The Western eye is quick in seeing stereotypes everywhere, in Yuka’s Zen calm on the routes, and in her martial-arts-like disregard of ego. There is a grain of truth to the impression. Echoes of martial arts abound in the Japanese climbing world. Quickdraws, for instance, are called nunchaku, as in the sticks on a chain Bruce Lee flung about his head. Martial arts grades are used for bouldering ratings, a practice started in the 1990s as a joke, but which has since become the standard.
“We’ve run into problems with the ratings, actually,” explains a boulderer with whom we strike up a conversation at Mitake, a local area one hour from Tokyo. Our new friend dragged his crashpad over when I made a warmup problem look all too sketchy, and then appointed himself our guide while he was resting for his next burn. “You see, one grade spans two to three V grades. Take the First Dan, or master grade — it ranges from V6 to V8. Add some sandbagging to that, and you basically don’t have a clue what you’re getting on!”