If there are the USA levels, are there different levels in Japan???
I have no idea.
I think the USA levels were created as a more difficult version of the International rules. The main difference is the mounting in the latter levels.
The IUF and USA are different organizations, and use different rules. I don’t know if japan also has a national organization.
Japan probably has the biggest national organization on earth, the Japan Unicycling Association. Unlike most of our unicycling orgs, theirs is run by businessmen, and I assume it is a profit-making venture. Their original idea was to create a “unicycling boom” and sell lots of unicycles. It worked.
Anyway, here’s a brief synopsis of the relationship between the IUF and USA 10 levels. The USA version is, for all intents and purposes, a more detailed and refined version of the IUF levels. This was the result of lots of level-testing experience by TCUC and other USA clubs, who realized where more detail was needed to provide consistency in the testing. The IUF levels leave much more open to interpretation.
The one minor nit I have with the USA version is where one or two skills are not done according to their description in the Standard Skill List. The main one is Seat in Front, where the USA levels allow the rider to touch the seat to the body (a different, lower-scoring figure in Standard Skill). I agree with the choice to use that variant, but still wish they would re-label the skill in the levels, so its name is consistent with the Standard Skill List, like all the others. I can’t remember if there was a nother example of this in the higher levels.
The original (4) levels were created by the USA (Jan Layne) in 1979. The 10 levels were developed by an international group (led by Sem Abrahams) in the mid-1980s, around the same time as the formation of the IUF. Later the USA added more detail, so two different variants now exist.
I’m not sure if the JUA has any similar system. Maybe Jack Halpern (IUF founder, lives in Japan) is reading this and will chime in…?
Your confusion may be relieved when you know that USA in this context does not stand for United States of America, but Unicycling Society of America. I missed that from earlier replies including the one from a former USA president.
anyone? I knew USA stood Unicycling Society of America but i still wonder if there is a difference. (trying to get this post back to the top)
For your reference,
As far as I know, there are three rules in Japan. One of rules is mainly standard for young adult and higher use (7 std. and 3 expert levels).
And another one is for primary school children (10 levels).
Last one of rules is for IUF. I guess JUA standard rule is slightly different from USAs’.