From this page, you can download the document “Dan promotions for SN judokas”
Why is SNJF zo adamant on the issue of Dan graduations for SN judokas? Well, first of all because we feel it is the right of every human, and in our case for all SN-judokas, to at least go to the very summit of their skills once, and be tested and rewarded for it. And we feel that black belts should not be given away, or gained the easy way by earning competition points or as a special honour, or by being in a committee for several years. Everybody, but especially SN-judokas, must be seen to earn their grades, as this is important for Judo as a whole. Consider the following anecdote, that happened to Ben van der Eng once:
| He was speaking to a foreign Special Needs Judo coach, who explained that “My judokas will only get their black belt over my dead body” upon which Ben, completely surprised, asked: “But why?” and the foreign coach said: “Well, it would make my own black belt meaningless if such people would have one too” |
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..and yes, people who think like this still exist.
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So you see.. therefore Special Needs judokas have to earn their belts. Fair, square, undisputable. Hard? Very hard. Impossible? Never. SNJF/BeterJudo has 37, and is training new graduates as we speak.
This document gives guidelines for the graduation of SN judokas, and suggests procedures and classifications. However, please note that these are guidelines according to the Dutch rules and they certainly do not apply in every country.