What are the qualifications that someone has to have to be come a certified instructor in martial arts?

in most Japanese organizations you do not get the title sensei until you are at least sandan or yondan (3rd or 4th degree) which roughly takes about 10 years to become sandan.

i still go by the old FAJKO system which many organizations still use as a guide today. the ages and years tend to differ from one dojo or organization to another. if you break down the titles.

RANK...........Time........................Title................Age

Shodan........3 years

Nidan...........1 yr. after Shodan

Sandan........2 yrs. after Nidan (Sensei)

Yondan.........3 yrs. after Sandan (Shihan) may be awarded

Godan..........3 yrs. after Yondan Renshi At least two years after Godan

Rokudan........5 yrs. after Godan Renshi Same as above, 35 age

Shichidan......7 yrs. after........ ........Kyoshi At least 10 yrs after Renshi, 42 age

Hachidan.......8 yrs. after............... Kyoshi Same as above, 50 age

Kudan...........10 yrs. after................Hanshi At least 15 years after Kyoshi, 60 age

Judan............10 yrs. after...............Hanshi Same as above, 70 age

Yudansha Dan Grading System

Shodan 初段:しょだん

1st Degree- In this level necessitates a further development of abilities. All basic movements and techniques, can be applied with extended force and proper application in basic combination.

Nidan 二段:にだん

2nd Degree- This level requires the personal assimilation and performance of all basic body movements and techniques to such a degree that their application is in accordance with the individuals own unique body demands.

Sandan 三段:さんだん

3rd Degree- At this level the individual has acquired the understanding of the underlying principles in all basic body movements and techniques. Moreover, this understanding can be demonstrated in the application of techniques under various circumstances and conditions.

Yondan 四段:よだん

4th Degree- In this point the individual attaining this standing has exemplified knowledge of the principle body movements and techniques and their application under varied conditions to such a degree that the ability to instruct others has been gained.

Godan 五段:ごだん

5th Degree- This is the level were in research has been completed in some limited area. This research includes its application in a manner that is both relevant and applicable to the individual's particular physique.

Rokudan 六段:ろくだん

6th Degree- The attainment of this position necessitates the performance of karate research in an area that by its nature has universal benefits to be derived by its application.

Kodansha Senior-Dan Grading System

Shichidan 七段:ななだん

7th Degree- At this level, the individual must have undertaken advance research through actual application and extensive testing of the general research technique.

Hachidan 八段:はちだん

8th Degree- At this point, research must have been completed in a new and previously unknown area.

Kudan 九段:くだん

9th Degree- This level the requirements for this standard calls for an uncommon dedication for an extended period of time to the areas of individual achievement and development of the highest and most extraordinary order. Moreover, this accumulated knowledge and expertise must have been utilized in the general service of karate development.

Judan 十段:じゅうだん

10th Degree- This is the stage where the individual has finally neared the highest image of karate development. This has been brought about by the continuous practice and pursuit of the truth that is to be found in the human ideal.

edit:> yes pugpaws has a point i always considered 16 the minimum age for shodan, i just forgot to put it down.

Hi there

Shihan J and Pugpaws2 have given you good answers with regards to the actual dan level that someone should hold until they have the title of sensei.

To be honest it really does depend on the organistation. You will find that the larger ones maintain higher standards such as the large judo, karate and aikido associations. If they are part of a national governing body then checks should have been done before they were allowed to join. For the less well know arts these governing bodies just dont exist and it will all fall back on your own instinct if you feel something isnt quite right.

Some students just fall into teaching once they reach high ranks but other organisations will hold instructor training courses where the student is also assessed on their ability to teach. Remember just because you know your stuff doesnt mean you can put it across.

Another thing is if you are teaching children then as an instructor you should have gone through all the government safety checks and be fully insured.

The first thing to go out of the window with back door instructors is they will have no insurance and no safety checks!

As for grandmasters etc. Well thats also quite easy to answer. There isnt any westerners who hold that title!

