Grades

Students start martial arts for a variety of reasons; to learn to defend themselves, get fit, make new friends, gain in confidence, become part of an ancient tradition, have fun, and of course to reach that coveted black belt grade. 

Reaching the black belt (Shodan) in the Warrior Quest Academy is hard work. Some martial arts schools will award you a black belt in just a couple of years, but with us you are looking at 4-5 years to gain your black belt. We want to make sure that when you reach that level and are awarded the black belt that you know you have earnt it and you feel proud to be a black belt in the Warrior Quest System.

One way of looking at this is if I asked you to run around the block and I gave you a certificate, that certificate would have little value. In fact you might look at it as a joke. But if you ran a marathon of 26 miles and I gave you a certificate, now that certificate means something and you might frame it and hang it on your wall and be pleased with yourself that you had achieved so much and had the certificate as proof that you had done it. 

The same is true in our dojo. We will teach you many techniques, but we also work on your mental and spiritual side too until you are worthy of that black belt hanging around you waist. Here is an outline of you training from beginner to Black Belt and beyond.

Ten Ryaku No Maki: Scroll of Heaven.

The first four levels which are split into four levels based around the four elements...

Yellow Belt: 9th Mon (Earth)-Assertive Ground Holding movement as you take on the Strength of the Mountain.

Blue Belt: 8th Mon (Water)-Defensive Angling as you move away and crash back like the Power of the Wave. 

Red Belt: 7th Mon (Fire)-Offensive Intercepting movement as you consume the attacker in the Flames of the Fire.

Green Belt: 6th Mon (Wind)-Evasive Circular movement as you disappear like the Smoke in the Wind and become the Eye of the Storm.

At this level you will be taught the basics of our at (Kihon). These include...

Taihenjutsu: Methods of breakfalling, rolls and leaps to escape an opponent and fall safely if thrown. 

Dakentaijutsu: Methods of delivering a number of strikes with the feet, hands, head, knees and elbows to weak points on the body.

Hajutsu: Methods of escapes from grabs, chokes, bear hugs and throws.

Taisabaki: Methods of escaping from a blade, being either a knife, sword or something like a stick or baseball bat.

Osae Komi: Methods of defence when you are pinned to the ground and how to extricate yourself from such a situation.

At this stage you will also learn first aid, meditation, and the history and philosophy of our art.

The Second Level is called the...

Chi Ryaku No Maki: Scroll of Earth.

Again you will as a student go through the same four elements of Earth, Water, Fire and Wind, execpt this time rather than wearing just a yellow, blue, red or green belt, your coloured belt will have black stripe running down it to show you are part of the Black Belt Club and on your way to achieving your Shodan Black Belt.

At this level you will build on what you have learnt before but we will introduce joint locks, throws, chokes, controls, arrest techniques, and methods of dealing with attacks from other martial arts i.e. how to deal with a round house kick from a karate person, or a jabbing style attack from a boxer, or a defence against a throw from a Judoka etc. 

At this stage you will also learn methods of stealth (Intonjutsu) , escape and evasion (Gotonpo), methods of controlling your emotions (Kuji In), strategy and tactics (Gunryaku Heiho), Firearms (Teppojutsu), Survival Techniques (Zanzon Ho) etc. In fact skills that come out of the Ninja's playbook, i.e the scrolls (Makimono) and secret books (Densho) that have been handed down to us from Japan, but also in Ninja manuals written over 400 years ago such as the Bansenshukai, Shoninki, and Ninpiden. 

Once you have mastered the above you will be ready for your black belt grade. This level is called...

Jin Ryaku No Maki: The Scroll of Humans.

Again divided into the four elements of Earth, Water, Fire and Wind you will wear a black belt but the badge you wear on you Dogi (Uniform) will change colour depending on your Dan grade level. So at second dan you will wear a blue badge, at third dan level a red badge etc.

At this stage you will begin the study of the individual Ryu Ha (Traditional schools of martial arts as handed down by warrior families). The schools you will learn are...

Gyokko Ryu Koshijutsu (Jewelled Tiger School): The oldest martial art we study that can be traced back to the 7th century and thought to be devised by a female princess in the Chinest Court called Yo Gyokko. It comprises methods of striking muscles, organs and nerves to incapacitate an attacker.

Koto Ryu Koppojutsu (Tiger Knock Down School): This martial art is actually the origin of Karate and specialises in hard strikes and Bone Breaking. it actually traces its origins back to China and before that to India where it was called "Karani".

Togakure Ryu Ninjutsu (Hidden Door School): This warrior tradition concentrates on methods of escape, evasion, infiltration, intelligence gathering and the use of weapons such as the Shuriken (Star), Shuko (Hand Claws), Shinobigatana (Ninja Sword). This school along with the Gyokko Ryu and Koto Ryu were the back bone of what the ninja studied and one of the most famous Ninja leaders Sandayu Momochi was a master in these three schools and is a direct descendent of the present grandmaster.

Kukishinden Ryu (Nine Demon Gods School): The Kukishinden Ryu has a rich history as not only was it a battlefield art it was also used by pirates in the Kuki Suigun (Navy). This schools contains methods of fighting in armour (Yoroi Kumiuchi) but also how to fight without armour. It also contains many of our weapons techniques such as the staff (Rokushaku Bo), Short staff (Hanbo), Spear (Yari), Halberd (Naginata), Jutte (Metal Truncheon), Tessen (Fan) etc. 

Shinden Fudo Ryu (Indomnitable Heart School): This school was used by the Sohei (Mountain Warriors) and has links to Koga Ryu Ninjutsu. It centres its training around fighting in nature, in the forests, mountains and valleys of war torn Japan. It comprises many unusual techniques of combat that originated it is said from the Shaolin temples in China.

Takagi Yoshin Ryu (Raised Heart, Willow Tree School): This school is a Samurai school of grappling (Jutaijutsu) and was created in the 15th Century as a method of fighting other Samurai when wearing normal street attire such as the Kimono. It has methods of disarming a samurai with a sword whilst unarmed (Muto Dori) and using small weapons to defend oneself.

As well as the above we also teach a number of other Japanese Warrior Systems of combat that we have been taught over the past 40 years by Japanese masters.

Yes it is a hard journey you will undertake like a warrior taking a Musha Shugyo (Warrior Quest). But true martial arts are not a destination they are a journey.