Another round of testing at the dojo and...

[sensei8]

Congratulations, aurik!!

[DarthPenguin]

Congratulations Aurik

[aurik]

Last Saturday was the next round of testing in Matayoshi kobudo.  Normally our CI requires that we attend two classes in the week we test prior to testing, but last week was a bit of a challenge.  My wife was out of town for work, so I had to get Zach everywhere he needed to go.  Which meant I had to get him to Scouts on Tuesday, which is at the same time as the Kobudo class.  Fortunately one of our senior students runs kobudo classes at a different dojo on Monday/Wednesday, so I was able to train with him Wednesday night.  I also attended the Saturday class and tested immediately following.

This time again, I used my "normal" sized bo instead of the Purple People Beater.  It's a bit of an adjustment; mainly because of the length difference.  The weight difference is easy enough to adjust to though.  Due to the various student's schedules, I was the only student testing this time around, and that was both good and bad.  It was good that I was able to get immediate, individualized feedback from my CI.  It was bad that I didn't have any time to rest between segments.  Unlike Uechi-Ryu, testing in kobudo is cumulative.  When you test for one rank, you need to demonstrate all of your prior material as well.  They also want to see you incorporate new concepts into the prior techniques.  For example, at rokkyu I'll be tested on tonkua (tonfa) techniques which require a lot of hip/body swiveling.  Therefore, I'll be expected to translate these mechanisms into my bo and sai techniques as well.

Short version -- I passed, and I got a lot of good individualized feedback as well.  After the test, I was pretty gassed, so completely forgot to get the picture.  Unfortunately my CI didn't have any green belts in my size, so I repurposed my old karate green belt.  I may end up ordering one from Kaataro.  I really like my black belt from them, and I noticed another student has a green belt from Kaataro as well.

[bushido_man96]

That's great to hear, @aurik!  Congratulations! 

[aurik]

It's been awhile since I posted a test report, and I'll have two coming up within a week!.

This past Saturday I tested for yonkyu (brown belt) in Matayoshi Kobudo.  It was a test of only 2 candidates (they had also had a test the prior week) -- Tim (testing for green belt/shichikyu) and me.  Since our kobudo tests are cumulative, the test started out with performing bo no hojo undo (all 3 levels, in random order), sai no hojo undo (randomly), and tonkua no hojo undo (randomly).  The new material I tested on was bo no hojo undo bunkai, which consists of performing all 3 levels, both attacking and defending.  Each technique has a specific attack and defense associated with it, and you're required to perform each in sequence.  I demonstrated with our CI as my training partner, and he wanted me to perform the techniques in a specific way.  My main concern during the test was in dialing back the power and intensity I was putting into each technique to ensure I was able to finish the test without being completely gassed.

The good news is that I passed, but I received quite a bit of feedback that I'll need to address before my next test:

- My (bo) gedan harai uke needs to adjust its pathing to "catch" the opponent's weapon better

- When performing (sai) chudan osae uke, I need to drop my weight onto the sai more, and the sai prongs should be vertical, not horizontal.

- My (bo) gedan yoko uke needs to be strong from top to bottom, not just the bottom.  This also applies to the chudan nagashi uchi / gedan yoko uke / jodan nanamae uchi sequence

- When performing the (tonkua) chudan tsuki / jodan harai uke / jodan yoko uchi / jodan uchi, when I raise up the (opposing) arm to allow the tonkua to go underneath, I need to visualize that as a block.

So I have a lot of things to work on, but I have time to do it.  I think the new element on the next test is the kata tsushi no kon.

Also, this coming Saturday I'll be testing for my Uechi-Ryu sandan and shihan-dai license.

 

Edited Thursday at 04:30 PM by aurik

[Patrick]

Congrats on the pass, and good luck on the second test!

[bushido_man96]

Excellent work, @aurik, and good luck on the upcoming test as well!

[aurik]

Last weekend was a VERY busy weekend at the dojo.  We had our annual town fair, where our CI has a booth and runs a demonstration every year.  This year he had over 40 students participating in the demonstrations for both karate and kobudo.  We then had the advanced black belt test on Saturday, with 3 nidan candidates, 2 sandan candidates, one godan and one rokudan candidate.  I had some nerves when I was warming up before the test, but the sanchin segment cleared them up pretty nicely.  When you are performing your fundamental kata with someone beating on you, it actually helps you focus (when you've done this long enough, that is).  Our CI's father (we usually just call him Hanshi) did my testing, and he made a point to leave large red fist marks on my pecs, abs, and lats.  My rank kata (kanchin) went extremely well.  I performed it at a speed faster than I intended to, but I was consistent throughout the kata.  The other candidates said I did really well so I'm happy with that.  Everything else went well, I was able to maintain my energy levels for the Seisan bunkai, right up until I bowed to the test board, bowed off the mats, and then all the energy left my body.

Jason, a retired FBI agent and Hanshi's seniormost student, did my oral exam.  It was very different than what I was expecting.  We're generally given an information packet of questions that are likely to be on the exam, including history of Uechi-Ryu, information on key people in our lineage, vocabulary, etc.  

Jason asked me none of those.  He started off by asking me how long I'd been training Uechi-Ryu (a bit over 8 years now), and asked me what struck me as different from Uechi-Ryu from other karate styles -- I discussed how most of the time we started our techniques with an open-handed kamae.  We then discussed the origins and reasons behind that.  It was a very interesting and insightful discussion. 

In the end we all passed.  Heather (our CI's wife) had rolled her ankle earlier in the week and was performing her test with a hairline fracture in her fibula (!!!!).  Fortunately since she had already earned her Shihan license, her exam was just 3 original kata (sanchin, seisan, sanseiryu) + oral exam.  She absolutely nailed each segment, and then once she was out of sight of the judges, she would lay down, stretch out, and regain her composure.

In any case, all 6 of us passed the first test of the weekend:  3 for nidan, Parker and me for sandan, Heather for godan, and Ethan (our CI's younger brother) for rokudan.

Test #2 was Sunday morning.  We had a total of 9 candidates in the morning test: 2 for shodan-sho, 4 for shodan, 2 for nidan, and 1 for sandan.  All of them passed

Test #3 was Sunday afternoon.  Another 9 candidates: 8 for shodan-sho and 1 for shodan.  All passed

That's a total of 24 newly promoted black belts over the course of 2 days.  With the newly minted instructors from Saturday we were able to run the tests pretty quickly, since for certain aspects of the test our CI wants a minimum of 3 evaluators for each candidate; 9 members of the board means we can have 3 pairs at a time performing bunkai, kotekitae, or yakusoku kumite at the same time.

And of course... the requisite photos!

Edited 3 hours ago by aurik

[sensei8]

Thank you, @aurik for this testing cycle post; I always enjoy reading them, and you was no exception.

First of all, congrats to ever testing cycle candidates on doing an outstanding job and passing with flying colors. Especially on your earning Sandan, which to me is an epic accomplishment, imho because other possibilities might start to come your way. 

In reading your your post and viewing your photos, of which I greatly respect, appreciate, and thank you. I couldn’t help but mull over some of my own personal experiences in my yesteryears of testing cycles that I participated in with all of the  trails and tribulations that can occur from time to time.

I admire your dedication for these past 8 years, and your future seems very promising, inspiring, and bright. Your dojo family is very important to you, this shows. Please don’t ever take it for granted like I did, and I know you won’t.

I’m extremely proud of you, your son, and your dojo family. All of you have much to be proud of!!