Another round of testing at the dojo and...

[Patrick]

Congrats. Happy for you and Zach.

[aurik]

The last few months have been pretty challenging for both Zach and me. I've been fighting issues with my back and a herniated disc. Zach has been having motivation issues and trying to balance school, Boy Scouts (which he just graduated into last month), Karate, and his other interests. Fortunately we both were able to get all of our ducks in a row, and get Zach caught back up on classes so he was able to test last Friday.

This month's testing cycle was so large that they had to split the candidates into two groups and use both dojos (upstairs and downstairs). Zach was in the downstairs group, which was primarily white and yellow belts, along with himself and one candidate for sankyu. As the only advanced brown belt (aka nikyu/ikkyu), there were segments of the test he had to perform alone, such as hojo undo (randomly, in Japanese), Sanchin (including shime testing), sparring (he got to spar our CI), and the bunkai for his rank kata. Our CI had reached out to me wondering if he might want to wait a month when there would be other candidates for his rank testing, but Zach had put in all the effort to get ready for THIS test, and honestly I thought that being the only candidate up there would be a good preparation for when he tests for Shodan-sho -- in that test you are the only candidate performing at any one time.

Since the test took place just after his Friday class (that I was helping teach), I was still in my gi and sitting on the side like a proud papa. He stumbled on one of the hojo undo techniques (the techniques were fine, but he had the vocabulary messed up on one of them). He looked REALLY strong in the kotekitae section and the sanchin testing -- I could tell by the redness on his forearms and the way he was reacting that our CI was not being overly gentle with him. And he handled it like a champ.

At the end of the test they announced all of the promotions for the candidates, and the very final promotion they announced was Zach getting ikkyu! I was so proud of him, and I was able to put the tip on his belt again. And for the obligatory pictures:

And here is Zach doing his Sanchin testing.

[DarthPenguin]

Congrats to Zach on his successful test - well done!

[sensei8]

Yes, Congrats to Zach and the other testing candidates!! Zach is NOW Ikkyu, and that threshold by itself is a special milestone across the board. CONGRATS!!

I gave a knowing nod of appreciation whenever I read about how large the Testing Cycle was because in our Hombu's Annual Testing Cycle held every June and July we had to use the Hombu's Gymnasium AND the first and second floor. Our Annual Testing Cycle at the Hombu takes us 2 weeks to complete.

Soon, Father and Son will both be Yudansha...I'm so excited and proud of you both so very much!! Train hard and train well!!

[bushido_man96]

Congratulations to all!

[Patrick]

Congrats!

[aurik]

This past Sunday was a big day for Zach and me. He tested for (and passed) shodan-sho, and I passed my nidan test!

[Patrick]

Hey, that's awesome. Happy for you both.

[sensei8]

Super Congrats to both of you!! Love the photos, thank you.

[DarthPenguin]

Awesome news! Congratulations to you both

Does Zach have to sit another grading when he turns of age for shodan or does it automatically convert (apologies if it is a silly question - i'm not familiar with how shodan-ho grades work!)