Awesome documentary and great find! Would love to see one this long and detailed on bokken.

The story about Ishida and his son was heartwarming. Nice find.

Felt bad for the old guy.

this was fascinating. thank you for sharing

Great find, great story!

Thanks! I like the unique angle on age that they are taking with this 8 dan level. Saying that 46 is a minimum age and applying scores based on life long maturity is an angle I never would have thought of. I can't think of anything to compare this to in the US or anywhere else so I'd be interested to hear any opinions on this.

"I can't think of anything to compare this to in the US or anywhere else so I'd be interested to hear any opinions on this."

The Church of Scientology is kind of like this.

HAHahahah

I heard the old guy actually killed a dude with his sword when he got home and found his XBox being stolen.

great story about a fascinating subject. I love Kendo and have long wanted to learn more about it.

But, I have an issue with the way the test is run mechanically. If the only people to judge are the 8th Dan, then there is going to be a natural bias for them to only pick others that fit the mold that they also fit. Because the bouts are judged on "spirit" and other non-definable characteristics, it makes it virtually impossible to quantify quality, essentially turning this in to an old boys club that judges people not on their skill, but on whether they think the applicant fits in with the club.

these kinds of arrangements very often lead to stagnation. Imagine someone has come up with a crazy new technique that could beat all others, but completely breaks the mold of the past ways. My guess is this person would never make 8th Dan and probably not make it far up the ladder at all. Unless a competition has solid, quantifiable methods scoring quality, then true quality isn't being judged, personality is. To me, that doesn't seem like what sword fighting should be about. But, I'm American and I may not "get it".

Wow, a 50 minute documentary in the top-15! Is that a record?

>> ^zor:
I can't think of anything to compare this to in the US or anywhere else so I'd be interested to hear any opinions on this.

I believe it's somewhat common in Japanese martial arts.

Aikiki, the largest Aikido organization in the world, has minimum age requirements for 6th - 8th Dan Ranks.
6th Dan, Age 33, 6 years after attaining 5th Dan
7th Dan, Age 45, 12 years after attaining 6th Dan
8th Dan, Age 60, 15 years after attaining 7th Dan
There have been so few 9th and 10th Dan Aikidoka in the history of the sport that there's no reason to list requirements for those ranks.

Wow, those dudes take beating each other over the head with sticks pretty damn seriously. That's cool man, it's not my trip, but I'm down with it.

*promote

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Haven't watched yet, but I've heard about how difficult this is. Finally some actual incite into it. Thanks for the sift!

*promote one of my recent favourites

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*QUALITY

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This is why I bought my 8th Dan online.

I clapped when ishida received his 8th dan certification. its quite an inspiration you know, for someone training for something almost all of his life and finally achieving it.

Im half expecting the old guy to give everyone a finger...man 24 straight years of failure, that's a real bummer...

Umm, that guy doesn't look 45. Damn Japanese with their youthful genes!

"the greatness of perfecting one thing in life"

>> ^daxgaz:
To me, that doesn't seem like what sword fighting should be about. But, I'm American and I may not "get it".



Its a cynical way of thinking, but I agree that it is odd that (on the surface it appears that) one has to bend ones style specifically to prove you can fit the mold to get the merit badge.

However, I should say it reminds me of Zen Buddhism and how masters are said to be looking at the state of mind when determining how far along disciples are progressing.

*length=48:52
And worth every second.

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This dead?

Affirmative. It's *dead Jim.

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Awarding chingalera with one Power Point for fixing this video's dead embed code.