This weekend saw my lad and I head off to Northampton to grade for our next karate belts. I was grading for the 1st Kyu, and my son the 3rd Kyu.
For me, passing was no certainty; in fact I didn’t feel as confident as I would have liked although I had decided to give it a go – my view being “what’s the worst that can happen?”
The answer “I could fail and look/feel like an idiot” but hey, I am no stranger to either scenario – might as well take the risk then!
As is usual with a grading, it involved a lot of waiting around (the examinations tend to start with the junior belts and then work up to the higher ones). Eventually my son got called in and I carried on twiddling my thumbs.
Eventually I got summoned and then prepared to be tested. By this point my son’s exam was as good as over and I hadn’t seen him perform a single basic, kumite or kata.
During my exam I made one or two errors and showed some hesitation on one secondary kata but kept my wits about me and carried on regardless. At the end when I was advised I had made the grade, I was relieved and pleased that I had made the decision to give it a go.
Unfortunately my happiness only lasted as far as the end of the hall when I found my ten year old in tears because he had failed his exam. Though I had much self-doubt in the run up to this grading, I had never been in any doubt that he would pass. I think that he got confused in his kata then panicked, stopped and duly failed. The shame is that I’d seen him do it properly many times before.
He was gutted and I was gutted for him. I’d much rather he’d have passed and I’d not.
Right; that’s more than enough gloom for this post.
What follows is an observation that on this occasion, success is a combination of brown and red (that’s my new karate belt colour). For a seventies stalwart, what better colour combination could there be? In the TISKA world there is no such thing as a brown belt with an orange stripe so this is as good as it gets.
I will have my brown belt with red stripe for some time to come now as the black stripe and full black belt are respectively a minimum of six and twelve months away (and no doubt a lot longer for me).
If I have to keep a belt for a long time then it’s great that it’s this one.
Given my advancing years, declining suppleness and ability constraints, the black belt summit may never be conquered but even if that proves to be true, I’ll take some satisfaction from the fact that I achieved the colourway that perfectly suits my aesthetic.
Blog Home
Blog Library
Home
For me, passing was no certainty; in fact I didn’t feel as confident as I would have liked although I had decided to give it a go – my view being “what’s the worst that can happen?”
The answer “I could fail and look/feel like an idiot” but hey, I am no stranger to either scenario – might as well take the risk then!
As is usual with a grading, it involved a lot of waiting around (the examinations tend to start with the junior belts and then work up to the higher ones). Eventually my son got called in and I carried on twiddling my thumbs.
Eventually I got summoned and then prepared to be tested. By this point my son’s exam was as good as over and I hadn’t seen him perform a single basic, kumite or kata.
During my exam I made one or two errors and showed some hesitation on one secondary kata but kept my wits about me and carried on regardless. At the end when I was advised I had made the grade, I was relieved and pleased that I had made the decision to give it a go.
Unfortunately my happiness only lasted as far as the end of the hall when I found my ten year old in tears because he had failed his exam. Though I had much self-doubt in the run up to this grading, I had never been in any doubt that he would pass. I think that he got confused in his kata then panicked, stopped and duly failed. The shame is that I’d seen him do it properly many times before.
He was gutted and I was gutted for him. I’d much rather he’d have passed and I’d not.
Right; that’s more than enough gloom for this post.
What follows is an observation that on this occasion, success is a combination of brown and red (that’s my new karate belt colour). For a seventies stalwart, what better colour combination could there be? In the TISKA world there is no such thing as a brown belt with an orange stripe so this is as good as it gets.
I will have my brown belt with red stripe for some time to come now as the black stripe and full black belt are respectively a minimum of six and twelve months away (and no doubt a lot longer for me).
If I have to keep a belt for a long time then it’s great that it’s this one.
Given my advancing years, declining suppleness and ability constraints, the black belt summit may never be conquered but even if that proves to be true, I’ll take some satisfaction from the fact that I achieved the colourway that perfectly suits my aesthetic.
Blog Home
Blog Library
Home
RSS Feed
