Dan-Sha Certificates - English vs. Japanese English/Kanji Mix

Example only.

In the early years of my practice I felt that a valid rank certificate should reflect the culture by it being written in Kanji/Kana + English or often just plain Kanji/Kana. It looks really cool when done with an artistic flare. I can tell you that the Japanese tend to create such things as if it were art, long ago. Of course now all of the kanji/kana can be created by machine. It still looks pretty darn cool.

I remember when I got a dan-sha certificate of grade it was all English with a nice graphic and border. It turned out to be those certificates sold in the U.S. that were bought in packages of hundred or so that you put in a typewriter or simply printed a name and grade on it. I remember taking my Sho-dan and having it laminated onto a plaque.

Anyway, I digress again. The question really is, "Is it actually worth anything and is it received/perceived as something of value?" I once again have to answer the question with a "yes and no."

It depends on you, the individual, and the value you place on it. It doesn't have to have any value with anyone else except you. All the physical stuff you get; belt, stripes, patches, certificates, etc. have no value even for the material used to construct them. The true value resides in your heart. The presentation is simply a ceremony to allow a Sensei to present you with a token of his or her faith in you as a martial artist.

The presentation of my Sensei's black belt as it passed from his hands to mine meant more than the belt itself. I have since lost it and the feeling when I remember that moment still feels the same today as it did in 1979. I can visualize it with clarity, cool.

If you allow such materialistic accouterments sway your emotions and beliefs you will one day end up disappointed or stop training and practice altogether. That would be a shame.

Yes, I did feel an attachment to such things but in the last ten years I could really care less. I went through a year of self-examination in a local dojo where I came in with one rank, moved up to another and finally another but when I got to the end of that year it really meant little - it was a fun journey but in the end, nadda.

I go every single day down to my work dojo and practice. I train as far as possible without a partner but that is ok with me cause I did all that a while back. I am adjusting to a new age for me, cool too. I go down in my street cloths, do Chi Gong/warm up stretching, kata and then shadow kumite. The process provides me a lot of contemplative time where a lot of idea's and changes occur to me - up from the subconscious mind.

English, Kanji or any mixture thereof only has the value you the individual put on it. If you join a group that says it doesn't count, that is ok too but two things, consider finding another dojo cause making a comment like that says things to my mind or just ignore it, put on whatever belt that say and get out there and learn then allow them to "see, hear and feel" your grade on the floor.