LIFETIME AWARD CRITERIA

Aside from the obvious that a recipient should be a person who has made a significant contribution to Uechiryu and/or to the Uechiryu Butokukai(tm), LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS should be limited to people who physically cannot test for their next rank. In a lot of ways (i.e. honored seating and mentions at events), LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD recipients should be treated in a similar manner as those who have been promoted to JUDAN. Historically, red belts have been reserved for grandmaster ranks. We could consider this for JUDAN, but keeping it to LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD recipients would help signify the difference.

Considering the amount of effort we put into diving into the recipient’s lifestyle, we really should only award one LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD per Uechi-Con. As to requirements, each will have to be judged and assessed by the Senior Master’s Council. However, potential recipients should have at least thirty years of training and be active in their training. Recipients don’t need to be training at high level, but should be active.

Now that we have two recipients “under our belt” we can talk about the potential of Lifetime Achievement Award to be given to practitioners outside of the Uechi world. This would encourage a broader range of participation (therefore more possibilities for our students), and would set a higher standard for the award - considering that we have a much larger pool to pick from.