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!