Unless your training in the far east then you wont find any! Its as simple as that! Anyone who calls themeselves a master is quite simply addmitting to knowing all there is to know and thats where the problem truely lies? Once you think you know it all you loose the abilty to learn!

Best wishes

idai

You need to meet the requirements, both on the level of knowledge and skill, of your style's organization. You cannot just join any random organization.

Becoming an instructor in some organizations is hard, rigorous work; and sometimes requires a high rank like 4th degree black belt, on top of it all.

The qualifications to become a master is to MASTER the art/style/system you train in. Perfection (in a sense), speed, power and fluency. A master should also be humble, and not expect people to call him that.

Grandmaster is a honorary title. You are either "the master's master" or a complete fraud looking to appear high and mighty.

That would depend on your own school / association. There are many organizations and schools in the world today. Some of very high requirements and others simply have none. Since this is a direct question about your school you should post a link to that website so proper research can be done in verifying the claims, ranks and things of that nature. There are no set standards worldwide that are completely accepted.

Edit - No western grandmasters? That is too funny since I know of a couple who are referred to as grand masters even in Japan and Okinawa...but you are correct that regardless of titles one should not refer to themselves as that title.

Also, all you need is a black belt to teach? I do not agree with that statement because it is to simplistic. I know hundreds of black belts who cannot teach and most of the ones that are at shodan level do not have the understanding to teach. This is why a good association / Ryu will have two things:

1 - an actual teaching program to help students learn the proper way to teach by their Ryu's standards. Nothing more confusing than learning a Ryu from a shodan who teaches what they want to instead of teaching it properly.

2 - not allowing a student to operate their own dojo until they complete that program, have taught under thier instructor and earned the right to teach others and set 3rd dan (sandan) as the minimum level for teaching others on one's own.

Why? Because shodan is the true beginning of the real training and all a person has done at this level is demonstrated a decent understanding of the "basic" concepts to an art. At least this is my humble opinion.

Lots of extremely good (though detailed) answers here.

The word "certified" concerns me. That's not even a word used in a lot of martial arts. And maybe you didn't even mean it that way--do you mean "licensed" as in approved by a state, city, or county? If so, in most cases there's no such certification.

To disagree with one of the points from one of the other posts here, in at least some schools (reputable, well-recognized), in BJJ a belt can technically promote someone up to that same level. That's not often done, but it is possible.

To evaluate the school you train at, ask about the lineage of the instructors.

Hope that helps.

What school do you train at? What style, and what organization? The criteria differ everywhere.

For instance, in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (which I train) only a black belt can award rank, so anyone can trace their instructor back to whoever gave him his black belt, and on to whoever gave that guy his black belt, and so on back to Carlos Gracie Sr. But there's no universally-recognized instructor certification (some organizations might have one) and anyone of any rank can technically open a school. Although white belts instructing would probably be frowned upon, and really one would probably want to be at least purple before opening a school.

Other arts can go either side of this example. Some have no rank or certification at all, others have a plethora of ranks and certs - and sometimes high ranks are not certified to teach, and certified instructors do not necessarily hold high belts. So without knowing what style you mean it's hard to be helpful.

With that said, people who call themselves 'Grandmaster' are quite often fraudulent, or at least, padding their resume. And 'Masters' are usually worth looking into before their titles are accepted as well.

Regrettably, there are no universal qualifications to be a MA instructor.

Generally a Black Belt (or equivalent) is considered a teaching qualification, but the requisites for a Black Belt vary from group to group, and just having one doesn't mean you can teach it only means you can perform a set number of techniques to a proscribed level of quality.

Many schools automatically award the title of "Sensie" (Teacher) when someone passes their black belt. In my system we call Black Belts "Sempai" (Senior) until they reach 3rd Dan (about 8-10 years training) when they become a Sensei.

I know many Black Belts who can't teach to save their life, and many lower grades who are "naturals".

You can tell a good teacher by looking at the students. If they look competent and are training properly then the teacher is good - irrespective of belt rank.

