Land of a thousand rank tests

It looks like Mokuren will become the land of a thousand aikido rank demos at the ABG the last weekend of this month. We will have a sandan demo, and probably 2 yonkyo and one gokyo rank demo (and perhaps more). The examining board will consist of a rokudan, a godan, and three yondans. Any one of us can individually rank a student to one rank below our current rank, but the aiki buddies tend to like to assemble a promotion board for rank demos whenever possible - particularly for rank demos beyond nidan. It lends credence to the ranking process in the students' minds if nothing else. It is also good to have several rank demos from several different clubs at the same event because it allows a wider perspective of what is mainstream practice and what may diverge from the mainstream.