martial arts - when do you become a Grandmaster?
 

been curious about this for a while... i've always been under the impression that a Grandmaster is a Master who has a student that has opened up their own studio/dojo. My little sister though persists that, in the case of Tae Kwon Do at least, you attain Grandmaster status when you get your 7th degree black belt. Anyone know for sure?

BTW, props to all you other TFPers who do martial arts. I'm a third degree in TKD, ten years and counting!

<a href="http://www.grandmaster.cc/">GrandMaster Martial Arts</a>

Asta!!

Technically a grand master is the best in the world in that particualr art. You can have lots of masters but only ever one grand master. It is kind of like the pope. You can only have one and you only attain that title after the previous one dies. There is often a hell of a lot of infighting over who rises to the title. It is not unusual for the art to split into two seperate arts so both contenders can be grand master. I hope that answers your question.

A Grandmaster is one who has attained the rank of 8th Dan, or 8th degree black belt (A Master rank is reached at 4th Dan). The rank of 10th dan is usually reserved for the founder, or highest-ranked living member of a particular style of any martial art.

Technically, though - I suppose if you break away and start "Joe's Karate Do", you can call yourself the Grandmaster of your own style.

This is one of the reasons for so much political in-fighting in the martial arts - because there is so much inconsistency regarding rank, styles, and status among the hundreds of federations, associations, and societies representing all of the different styles of martial arts.

Your results may vary.

As soon as you can snatch this pebble from my hand, Grasshopper...

You are a Grandmaster as soon as everyone else thinks you are.

Yes, a Grandmaster is a 10th degree black.
This is only for those who have attained 8th degree,
and their own master have died.
Usually a Grandmaster is also exceptional and of rank in other styles too.

I once had a Grandmaster as a guest instructor in my old school.
10th degree in Tae-Kwon-Do
10th degree in Jiu-Jitsu
and 8th degree in Kenpo

He was a fat born-again Christian, who had some strange ways,
but what he did was inhuman...I saw him do things with my own eyes that were incredible.
He taught us some original & lethal techniques.

In my system, 5th degree black and up is considered "Master", and 10th degree is "grandmaster". There is only one Grandmaster for each system, and if he dies, then the next highest rank is automatically promoted to Grandmaster.

Just my $.02

In the Mu Duk Kwan school of Tae Kwon Do (a school certified by the Kukkiwon), Grandmaster is attained at 7th Dan. The only person to have the 10th Dan is the president of the school.

While it's hard to really tell, there are 11 true schools in Tae Kwon Do, and the hierarchy differs slightly from house to house, but in general, if you hear someone tell you they're above 6th Dan, they're lying.
The master I studied under, Michael Couhie, just recently became the first American-born grandmaster in Mu Duk Kwan Tae Kwon Do (other than the honorary Chuck Norris). The samonim was allowed to watch, as was his kyosanim son, and the grandmaster (Kwan) who in turn trained him. He was presented with a new belt, and a certificate upon the successful completion of the test, and it now hangs in the dojang.

I feel really skeptical, and slightly insulted, when others say they were taught by a 8th degree so-and-so. For years I watched how hard my master -- now grandmaster, though he is no longer my teacher -- worked. The school - Riverside TKD/Hapkido - was named the #1 Kukkiwon-certified school in the country four years ago by the Kukkiwon and Black Belt Magazine. Two years ago, he was inducted into the Martial Arts Hall of Fame. This stuff is all real, and something to be truly proud of, so I just get a bit irked when facts that can easily be looked up online are grossly exaggerated.

The best way to think of it is this: if the instructor of the Korean Tigers, the premier team of demonstrating Tae Kwon Do practitioners in the world, is only 6th Dan, can you really believe someone when they tell you they are the same rank? I would generally need proof.

I agree that a lot of the different schools have very lax standards for grandmaster status- also it sucks to see some guy split off/ start his own art to become an insta-master- in the style i learned from there was only one grandmaster, a 9th dan, and the minimum time studdying the art required to attain this was over 30 years of continuous study- some arts i see are led by some thiry year old guy- granted, I am a functionalist first and foremost, and some of the self appointed GM's can probably kick ass, but to me it takes a lot more to be a grandmaster.

it depends on the dicipline, each has its own ranking system, i think it really does have something to do with the pebble,,,?
having that shaved head and fu manchu stach is also helpful

here is a true grandmaster:

http://www.miami-vice.org/pictures/albums/vice.jpg