Canadian Iaido Association

CIA Attainable Dan and Kyu

All Dan certificates obtainable from the Canadian Iaido Association are official certificates issued by All Japan Iaido Federation (ZNIR).

The ZNIR is the largest and oldest Iaido only specialist organization in Japan and was established in accordance with the Japanese bushido spirit to pass on the time-honoured system of Kobudo Iaido developed over the past 500 years. The ZNIR is one of two of the largest Japanese organizations which practice Iaido, the other is the All Japan Kendo Federation (ZNKR). According to the Japanese government Corporate Registry, the ZNIR is the largest Iaido only specialist organization in Japan. Visit All Japan Iaido Federation (ZNIR) on Wikipedia to read more.

The Dan certificates are no different than if the Dan test had been conducted in Japan and will be recognized at any ZNIR Taikai, Dojo or event in Japan. We hope every CIA practitioner will benefit from this rare and special ZNIR status attained by the Canadian Iaido Association.

These are the available ranks you are able to attain in Canada without travel to Japan, in order from highest to lowest:

ZNIR Godan (5th Dan)	Final attainable rank for testing in Canada
ZNIR Yondan (4th Dan)
ZNIR Sandan (3rd Dan)
ZNIR Nidan (2nd Dan)
ZNIR Shodan (1st Dan)
CIA Ikkyu (1st Kyu)	Lowest rank for testing in Canada.

Please note: ZNIR Rokudan (6th Dan) and above is only attainable in Japan through special arrangement. If you would like to learn more about the various ZNIR dan ranks, please visit our ZNIR/CIA Ranks page.