Recently many MA groups have adopted a wide range of fancy titles for black belt grades, Renshi, Kyoshi, Hanshi etc., but in many cases this is used to bolster the egos of the senior grades. Not always, but in many cases ...

In my system I have the title of "Shihan" (Master) which goes with 6th Dan and over 20 years as a Black Belt. I have a slight problem with this as I believe that anyone who calls himself a Master isn't! After 40+ years of karate I still haven't "mastered" anything.

Most people still just call me Sensei which I have no problem with.

I would expect a "Master" to have at least 25 years of continuous training and a Grand Master to have a lifetime of training. I would just laugh at anyone under the age of 60 who professes to be a Grand Master.

If you want to check out your instructors make sure that they have a current First Aid certificate, can show a clear progression from beginner to black belt in a reasonable length of time, and have been cleared by the relevant authorities to teach children (in the UK this is a certificate from the Police' Criminal Records Bureau to state that your criminal records have been checked and you are fit person to be MA Instructor.)

At the end of the day a good, knowledgeable teacher will inspire you to become a better person in many ways. There are many so called "Masters" who's priority is to get wealthy at the expense of their students. The real teachers' priority is to help you improve and not to swell their bank balance.

If you enjoy your training, have confidence in your instructor and are growing within your art then you won't go far wrong.

Shihan J and I are from the old school of thought as far as ranks and titles are concerned. I agree with most everything he posted. It applies mostly to Okinawan and Japanese styles. My only difference is in the number of years required. My list of MINIMUM time in grade (rank), goes like this:

Shodan minimum of 16 years old (3-5 years of training)

Nidan (at least 2 years after Shodan)

Sandan (at least 3 years after Nidan)

Yondan (at least 4 years after Sandan)

Godan (at least 5 years after Yondan)

Rokudan (at least 6 years after Godan)

Shichidan(Nanadan) (at least 7 years after Rokudan)

Hachidan (at least 8 years after Shichidan)

Kudan (at least 9 years after Hachidan)

Judan (at least 10 years after Kudan)

NOTE:

1)All ranks above Godan are considered honorary ranks and are not used in all styles

2) Titles are not always awarded no matter what rank a person holds. It is up to the organization do decide who get titles. If awarded the titles are issued by writing them on the rank certificates, or as a separate certificate.

3) master is never below Yondan. Many styles do not give master titles below Godan. some styles do not consider ranks below Rokudan to be a master.

4) Grand master is even more confusing. In the 1960's Grand master was almost never heard. when it was used it would refer to only to the Soke of the style. It usually referred to someone of 9th or 10th (Kudan or Judan). Today people are throwing around titles for different belt ranks.

NOTE: traditionally the head of a style in Japan or Okinawa was known as Soke. The problem here is that many believe that a Soke must be a Judan/10th dan. That simply is not historically correct. Shogo Kuniba inherited the Motobu-ha Shito-Ryu from his father at the age of 21. He was considered only a Godan at the time. There were others in the style that had more years of training and held higher rank. It was their job to complete Kuniba's training. Even so Kuniba had the power as Soke to promote anyone in the style to any rank even if the promotion rank was higher than his own rank at the time. The Japanese consider the Soke above the rank system even though he himself hold a rank.

Now that being said, you asked what was required to be a certified instructor. A certified instructor is someone that That holds a Sensei title and is at least Sandan. The minimum age would be 16 +2 + 3 = 21 years old. HOWEVER that is not likely by traditional standards. Most people don't reach Shodan until older than 16. Then the time in grade is no cumulative. In other words it does not count all your training time. Only the time since you last promotion. So if you reached Shodan at 18 years old and then did not reach Nidan for 5 more years(23), you still would have at least 3 years before reaching Sandan. At that point the organization may or may not decide to award a Sensei title.

the only qualification you need to teach is a black belt.

EDITlooks like someone let the thumbs down retards out of their cages again.

This depends on the number of hours you train, the number of hours you teach, your technique, etc.