates the tremendous difficulty of Itsutsu-no-kata, even though it is not so difficult to simply move through the patterns.
3. It illustrates that similar to the situation at the Kodokan, not even the highest ranked teachers commonly during clinics will teach anything that goes beyond the mere mechanics of the ri-no-kata hence making it even more difficult for the future and younger generation to actually grasp the kata, what its essence is, and what it attempts to convey.
Contribution by Cichorei Kano
