AMERICAN JUKENJUTSU - THE BAYONET SOCIETY: Rankings

Because students of the bayonet participate in a variety of settings, including Classical Fencing, Asian Martial Arts, military skills, and bayonet fencing, and because of the variety of systems open to study, the development of a single approach to ranking is impossible.  American Jukenjutsu's ranking system is designed to allow flexibility to meet the needs of our members and the requirements of the systems they study.

A ranking guide will be prepared for each identified bayonet system for which we can obtain credible published materials.  The description of the system in the original materials is used to assign skills to each Level based on the training curriculum of the system.  Members wishing to test for Levels are required to submit a video recording, either online or by DVD, of their performance of each skill in the Level a minimum of three times in one continuous recording.  Performance is measured against the standard description of the skill in the system's published materials.

Level Color
(see note 2)		 Martial Arts Equivalent Focus Specific Requirements (see note 1)
1 Yellow 4th Kyu or Gup Entry level skills Must be able to perform basic guard position, movement, primary attack, primary defense skills in his or her system.  Pass the written examination on basic knowledge with a minimum score of 70 percent (see note 4).
2 Blue 3rd Kyu or Gup Intermediate level skills Must be able to perform a full range of attack and defense actions at normal attacking distances.
3 Green 2nd Kyu or Gup Intermediate level skills Must be able to perform actions designed for fighting at very close distance.  Must be able to assist in teaching basic skills.
4 Red 1st Kyu or Gup Fully qualified practitioner Must be able to execute all standard techniques in the system including butt strokes and the defense against these strokes.  Must be able to assist in teaching basic and intermediate skills.
5 Black 1st Dan Senior practitioner Must demonstrate ability to evaluate the performance of Level 1 through 4 students as part of their promotion to higher ranks.  Must do research in some aspect of bayonet fighting or fencing and prepare a formal report of findings for publication as a society resource (see note 3). 
6 Black 2nd Dan Senior practitioner Must have qualified in two systems with a minimum evaluation point score of 200.  Pass the written examination on advanced knowledge with a minimum score of 80 percent (see note 5).
7 Black 3rd Dan Instructor - capable of training students through Level 4 Have trained at least one student to Level 3 standard or higher.  Demonstrated ability to prepare lesson plans and teach individual or group lessons in his or her system.  Pass the Instructor written examination with a minimum score of 80 percent (see note 6).
8 Black 4th Dan Provost of Bayonet - capable of training students through Levels 5 and 6 Must have qualified in three systems with a minimum evaluation score of 300.  Must prepare a training plan for a standard training period of at least three months for his or her students.  
9 Black 5th Dan Master of Bayonet - capable of training instructors to Level 9 standard Demonstrated ability to prepare lesson plans and teach instructional skills for weapons.  Must prepare an annual training plan for his or her organization, to include instructor training.  Must be able to develop instructional materials for student use at all levels.

Note (1):  Specific requirements vary widely from one bayonet system to another.  In some cases advanced skills derived from bayonet fencing may be listed as requirements for Levels 5 and 6.  At each level the individual must be able to perform the skills for the level and all previous levels to a fully proficient standard.  There are no minimum time requirements because students may come to the organization with significant prior experience with the bayonet.  However, for a student with no prior experience who drills regularly, Levels 1 through 4 should require a minimum of approximately 2 months each to achieve the desired standard of performance.

Note (2):  Rankings are indicated by a colored sleeve patch for classical fencers or by belt for Asian martial artists.  The color scheme is shown in the table below:

Level Color Classical Fencing Martial Arts
1 Yellow Yellow patch with black crossed training muskets and lettering Yellow belt
2 Blue Blue patch with white crossed training muskets and lettering Blue belt
3 Green Green patch with white crossed training muskets and lettering Green belt
4 Red Red with white crossed training muskets and lettering Red belt
5 Black Black with white crossed training muskets and lettering Black belt with one white tip stripe
6 Black Black with yellow crossed training muskets and lettering Black belt with two yellow tip stripes
7 Black Black with red crossed training muskets and lettering Black belt with a red center stripe
8 Black Black with red crossed training muskets and yellow lettering Black and red panel belt
9 Black Black with red crossed training muskets, yellow lettering, and red merrowed edge Black belt with red edging

Note (3): The research report submitted to meet the requirements of Level 5  must be original research, based on primary sources, that contributes to knowledge of the use of the bayonet and of bayonet fencing.  The report should clearly describe (1) the research question and the significance of the subject, (2) the literature consulted in the research, (3) the method of research used, (4) the data collected, and (5) the analysis and resulting conclusions.  Research may uncover developmental information on systems that is not included in society resources, compare and contrast competing systems of bayonet fighting, trace the developmental history and influencing factors of a system, or address similar topics of significance.

Note (4): The written examination of basic knowledge is a 20 question multiple choice examination which covers (1) general principles of bayonet combat, (2) the history and basic types of bayonets, (3) bayonet targets, and (4) safety.

Note (5):  The written examination of advanced knowledge is a 40 question multiple choice examination which covers (1) the history of the bayonet, (2) general principles of bayonet combat, (3) bayonet targets, (4) the characteristics of bayonet injuries, (5) individual and small unit tactics, (6) safety, and (7) equipment maintenance.

Note (6): The written instructor examination is a 50 question multiple choice examination which covers (1) the history of the bayonet, (2) general principles of bayonet combat, (3) bayonet targets, (4) the characteristics of bayonet injuries, (5) individual and small unit tactics, (6) safety, (7) equipment maintenance, (8) principles of individual lessons and group instruction, (9) methods of bayonet competition, (10) design of training programs, and (11) risk management.