9th Duan holders

[GeneChing]

...but you have to remember that PRC's organization of martial arts and the duan system is very different then what you might imagine. Of course, it's very political. The national duan system is divided by government levels. 1-3 is city or muncipal, 4-6 is provincial, and 7-9 is national. That being said, all the 9 duans are quite extraordinary, given the huge population of China and that there are only a few of them. When the duan system was initiated, there were only three 9 duans. Also, Shaolin has it's own independant duan system. I've heard of some organizations outside of China that have established there own duan system too, ironically going to 10th duan, which doesn't make sense from a Chinese cultural standpoint. Anyway, we've been trying to get all the 9 duan holders in the mag for some time now. It's one of our longterm goals. All the 9 duan masters are absolutely fascinating. And before anyone jumps on these guys as being wushu, note that they are all old men, trained from childhood. That means that their foundations are all traditional, given their age. They are all treasures to the field of CMA.

[Oso]

Thanks, Gene.

Organization is organization. From a govornment standpoint that stratification totally makes sense.

The 10th level thing has to do with the idea that '10' is perfect in some way????
Just recently read a reference to that so I don't really get it as a concept.

[brothernumber9]

Ahh I see

I thought it was a karate thing. So I learned something. Now I know.




And knowing is half the battle.

"G.I. Joooooeeeee, A Real American Heroooe"

[GunnedDownAtrocity]

yeah but to win the battle you still have to be completely ****ing badass. like me.

[GeneChing]

The 'perfect 10' notion is very western, which is why I made my comment above. Number 9 is held in more regard in Chinese culture. It's the number of the Emperor, the highest single digit (keep in mind, the one thing China didn't invent was zero). If you visit the Forbidden City, it's all laid out in patterns of nines. Anyway, that's why 9th duan is the highest.

Take a look at the cover stories I posted above to get a better sense of who a few of the 9 duans are. They are real heavy hitters in the CMA world. As for the rest of the duan system under 9, the 8's are interesting, the 7's aren't as interesting, below that there are just too many to keep track of. We've done some feature stories on some of the other 9 duans, but I'd have to dig for them.

[Taijiren]

Have you done any articles on Zhang Wenguang?

[Oso]

Thanks, Gene.

[Syn7]

...but you have to remember that PRC's organization of martial arts and the duan system is very different then what you might imagine. Of course, it's very political. The national duan system is divided by government levels. 1-3 is city or muncipal, 4-6 is provincial, and 7-9 is national. That being said, all the 9 duans are quite extraordinary, given the huge population of China and that there are only a few of them. When the duan system was initiated, there were only three 9 duans. Also, Shaolin has it's own independant duan system. I've heard of some organizations outside of China that have established there own duan system too, ironically going to 10th duan, which doesn't make sense from a Chinese cultural standpoint. Anyway, we've been trying to get all the 9 duan holders in the mag for some time now. It's one of our longterm goals. All the 9 duan masters are absolutely fascinating. And before anyone jumps on these guys as being wushu, note that they are all old men, trained from childhood. That means that their foundations are all traditional, given their age. They are all treasures to the field of CMA.

can you post info on how it all works... is it the same as like japan??? or are we talking about something else altogether???