The 10th Degree Black Belt (Jūdan)
By Jim West
Updated: June 20, 2014
This is one of my finest achievements as a martial artist. After 44 years of training with some of the greatest martial artists of all time — and with lots of blood and broken bones — I was promoted to Jūdan, the 10th dan black belt, in my parent system of American Open Style Karate under Grand Master Danny Wilson.
Before the invention of safety punch and kicks and pads the real world of bare knuckle fighting is an awesome way to know what you know and disregard what doesn’t work for you, with the knowledge that everyone is different.
