Last Wednesday I had my grading for my yellow belt. The gradings are always held after class to make sure that you're good and tired and this week was no exception. I tried to take it easy in class but Garry had other ideas; it was one of the toughest sessions in weeks!
For the grading itself I was all on my own which was nice in a way because I knew I had all the attention and it was also really quiet and I could actually hear that 'snap' sound that your gi makes when you kick or punch hard. The downside to grading on my own was that I had no breaks. So it was a short but intense grading. I made a couple of little mistakes but felt like I had done pretty well.
I had to wait until Monday for the results. I got a second class pass - not as good as a first class but not bad I guess :) Gradings are done by a panel of three black belts and they all gave me some really useful feedback on it. The main reason that I was dropped to a second class pass was that the arm position on one of my blocking techniques was incorrect and when turning I had a tendency to end up in a very wide stance. But these are things that are easily fixed in an hour or two. The good news was that Garry said that my sharpness and focus was at the level of a purple belt! And thats the thing that usually takes years to develop so I was extremely pleased with that.
He didn't have any yellow belts in stock so he had to order me one in which he gave me on Wednesday. The damn thing is huge! I can wrap it around myself three times! Oh well :)
Next week I'm off to Ogwen Bank for a week long karate course - 5 hours training a day for 5 days. It's going to be hell but I hope I can stick it out.
Showing posts with label Gradings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gradings. Show all posts
Friday, 4 May 2007
Tuesday, 24 April 2007
Upcoming Courses & Gradings
At karate we have a system to ensure that everybody has had sufficient training before they do their next grading. We each have a card which is a record of our training and at each session it is stamped. At the lower grades you need 25 stamps to be eligible, 50 stamps for the middle grades and 100 stamps at the higher grades.
When I first joined I started from scratch at white belt but I had got to orange as a teenager so it came back to me quickly. My instructor Garry said I should be able to "fast track" through the first couple of grades to get me back to where I was. Unfortunately that hasn't happened and 9 months on I'm only just eligible for my yellow belt grading.
We were due a grading a month ago but it just didn't happen. In 2 weeks time I'm going to a week long intensive karate course - 5 hours of training a day for 5 days! We get 15 stamps for that lot :-) Rumor has it that on that course you are assessed all the way through and if you have improved a lot by the end of the week you may be graded then. So I was hoping to grade a month ago and then be able to grade again on the course and then last week Garry told me that he wouldn't be holding a grading until after it.
However thats changed now. Last night we had a special class which was kind of like a mock grading. Garry has injured his back so he sat down for the duration of the class and made notes on us all. After class he came up to me and said "you're grading Wednesday". Cool huh! I doubt I'll get to grade again at the course as thats too soon but the 15 stamps will get me a long way towards it.
So today I'm skipping the gym this morning (I shoud be there now heh) and I'll take it easy at lunchtime and I'll take it is easy tomorrow as well. I've had a bit of a sore calf from running recently so I'll lay off that for a couple days so I'm as ready as I can be on Wednesday.
When I first joined I started from scratch at white belt but I had got to orange as a teenager so it came back to me quickly. My instructor Garry said I should be able to "fast track" through the first couple of grades to get me back to where I was. Unfortunately that hasn't happened and 9 months on I'm only just eligible for my yellow belt grading.
We were due a grading a month ago but it just didn't happen. In 2 weeks time I'm going to a week long intensive karate course - 5 hours of training a day for 5 days! We get 15 stamps for that lot :-) Rumor has it that on that course you are assessed all the way through and if you have improved a lot by the end of the week you may be graded then. So I was hoping to grade a month ago and then be able to grade again on the course and then last week Garry told me that he wouldn't be holding a grading until after it.
However thats changed now. Last night we had a special class which was kind of like a mock grading. Garry has injured his back so he sat down for the duration of the class and made notes on us all. After class he came up to me and said "you're grading Wednesday". Cool huh! I doubt I'll get to grade again at the course as thats too soon but the 15 stamps will get me a long way towards it.
So today I'm skipping the gym this morning (I shoud be there now heh) and I'll take it easy at lunchtime and I'll take it is easy tomorrow as well. I've had a bit of a sore calf from running recently so I'll lay off that for a couple days so I'm as ready as I can be on Wednesday.
Thursday, 21 December 2006
First Kata Course & Grading
A tradition of the Windsor Higashi club is to have a Christmas night out (for the adults) on the day of the last Kata course of the year. This was held on the 16th. Several people chose to come to the party (on a boat that sailed up and down the Thames) but didn't bother with the kata course. Seeing as I was going to be in London anyway I thought I may as well join in and see what it was all about.
To be quite honest, I didn't think all that much of it. Admittedly, the conditions were not ideal as attendance was very high - over 60 people crammed into a training hall thats much smaller than the one I train in during the week. We literally had about 2 foot square in which to move, and for kata, thats a bad thing!
