Board Thread:Questions and Answers/@comment-5651818-20150207032244/@comment-2089817-20150208212707

Grandmaster Domain is something I personally coined, I don't think many follow it. Void, for instance, pretty much uses Master and Grandmaster interchangeably from what I recall, and I tend to do the same sometimes, though it's more bias of me since I just like the sound of the title Grandmaster.

Having (Grand)mastery over one craft or two craft doesn't make any real difference in the end, since it's all relative. If Sei fights another Hakuda Master, eight times out of ten he is going to wipe the floor with him, primarily because as things stand right now, there is almost no character on this site that could take on Sei evenly in a pure Hakuda brawl. I did say almost though, so that wasn't an absolute statement. My point is, two Masters are never going to be even just because they carry a Master level ability in a craft. Similarly, being a Master of two crafts does not automatically make you stronger and more versatile than a Master of one craft because it's far too broad and far too relative to think about things so rigidly. It all comes down to individual skill, experience, knowledge, and so on, so you really need to get out of that mindset. Don't put too much stock in the Grandmaster title, that is a title meant more so for a Master that stands out among other Masters. Unohana, in particular, would be a Zanjutsu Grandmaster in my opinion because what sets her apart from other Masters, at least in one regard, is the sheer volume of knowledge she possesses. If her name is any clue, she has mastered over eight thousand sword styles, which believe me, that isn't a common feat.

Now then... What constitutes a Master of any craft, at least in my opinion, is someone that takes a craft and makes it a part of them; contributes in some way to the "evolution" of the craft by taking it a step further than it was before. That does not necessarily mean a Master is someone that always "creates" a new style, but rather, when you see a real Master fight and utilize their craft, you immediately recognize it as something that is all their own. If you watch ten Karate masters perform the same kata, it will seem as though you just watched ten different kata. So, when we're talking about a Kido (Grand)Master, we're talking about someone that takes the roundabout spells every Shinigami executes, and makes it all their own. Let me give you a couple examples. Urahara took the Byakurai spell and "modified" it, turning it into a condensed red beam. For a fanon example, you have Njalm's Hiroya, who has shown the ability to craft Sokatsui spells into birds and other associated animal shapes. The most easiest way to create a real Master, at least while we're talking about Kido, is to look at how the spells are normally used by every commonplace user and find a way to have your Master utilize it in a far more unique way that is easily identifiable as their own ability.

Hope this helps.