Martial Arts awards are Japanese in origin and were orignally bestowed by the Emperor of Japan through the Dai Nippon Butokukai before it was disbanded after WW2. In the 1950s Kenshiro Abbe 8th Dan Hanshi, a senior member of the Dai Nippon Butokukai, travelled to the United Kingdom and introduced the awards here. After Kenshiro Abbe's death, a number of his direct students have continued the practise of using these awards including our senior honorary member, Arnold Davies 8th Dan Hanshi (BZI).
Over time, each Association or Club Network using these awards has developed their own specific criteria for them. Traditionally there have been 4 levels of award: Doshi, Renshi, Kyoshi and Hanshi. Iinkai Awards are only awarded to Members of the Iinkai Network who have achieved very specific criteria which demonstrate teaching and technical excellence. These are: