Wish Me Luck

[gamedweeb]

Well I'm driving down for my last Provisionary Black Belt Test. Assuming I pass I'll be testing for 1st Degree in October!

[bushido_man96]

Best of luck to you! Let us know how it goes.

[obiwansbane]

hey good luck! i hope you get it! be sure to come bak n tell us how it goes

[french fri25]

good luck dude!!

Make sure not to eat mexican food before the test!!

[ShotokanKid]

Good luck!

[lordtariel]

Best of luck! Remember... we like updates.

[Patrick]

Good luck.

[stejitsu]

good luck mate

[gamedweeb]

I passed! I Passed! I PASSED!

Hey, thanks for your support everyone! Hopefully this post isn't an overload. But here's a full report of the nights activities for those that are interested.

Here's how it went: I left early for West Jordan, I wasn't sure how bad traffic was going to be on I-15 with construction and getting hit with rush hour on Friday. I ended up being there two hours before the studio opened. So I ended up reading most of the Art of War in my car.

This was my first regional test so I was nervous. I was worried that I was the only one testing for Han Ban Bu for a while, but then there were people that showed up from Park City and a guy from Drapper that came. So that was good. Lets there were some people from West Jordan testing and there were five of us from Logan that were testing.

The studio opened at five, I went in paid my fee and handed in my thesis. Then headed to the back and got changed. The test started a little late. I think it was because my Instructor was late and he was on the panel. We lined up by rank, then moved on onto the floor. We started off with basics, a few different kicks from a guarding stance, then strikes from a horse stance. Then they divided us up by rank into groups.

They rotated us through group by group for katas. Those of us that were testing for Han Ban Bu performed Heian Shodan, Jion, Kan Ku Dai, and Long 1. I got to watch the Black Belts that were testing for degrees perform Short 2, 3rd Exam, and Kanku Sho. That was awesome to see.

After forms we moved to Self Defnse. We Chan Ban were tested on Haulting Ram (defnse against a tackle from the front), Circling Wings (two handed choke from the front or rear), Locked Wing (a hammer lock), Five Swords (a roundhouse punch), Flashing Wing (straight punch), Sophisticated Crushing Hammer (grab from behind, arms pinned), Repeating Wings (grab from behind arms free), and Grip of Death (sucker punch into a head lock). When we started Self Defense I was getting tired. I think it was due to the stress and the fact that it was hot in the building. I startled some people when upped my intensity and started yelling with my kiais to bring up my internal reserves... It's amazing to me how well that works to bring my energy level up when I'm tried.

After self defense we moved to Sparring, I knew it was goining to be fun when I was warming up and was able to throw a side kick into a double roundhouse, into a hook kick followed by a back hand, to an L2 to the body. Luckily there were two guys that were testing for the same rank that were the same size as me. I discovered that my tactics work against other people with long arms and legs as well as they do against short (I'm the biggest guy at my stuido). It was lots of fun!

There were 21 people promoting, about half of them were testing for 1st Degree Black, 1 was going for 2nd Degree, and two were going for 3rd. There were 5 of us testing for Han Ban Bu (last rank in Provisionary, next rank is 1st degree). The organization was trying a new method of testing using a point system. They're tring to do an objective method of testing. The panel (3 3rd degrees, and 2 5th degrees) went into the office to confer about the results. 5 minutes later they came out and informed us about the new point system they were trying. Points were added for things and points were subtracted for doing things. Then they told us that we had all passed.

That was a good thing, Master Lawrence upped the bar for passing a couple tests ago and no one passed! So all the studios had to up the bar to make sure that people would pass. The testing proceedure was also changed so that only the people going for Han Ban Bu and above would have to attend regional tests. But then those that were going for 1st degree and above also had another test before Master Lawrence. I guess that's happening next week.

I might be posting another wish for good luck next week because they're doing Instructor Certification/Advancement at the same time next week. So I might go for that next week, or it might be when I go down to test for 1st degree (assuming I pass the regional exam).

All I can say is WOW!!!! Two years of hell, and three years of training are finally starting to pay off. I've been working part time, going to school mostly full time for the past two years, working on a Black Belt for three years, and doing Instructor Training for almost two years now.

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!! I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED! Thanks again for your support everyone!

[gheinisch]

Congrats! Nice job. Keep up the hard work and training.