Here are resources on promotional grading in kendo referred to as shinsa (審査) and organized as follows:
- Shinsa Requirements / Criteria
- Articles
- Guides
- Books
- Preparation and Planning
- Personal Experiences
- Videos (Online, Shinsa‘s, DVD)
- Quotes on Shinsa (in the section “Shinsa” of “Kendo-related Quotes.”)
Some notes. As usual, this set of resources will likely grow as I discover new resources. For those familiar with Japanese, there are some articles in Japanese listed in the section: “審査 (Shinsa)” in “External – Japanese Articles and Sites on Kendo.”
Best wishes on your journey and your shinsa!
Shinsa Requirements / Criteria
- International Kendo Federation’s “Standard Guideline for Dan/Kyu Examination,” May 24, 2012 (PDF, 5 pages).
- SCKF Examiner Criteria (up to 4th dan)
- Australian Kendo Remnai (AKR) Grading Requirements (PDF, 5 pages) – Starting from page 5 for 6th kyu to 5th dan.
Articles
- Geoff Salmon sensei has written a large number of articles tagged with “grading” and “shinsa” on KendoInfo.net including this subset of them:
- “More grading exam tips,” KendoInfo.net, Oct 2016.
- “Reigi in kendo grading examinations,” KendoInfo.net, Feb. 2010.
- “Shodan shinsa,” KendoInfo.net, Feb 2009.
- “4th and 5th dan grading examinations,” KendoInfo.net, Feb. 9, 2010.
- “Grading examinatios for older kendoka,” KendoInfo.net, Feb 2013.
- “Grading examinations – a judges view,” KendoInfo.net, Feb. 2010.
- George McCall, “Shinsa – things to think about” (“translation of three very short pieces by Sakuma Saburo hanshi on the subject of gradings”), Kenshi 24/7, 2014.
- Alaska Kendo, “My Personal View on Kendo Shinsa,” Kendo in Alaska, 2015. (Editor’s note: Has many good tips.)
- A list of KendoNotes articles on Shinsa.
Guides
- General guides:
- AUSKF Kendo Promotional Exam Study Guide.
- The same material can also be found here at kendo-usa.org.
- Southern California Kendo Federation (SCKF) “Guidelines for Promotion.”
- “The 2016 Shudokai Grading Gasshuku,” – Report and Translation by Michael Ishimatsu-Prime.
- AUSKF Kendo Promotional Exam Study Guide.
- For specific levels:
Books
- Shigematsu Kimiaki, The Kendo Mind: A Guide to Grading Successfully, Bunkasha, 2016.
Preparation and Planning
- Geoff Salmon
- Thomas Sluyter, “Preparing for shinsa,” Renshinjuku, 2012.
- “Shinsa Preparation – a List of Things to Work on and Keep in Mind,” KendoNotes.com, Sept. 22, 2017.
Personal Experiences
- Kodansha Grading
- 8 Dan:
Videos (Online, Shinsa‘s, DVDs)
- Online Videos:
- “Interview with Alex Bennett Full Version for Everyone” by Hiro Imafuji Sensei, Dec. 14, 2015 (32:02 mins). after Bennett Sensei passed his 7th Dan Shinsa.
- [Paul Shin, “Kendo 1 Kyu and 1 Dan Exams: Key Judging Points,” July 4, 2015 (5:31mins). His comments start at 2:06 after preliminary comments (which are also helpful).
- Shinsa Videos
- DVDs
- I highly recommend studying these DVDs:
- [Koda_ShinsaDVD] Koda Kunihide (Kyoshi 8 dan), “Kendo Promotion Shinsa – Program” (剣道昇段審査・対策プログラム【教士八段 香田郡秀監修】) (in Japanese with no subtitles)
- [Shinsa4/5Dan_DVD] 剣道模擬審査 四・五段編 (DVD) (剣道日本) (Kendo Mock Shinsa for 4th and 5th Dan – in Japanese with no subtitles).
- I highly recommend studying these DVDs:
Quotes on Shinsa
- The quotes can be found in the section “Shinsa” of “Kendo-related Quotes.”
Keywords: Grading, Examination, Test