My 4th Kyu test
Gentle Readers,
I wanted to get this down before I forgot any more of the details. There were 5 of us testing that night. One fellow doing his 5th Kyu test and the rest of us (Me, A, a Karate Black Belt and young (tween) girl).
The tradition at our dojo is for there to be a class of some of the more unusual techniques that Aikido has to offer followed by a short break and then the tests. As I was unsure about bus timing I ended up getting there an hour early. I sat and had some smoothie and read an article about the coal ash ponds failing in Tennessee. Eventually I got changed and got on the mat. Sensei K check in with me to make sure I felt ready. I told him how I had been doing visualizations and that I felt like I was in a good place. Then we did some bizarre finishes on Tski Iriminage and then, all of a sudden, it was time to test.
I took a moment to introduse myself to Sensei Don (the head of the Dojo) so that he at least knew what I looked like.
The 5th Kyu and the Black belt did their tests first. On one hand I had to wait, but fortunately I was prepared enough that I didn't start feeling nervous. Their tests went pretty smoothly and while Sensei threw in some unusual stuff, it wasn't too weird and it helped me remember that he was going to do that to me too.
As expected they also did randori. The two of them did pretty well too.
Then it was my turn. Thankfully my feet had not fallen asleep while I waited in seiza. I was able to knee walk to my spot without embarassing myself. My partner was someone I just met named Karl. He was a fantastic partner with amazing ukemi. He did a fantastic job of making me look good. We began with suwari waza. I think I got most of it. Then to standing. We started with Shomen uchi Ikkyo and then went on into the specified actions for the test.
He threw in a few others, but the only one that I didn't manage was a Kote gaeshi which I just couldn't get.
Once that was finished, it was time for some Randori. We faces 5 blackbelts. That was a little intimidating. I was a little rough and static at first but I managed to find my groove and keep it even after re-spraining my thumb in the middle. My last 4 throws were great.
Sensei was pleased with my variety of technique but felt that I need a longer stance. I'm not sure what that means but bushidoku was generous enough to video my whole test so I'll be able to obsess over it quite a bit once I get a copy.
I wanted to get this down before I forgot any more of the details. There were 5 of us testing that night. One fellow doing his 5th Kyu test and the rest of us (Me, A, a Karate Black Belt and young (tween) girl).
The tradition at our dojo is for there to be a class of some of the more unusual techniques that Aikido has to offer followed by a short break and then the tests. As I was unsure about bus timing I ended up getting there an hour early. I sat and had some smoothie and read an article about the coal ash ponds failing in Tennessee. Eventually I got changed and got on the mat. Sensei K check in with me to make sure I felt ready. I told him how I had been doing visualizations and that I felt like I was in a good place. Then we did some bizarre finishes on Tski Iriminage and then, all of a sudden, it was time to test.
I took a moment to introduse myself to Sensei Don (the head of the Dojo) so that he at least knew what I looked like.
The 5th Kyu and the Black belt did their tests first. On one hand I had to wait, but fortunately I was prepared enough that I didn't start feeling nervous. Their tests went pretty smoothly and while Sensei threw in some unusual stuff, it wasn't too weird and it helped me remember that he was going to do that to me too.
As expected they also did randori. The two of them did pretty well too.
Then it was my turn. Thankfully my feet had not fallen asleep while I waited in seiza. I was able to knee walk to my spot without embarassing myself. My partner was someone I just met named Karl. He was a fantastic partner with amazing ukemi. He did a fantastic job of making me look good. We began with suwari waza. I think I got most of it. Then to standing. We started with Shomen uchi Ikkyo and then went on into the specified actions for the test.
He threw in a few others, but the only one that I didn't manage was a Kote gaeshi which I just couldn't get.
Once that was finished, it was time for some Randori. We faces 5 blackbelts. That was a little intimidating. I was a little rough and static at first but I managed to find my groove and keep it even after re-spraining my thumb in the middle. My last 4 throws were great.
Sensei was pleased with my variety of technique but felt that I need a longer stance. I'm not sure what that means but bushidoku was generous enough to video my whole test so I'll be able to obsess over it quite a bit once I get a copy.