Menkyo

Menkyo
Menkyo
Japanese name
Kanji: 免許
Hiragana: めんきょ

Menkyo (免許?) is a Japanese term meaning "license". It refers to the permission of education system for practitioners of various Japanese arts and ways in order to maintain traditions within the ryū. The menkyo system dates back to the 8th century.

Contents

Japanese Traditional Arts

Although it is most commonly thought to be used for the martial arts, it can also be used for other arts such as painting (sumi-e), tea ceremony (chado), flower arranging or calligraphy (shodo).

Different koryū use different license; one outline is:[1]

  • okuiri : enter into art.
  • mokuroku : certificate, and entered into official rolls.
  • shomokuroku
  • gomokuroku
  • menkyo: License.
  • menkyo kaiden: Around thirty years experience.

Menkyo Kaiden

Menkyo kaiden (免許皆伝?), (めんきょかいでん) is a Japanese term meaning "license of total transmission." It is a license that is granted by a school, koryū meaning that the exponent has learned everything and pass on all aspects of his/her training within the koryū.[1]

In the menkyo system of licenses, the menkyo kaiden is the highest level of license that exists under the menkyo system. Advancement of license is not determined by years spent learning, but how well one masters the discipline. However, the transition from menkyo to kaiden require usually at least thirty years experience. A holder of menkyo kaiden is often, but not always, the de facto successor to the sōke of the koryū.

Comparison to the ranking System Dan'i

There are two systems in Japanese martial arts and martial ways: Menkyo and kyu-dan. Classical schools (koryū) use the menkyo system as a license system while schools which base their practice on modern budō forms ("path, or way") use the kyū/dan system as a ranking system. The dan-system was created by Jigoro Kano in the late nineteenth century for Kodokan judo.[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Ranking Systems in Modern Japanese Martial Arts: Modern vs. Classical by Donn F. Draeger, Lecture on 1 April 1976.


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