September 16, 2006

3rd kyu

Testing was this morning. Big I and I both passed. I need a shower.

I was the highest rank at testing today which means that as the others tested and bowed off of the training floor, I stayed and stayed and stayed. The person doing our testing today was the head of the dojo. He’s a 5th degree black belt. He started doing karate in 1976.

We went by rank and it went relatively fast since there were four sets of ranks testing. There were people testing for 9th kyu (white with one stripe), 8th kyu (white with two stripes), 6th kyu (green belt one stripe), and I was the lone one going for 3rd kyu (brown belt one stripe). I went into this testing feeling very confident. I’ve been practicing on a regular basis, running through all of the kata’s and waza’s at home. I’ve been working with Big I every day on her material as well. I’ve been working on my self-defense with my husband and figuring out what works for me and what doesn’t. There’s nothing like walking into the dojo with confidence on testing day. It feels great. . .

. . .right up until the point where your sensei makes you freeze mid-kata so he can evaluate your stance. You know it’s going downhill from there. During my one kata, Pinan Sandan, I was supposed to be in a seisan position (one leg forward, front knee bent), but instead of keeping my back leg mostly straight, I was bending it a bit too much. You would think that the gi pants would disguise this, but as my instructor pointed out, they actually draw more attention to the fact that you have a bend in your leg.

*Note to self-Starch gi pants heavily before next testing.

I was also asked to freeze while demonstrating my side kick. I wasn’t turning my foot on the ground at a great enough angle. It was a minor adjustment, but still, I get disappointed in myself when I don’t have it perfect.

My weapons kata, Kyan No Sai, was the one I felt the most confident with, but the beginning moves of this one were also not exactly right. One instructor at our school teaches you to just bring the sai out in front of you; the other teaches to bring the sai up over your head and out. I was doing the former and needed to be doing the latter. It was also a minor adjustment, but disappointing none-the-less.

During a moving Nai Hanchi 10-step blocking drill with foot shift and punch, I was not getting into a deep enough nai hanchi stance (knees bent and legs out as if riding a horse).

I felt lousy. I had walked in with all the confidence in the world, and was afraid I wasn’t even going to pass. My instructor quickly put that fear to rest. He told me that what I was doing things right, but that there were just some minor adjustments. Now’s the time to fix them.

I agree. I’d rather know now what I need to work on so that when I’m getting ready for black belt testing, I’m not panicking and trying to relearn things that I was doing incorrectly.

So, I’ve passed and am moving up in the ranks. I’m proud of my accomplishments thus far, but know there’s a long way to go. I also know that with a brown belt comes greater scrutiny and higher expectations.

Big I and I will be promoted this week, so look for a new picture later this week, sporting the must have color for fall: brown. It’s time to say goodbye to the green. . .

If you are not familiar with Karl of Secondhand Tryptophan, you should really make yourself familiar now. You’re missing out on a lot of fun. Karl is getting famous for lip syncing and very interesting performances. For Karl’s 40th birthday, he decided to solicit dares from his readers. He chose five and is doing one on each day leading up to his birthday. Today he posted Dare #4, a challenge from me which was to sing, "Buttons" by The Pussycat Dolls. Instead of doing so in the comfort of his own home, I dared him to do so in public. He is a trooper. You can check it out here, and you might want to scroll back through the other birthday dares and singing/dancing performances because they are nothing short of hysterical. Make sure you tell him "Happy Birthday" while you’re there.