don´t compare grades

There is a question that I mostly dislike asking and getting ask.

"What is your grade?"

Well, actually one should assume that ikkyu, shodan, nidan... around the world could be compared directly with each other.

In my opinion this only counts for rokudan and nanadan (we won't talk about way superior hachidan here).

I fought against sandan were I thought they barely started wearing bogu a few weeks ago.

Also I fought ikkyu and got my but beaten up pretty damn big time.

Of course everything vis versa.

Now, how come?

I believe in two reasons for this.

1.:

There are different grading systems around the world.

For instance, in Germany you start with rokukyu and there must be half a year between kyu exams.

So when you eventually face shodan shinsa, you already have been practicing kendo for about 4 years (between ikkyu and shodan hast to be 1 year).

In other countries where you start with ikkyu, after about 4 years of kendo you'll be already nidan or sandan.

2.:

There are a bunch of people out there, who don't care at all about shinsa.

So I've met someone a few years ago who was "only" nidan, but was practicing kendo for about 10-12 years (well, he knew a lot about kendo, wow).

What I personally prefer, is asking:

"How long have you been practicing kendo?"

Easy and less prone to leading to uncomfortable situations.