Grades

There are three kinds of grades in the European Jôdô Federation

  1. The Dan/Kyû system, for everyone.
  2. The system put into effect by late Donn F. Draeger Sensei: Shoden, Chûden and Kuden system. These teaching grades must be implemented by the International Jôdô Federation during the participation to one of its seminars.
  3. The classical system of the Shintô Musô Tradition: Oku-iri, Shomokuroku, Gômokuroku and Menkyo, Menkyo Kaiden. These grades are proposed outside the EJF and IJF. In case of the EJF, they can be given by Pascal Krieger only, as he is an official student of Shimizu Sensei and Nishioka Sensei. Apart from Oku-iri, these grades are teaching grades as well. Many Oku iri are not official teachers. Oku iri is not a teaching grade, even if all the teachers received one, of course. Oku iri is a paper that attests that the trainee has entered the family of Shintô Musô Ryû Jô of Seiryûkai Europe.

Passage de grade
Alain Robert ( left ) and Michel Colliard at a grading in Le Brassus, in 1988.


Examinations

All candidates must be in possession of a license with a valid annual stamp. It is the responsibility of the direct teacher to make sure of this before proposing a student for a grade.
Examinations of Dan/Kyu are held at the summer seminar only. For Dan exams, some exceptions are made at the Kagamibiraki. During the International Jodo seminars, this internal problem should not be imposed to the people of other continents, so there are no examinations during the IJF seminars.
Now, up to nikyu, every official teacher is allowed to pass them in his own dôjô or during a seminar he is leading, being careful to send the forms duly signed and filled to the responsible person for entering the grades in the official list. He also will sign the passport.
Group leaders, if Yudansha, are allowed to conduct an exam up to nikkyu in their own dôjô and concerning their own students, if they are unable to have an official teacher of the FEJ for the occasion.