(Senseis corner) This Saturday, March 15 2014., We will start the testing for Shodan. The past few months on my Aikido road trip, I had the opportunity to be the chairman of the examination board for 2nd and 3rd Dan testing. For the students, a highlight of this kind of seminar is the black belt testing. To be honest with you, it is not always a highlight for me. Sometimes--because of his or her performance on a test--I have to fail a student. And no instructor likes to do that. I would like to point out a few things which I noticed when I conducted the tests. I am pointing out these points because I think it will be helpful to you in your every training. What amazed me most was that some of the people taking tests were not able to perform clearly even basic techniques such as Kotemawashi Ude Osae through Kotehineri,,,,,, and also shihonage. Some people didnt even know the names of these common techniques. I understand that, these Japanese names make it difficult to remember or to be familiar with. But I think familiarity or lack of familiarity with those common techniques names depends on your attitude in daily practice. Another thing that I also noticed, is that many people are interested in doing fancy movements or techniques that they are copied them from utube. Please remember that those fancy techniques on Utube are quite different from a relative beginner performing these movements. And this difference is obvious to an experienced Aikido Sensei. The technique of the advanced student reveals a thorough grounding in the fundamentals and basics of Aikido--her or his technique has backbone; a beginners fancy technique lacks the basics-it is only surface technique with nothing inside. It is surprising to me that there are some instructors who teach only Ukemi (rolling movements) to beginners and who do not teach the basic elements of the techniques such as 180, 90 Tenkans and footwork. It makes me wonder whether, these instructors realize how important it is for a student to have these basic elements so that later on if he or she wants to, he or she can perform the fancy movements. To give you an example of this failure to perform the basics: I noticed, on the tests, that a number of people were not able to do Ushiro waza correctly! Let us all make sure that we practice the basics in our daily classes. Obviously, the people who take black belt tests are either in their third or fourth year. There ability should be on a level almost equal to that of a shodan. My thinking is that a shodan test is really a formality, one which demonstrates how your basic Aikido skills have been polished. So I would like to ask those instructors who give kyu tests to be a little more strict when they give the first kyu examination, so that their students will not embarrass themselves or their instructors when they take shodan tests. That will make testing a highlight of the seminars for me, too. Talking of another aspect of testing: sometimes I over heard people complaining the merits of one test or another. Such as: How did he ever pass? or I would never have passed her, etc. Before I go into more detail about the determining factors we use in promoting people, let me say this: the attitude expressed in those kinds of remarks is absolutely wrong--it has no place in Aikido. We, as Aikido-Ka, must have big hearts, and congratulate each other on our achievements. Needless to say, in order to pass a test, a student should be able to perform at a certain level at test time. However, an examiners judgment might be based on one or more of the following factors: 1) length of involvement in Aikido 2) day to day attitude 3) physical handicap 4) effort -- we all have different physical abilities but it is really effort that counts the most. So, as a student of Aikido please keep in mind the fact that there are many considerations involved in deciding on promotions others than the technique it self.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 03:26:28 +0000
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