I am SO nervous for Friday...a long one!!

[Shotokan-kez]

Hi everyone. I have a grading on friday, i'm going for 2nd kyu (brown belt with a white stripe) and i'm scared. I started training in Shotokan when i was 8 years old, i am 29 now. I stopped training when i was a purple belt white stripe to have kids and i had ten years or so out. I have only been going back for 8 months and it's just starting to hit home with me how close i am for achieving my goal after all these years.

I have had so many years out of training since being a kid for various personal reasons, and my sensei has always let me come back on my old belt, on the condition that i train for 6 months before i graded.

I just seem to be storming ahead now and it's getting scary, i get butterflies everytime i think about friday. I am also nervous for my boy as he is grading for his green belt (he doesnt seem to care at 9) lol.

So tonight is my last training session at the club before the grading, we are both going to put in our best!! Will let everyone know how we get on friday.

Kez

[Meguro]

It'll all be over soon.

Good luck!

[Dont call me Sir]

Hi everyone. I have a grading on friday, i'm going for 2nd kyu (brown belt with a white stripe) and i'm scared. I started training in Shotokan when i was 8 years old, i am 29 now. I stopped training when i was a purple belt white stripe to have kids and i had ten years or so out. I have only been going back for 8 months and it's just starting to hit home with me how close i am for achieving my goal after all these years.

I have had so many years out of training since being a kid for various personal reasons, and my sensei has always let me come back on my old belt, on the condition that i train for 6 months before i graded.

I just seem to be storming ahead now and it's getting scary, i get butterflies everytime i think about friday. I am also nervous for my boy as he is grading for his green belt (he doesnt seem to care at 9) lol.

So tonight is my last training session at the club before the grading, we are both going to put in our best!! Will let everyone know how we get on friday.

Kez

Kez, what you are experiencing are the effects of adrenaline or to be more accurate, the slow release of adrenaline.

Adrenaline causes the heart rate to increase and as the heart rate increases the more adrenaline is pumped around your body. All this is perfectly natural and the effects can be seen/experienced in all walks of life. Adrenaline is our natural turbo boost.

The feeling of butterflies is one symptom f Adrenaline. The feeling that you are experiencing is the blood rushing to the organs that require oxygen, such as the legs muscles for running, hence the 'draining' sensation you feel in your legs.

Other effects of adrenaline are:

Impaired vision (tunnel vision).

Impaired hearing.

Lack of siliva (dry mouth).

Sweating.

The ejection of the stomach, bladder and bowl contents.

Loss of cognitive thought processes including the loss of Fine Motor Skills.

Time distortion.

Impaired memory retention.

This list goes on.

Relax and take deep breaths to lower your heart rate. The slower your heart, the less adrenaline that'll be pumped round it.

DCMS.

Edited May 24, 2006 by Don't call me Sir!

[Holland]

I went through the same thing from 1st dan to 2nd dan. (9 years in between) and it was nerve wracking.

Just remember, you are more mature and have a better grip on things now. You will do fine.

[Shotokan-kez]

Yeah i will do okay when i get into it. It's worse because they go through all the lower grades first and i have to sit there anxiously waiting for my turn. I can relate to those symptoms of adreniline, the pulse in my throat races like mad and i go dizzy. I will try and stay as calm as possible this time.

Kez x

[gheinisch]

Just relax and have faith in your ability. As I Sensei has told us in the past to try and get us to feel at ease. "You already know evertything you need to know for this grading or else you wouldn't be grading, look at the grading as a way to showcase your knowledge and skill that you have worked so hard for."

Good Luck, you'll do great!

[getawaytkd]

relax, you'll do fine. I felt the same way with my black belt testing, but half-way thru when i saw how well i was doing i just calmed down and continued.

GOOD LUCK!

[Pacificshore]

Good Luck on Friday to you and your son

[Brandon Fisher]

What you are feeling is normal from what I have seen over the past 22 years. Take it in stride and work past it. Don't let it get you down and you will be fine. Best of luck!!

[Dont call me Sir]

Yeah i will do okay when i get into it. It's worse because they go through all the lower grades first and i have to sit there anxiously waiting for my turn. I can relate to those symptoms of adreniline, the pulse in my throat races like mad and i go dizzy. I will try and stay as calm as possible this time.

Kez x

Kez, have a read of this thread...... http://www.karateforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=23891

It may give you some more explanations as to the effects of adrenaline. The way I look at it is that if you understand what is happening to your body, then you can do something about it. You can certainly lessen the effects of arenaline by understanding how it effects you.

Until you grade, surround yourself with positive people and positive things. Think positively and control your breathing and you will be fine. It's no different to when you actually grade. If you make a mistake, breathe deeply, regain your composure and lower your heart rate. Chin up and carry on.

The worse thing you can do is worry and elevate your heart rate as that will inject more adrenaline into your system. Once that downward spiral begins, it's very difficult to stop it.

When I grade students and they totally clam-up, it's down to adrenaline. The brain, which is starved of blood as it rushes to the major muscles and organs, simply cannot process fine motor skills. Long words or even sentences cannot be processed by the brain, hence why in a physical confrontation the words used by aggressors are usually "yeah", "so", "and", "c'mon then", etc, etc. The aggressors become monosyllabic.

Has anyone ever made you very angry and it's not until an hour later you say to someone "I was so so angry, I now wish I'd said......."? The reason you couldn't think straight was down to adrenaline and the break down of cognitive thought processes.

It's the same for 'twisty wristy' techniques. The brain simply can't process them under the effects of adrenaline, hence why even the best martial artists (who know nothing about adrenaline management) revert to using gross motor skill techniques in a 'real' fight, such as Hay-makers, etc.

I think it's vitally important for everyone to understand the effects of adrenaline because it has such a bearing on our everyday lives, let alone in a physical confrontation.

Good luck with the grading, though I'm sure you'll be fine.

DCMS.