As a beginner, I am taught kata just as series of karate moves and generally I have to just follow along and copy other people. Its not until a bit higher grade that you start to receive a bit more attention. Kata isn't really just a series of fancy moves for the sake of it; it's a simulation of a combat situation in which you fight off several attackers at once. Knowledge of the combat behind the kata is called 'bunkai'. Occasionally in class, I'll see the higher grades demonstrate this. One person is surrounded by several others who are all being attackers and then each move of the kata is analysed in terms of this combat. Interesting stuff.
I thought that the kata course, being a "course" would be teaching us advanced stuff like this. I thought that the kata would be picked apart and taught in detail but no - we just practised the kata one move at a time just like we do in class. The higher grades got to do some practising of a few specific moves with a partner but for us low grades, we just practised the same kata over and over and over again. Frankly, I was bored to death.
If these courses were held locally then I'd probably still attend them but the trek to London took two hours including an hour long journey on the underground (and I have a bit of a phobia of tunnels so I really dislike the tube), and the ticket was a tenner. My time and money can be better used elsewhere, at least for another few grades.
Oh well.
On the subject of gradings though, after much bugging, Garry finally decided to hold a grading on the last training day before the Christmas break on the 20th. It was originally due to be held in November but some mixups with the venue led to continued delays and it was starting to look like I was going to have to wait until January.
I was really eager to grade because I've done all this early stuff before. I've been training for four months now so I was definately ready for it. The grading was a breeze, and for me, really rather short. For 8th Kyu all that is required are the basic punches (front and reverse), the four basic blocks and a front kick. That's it!
There were two 8th Kyu's going for their yellow belt and for their grading they did the same stuff as me, plus a roundhouse kick (mawashi gaeri) and the first kata, Pinan Nidan. I'm fairly confident I can also do this stuff well so I'll be wanting to grade again at the earliest opportunity.
I received a first class pass which I am very pleased with. I just hope I can continue that standard in the future. I might be impatient when it comes to gradings but deep down I would rather take my time and get a good pass each time than to rush through them and scrape by with a 3rd class pass.
I didn't have any nerves at all. In fact I got a real buzz out of it - I was disappointed that there weren't more people watching! I think some of thoe other people grading were nervous. But all was good, everybody passed in the end!
Now I gotta wait until January 10th before I can train again! That's three weeks, UGH!
To be quite honest, I didn't think all that much of it. Admittedly, the conditions were not ideal as attendance was very high - over 60 people crammed into a training hall thats much smaller than the one I train in during the week. We literally had about 2 foot square in which to move, and for kata, thats a bad thing!
As a beginner, I am taught kata just as series of karate moves and generally I have to just follow along and copy other people. Its not until a bit higher grade that you start to receive a bit more attention. Kata isn't really just a series of fancy moves for the sake of it; it's a simulation of a combat situation in which you fight off several attackers at once. Knowledge of the combat behind the kata is called 'bunkai'. Occasionally in class, I'll see the higher grades demonstrate this. One person is surrounded by several others who are all being attackers and then each move of the kata is analysed in terms of this combat. Interesting stuff.
I thought that the kata course, being a "course" would be teaching us advanced stuff like this. I thought that the kata would be picked apart and taught in detail but no - we just practised the kata one move at a time just like we do in class. The higher grades got to do some practising of a few specific moves with a partner but for us low grades, we just practised the same kata over and over and over again. Frankly, I was bored to death.
If these courses were held locally then I'd probably still attend them but the trek to London took two hours including an hour long journey on the underground (and I have a bit of a phobia of tunnels so I really dislike the tube), and the ticket was a tenner. My time and money can be better used elsewhere, at least for another few grades.
Oh well.
On the subject of gradings though, after much bugging, Garry finally decided to hold a grading on the last training day before the Christmas break on the 20th. It was originally due to be held in November but some mixups with the venue led to continued delays and it was starting to look like I was going to have to wait until January.
I was really eager to grade because I've done all this early stuff before. I've been training for four months now so I was definately ready for it. The grading was a breeze, and for me, really rather short. For 8th Kyu all that is required are the basic punches (front and reverse), the four basic blocks and a front kick. That's it!
There were two 8th Kyu's going for their yellow belt and for their grading they did the same stuff as me, plus a roundhouse kick (mawashi gaeri) and the first kata, Pinan Nidan. I'm fairly confident I can also do this stuff well so I'll be wanting to grade again at the earliest opportunity.
I received a first class pass which I am very pleased with. I just hope I can continue that standard in the future. I might be impatient when it comes to gradings but deep down I would rather take my time and get a good pass each time than to rush through them and scrape by with a 3rd class pass.
I didn't have any nerves at all. In fact I got a real buzz out of it - I was disappointed that there weren't more people watching! I think some of thoe other people grading were nervous. But all was good, everybody passed in the end!
Now I gotta wait until January 10th before I can train again! That's three weeks, UGH!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
