Subscribe by e-mailNotes of a training camp - Day 6 (grading)
Day 6 is special in every Veszprem summer camp. There is no weapons training, there is an extended 2 hour training in the morning and no training in the evening. Instead of the evening training, there is one session after the long training in the morning which is devoted to gradings! I have been an active participant in these grading sessions in the two most recent camps (this one and the previous). Last time it was for hakama so I was very excited as I had been looking forward to becoming a student with hakama since the day I started aikido. That grading went well, I felt good about it and I passed. This grading did not change any part of my outfit (still white belt and hakama), it didn't change where I sit in our dojo (which is after Chris who graded for 2nd kyu much before me so she is my senior) but 1st kyu is still a higher level and there are no more kyus before black belt. I felt close to being prepared (I never feel completely prepared no matter what I need to be prepared for) and I was quite confident that we would do a relatively nice demonstration with Chris with whom we had practiced a lot in order to improve our technical and harmony skills.
After the morning training session where we did ushiro waza (attacking from behind) and katadori menuchi (attacker grabs your gi at shoulder, you respond by raising your arm as if cutting shomenuchi, the attacker does the same), there came the exams.
6th and 5th kyu
The 6th kyu exam was very good I think. All three of them were from our dojo, two of them had already had a pre-exam in London, now they all had a 'real' exam in Veszprem and they produced better quality than here so there was no question about the outcome: they all passed. Well done guys!
5th kyu on the left, 6th on the right
Liz and Iain went for 5th kyu and they were also well prepared. They didn't have a pre-exam in London because they were away that day but they were certainly ready for their 5th kyu. Congratulations!
Evaluation and results. Karesz translates in the middle
First the 5th and 6th kyu students all had to demonstrate the basic steps and rolls. After this, one side of the dojo was where the 6th kyu exam took place and the other side was used for 5th kyu. Obviously, 5th kyu lasted a bit longer so after a while everyone was watching Liz and Iain who did not dissapoint.
4th kyu, 2nd kyu and 1st kyu
In the next grading session, the matted area was divided into 5 parts, instead of the above mentioned four. Here is how:
Part one was where people who were not grading sat down and watched the others being examined.
Part two was the opposite side of the dojo where the senseis and yudansha were aligned, and their task was to watch, analyse and examine people who were grading.
In between the two above areas were us. One section for 4th kyu candidates, one for the 2nd kyu people, and one for the 1st kyus (Chris and me).
Suwari waza iriminage
Attila Feher sensei (4th dan) was assigned to the 4th kyu people so it was him who told them what techniques to do. Vass sensei did the same for 2nd and 1st kyu students (the technical repertoire of a 2nd and a 1st kyu is the same, it is the level of execution that should be higher if you go for 1st kyu). Elsner sensei examined all three groups, he was walking from one side of the room to the other and carefully watched every student grading.
4th kyu (far left), 2nd kyu (left and middle) and 1st kyu (right)
Dynamic technique execution (carefully chosen image :) )
This is how I felt about our exam: I felt that we were prepared for 1st kyu. I knew about a lot of my mistakes which I needed to be careful about so I wouldn't commit them during the exam but I thought my technical level was acceptable for 1st kyu. I also thought Chris was also ready but I don't want to write about how she felt about it as my knowledge about it is limited. What I know that she had some digesting (?) problems so she could not produce the quality she expected from herself.
Ryotedori tenchinage
We started in suwari waza (seated techniques) then went on to do hanmi handachi waza (seated defender, standing attackr) and finished in tachi waza (both standing). Obviously, we did several versions of techniques from several types of attacks both in sittig and standing position. As it was the end of a demanding week and we were after a 2 hour training session, our speed of technique execution was not as high as I previously had thought it would be. Thanks to techniques where you can practice holddowns there was also some time to rest a bit (if you are a beginner, this information can come handy when getting tired during an exam). It is said if you can do a technique at slow speed then high speed will come almost automatically. So if we work in harmony and with good enough technical punctuality at a reasonable speed, we should be OK. I made several mistakes during the exam but I think I learn from them, especially after watching and analysing our exam videos. One certainly positive outcome of the week was that, by the time we needed to show our knowledge, my hanmi and stability improved considerably. One positive outcome of the exam was that, after we finished, some yudansha came to us and told us and told us particular points we could improve upon. I'm grateful for them for sharing their knowledge and pointing out mistakes I had not known about until then.
I just want to say thanks here to Karesz sensei who trained us to meet the 1st kyu level and who believed in me and my knowledge even when I didn't.
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