You will recall from the previous post that a commentor to that post referred to a register of Jan de Jong (JDJ) senior grades. That inspired me to develop such a register.
My intention is to develop a register of JDJ jujutsu yudansha, ikkyu holders, and instructors. Ultimately, the register will be a permanent feature of this blog located on the right border (if I can remember how to do that again).
Greg Palmer developed a register of JDJ jujutsu yudansha which is presented below with comments:
Shodan
Robert Hymas (1981)
Peter Clarke (1981)
John Copley (1981)
Ian Lloyd
Tony Chiffings
Debbie Clarke
Paul Connolly
Greg Palmer
Hans de Jong
Steve Moller
John Martyr
Jim Downing
Bob Bruscher
John Coles
Darryl Cook
Justin Palandri
Janet Lake
Peter Templeman
Maggie de Jong
Cyril Boutis
Jamie Francis
Only the dates of the first to be awarded shodan have been included in the above list.
If we take as a beginning date when JDJ commenced teaching in Perth, 1952, JDJ awarded 21 shodans in 51 years of teaching before his passing in 2003. The first, 29 years after he started teaching in Perth.
Males: 18; Females: 3.
Nidan
Peter Clarke (1991)
Robert Hymas (1992)
Paul Connolly (1992)
Greg Palmer (1996)
John Coles (1999)
Males: 5; Females: 0.
Time between shodan and nidan: Clarke 10yrs, Hymas 11yrs, Connolly 10yrs, Palmer 12yrs, Coles 7yrs.
This puts the available nidan gradings in the late 1980s.
Given the above, is my 7yrs more indicative of the average time to successfully complete the nidan gradings? The answer to that question is compromised in that I was working full-time as an instructor at the Jan de Jong Self Defence School from 1995 to 2000 inclusive.
Sandan
Peter Clarke (1999)
Robert Hymas (1999)
Paul Connolly (1999)
Greg Palmer (2000)
John Coles (2000)
Males 5; Females 0.
Time between nidan and sandan: Clarke 8yrs, Hymas and Connolly 7yrs, Palmer 4yrs, Coles 1yr.
The timing for the first four may have been impacted in that JDJ was developing the sandan grades, however, my 1yr from nidan to sandan ... 12 parts to the sandan grading as we've seen in previous posts to this blog on the development of the JDJ jujutsu grading system. And Greg and I were not training all that intensively. A couple of nights a week at his home dojo at best. The gradings are not easy (see previous blog posts) and no standards were compromised.
Yondan
Peter Clarke (1999)
Greg Palmer (2002)
Clarke was promoted to yondan immediately upon completion of sandan.
Robert Hymas and Paul Connolly were promoted directly to godan from sandan.
Godan
Peter Clarke (Nov 2002)
Robert Hymas (Nov 2002)
Paul Connolly (Nov 2002)
Time between yondan or sandan as applicable: Clarke 3yrs, Hymas and Connolly 3yrs.
Peter Clarke (Mar 2003)
Robert Hymas (Mar 2003)
Paul Connolly (Mar 2003)
Time between godan and rokudan: five months.
JDJ passed away 5th April 2003.
PS: Why did JDJ stop at rokudan? Why did he rush to rokudan for Clarke, Hymas, and Connolly? Is it because he had learned post the development of his grading system to ikkyu and shodan that many/most other Japanese martial arts grading systems complete their 'technical' grades at rokudan and then honorary grades are only issued after rokudan? This and other related propositions will be explored in future posts.
PPS: Added to the shodan list is Micheal Rendell thanks to a reader. That makes 22 shodans in 51 years, and 19 males, 3 females.
Interesting to see who is still training from that list. Since 2003 only 4 people today (PC,RH,PC,JC) could promote a new Shodan (let alone Nidan or Sandan) in JDJ jujutsu so what happens to the legacy if a Shodan is where it ends.
ReplyDeleteGood question. This is where honorary grades from outside organisations come in for the appearance of credibility, however, no-one other than us four have learned and gone through the nidan and sandan grades, therefore, the grading system diminishes or changes from the one JDJ developed. Eventually, what is being taught is not what JDJ developed and taught.
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