Fun at Evaluations

[still kicking]

Our school just went through another testing/evaluation cycle this week, and I had the best time ever! How we do it is, 3 times a year we have an all school evaluation. Everyone (ideally) participates and gets written feedback on their performance, and those who are ready to get promoted at the time will go up to the next rank. Past the beginning kyu levels, hardly anyone gets promoted after 4 months, so you really aren't expecting it in the first eval after you've gotten promoted. I have found that I've enjoyed these the most, because I am not feeling the self imposed pressure to get the rank, and can focus on just doing my best. I know, it's supposed to be that way all the time, but I'm not there yet.

Anyway... I am not even eligible to move up (next chance will be in Hawaii next March, for shodan-ho, if all goes well!). It was a blast to just be there as one of the higher ranking colored belts, and to focus on being "sempai". Some people were really nervous after bombing out several times in a row, or just get nervous about performing, some didn't know how to fill out their forms, etc., and it felt good to be able to help with all that, as so many have helped me in the past.

The highlight was that one student, who struggles with some disabilities, finally got her (7th kyu) purple belt! She's probably been training with us for 4 years now and has been a 2nd blue belt forever. She is also one of the most tenacious and hard working students in the school. When it was announced that she was promoted to 7th kyu, the whole school whooped and hollered! Several others got their purple belt, though will less angst involved, as well. One of the teen boys got his brown belt, and he acted all cool as if it was no big deal, but then when his dad came to pick him up, he tied in on and grinned, finally admitting that it was kind of a big deal. All in all, it was a very fun couple of nights!

[Patrick]

Thanks for sharing that, still kicking.

Patrick

[DWx]

That's awesome still kicking. Especially about the lady who got her 7th kyu.

We've just had a guy get his 1st dan after nearly 11 years. He's deaf and blind on one side (after having a stroke a number of years ago). So awesome to see people who stick with it and try so hard finally get ranked up.

[Jeffrey]

Thank you for sharing this. It is great to hear stories like this.