2005 Workout #87: Mapleton Belt Test…

Tonight was Round One of two scheduled rounds of kyu rank testing at our dojos.

led the first class through a warmup consisting of deep stances and calls for more spirit. Much stance was had by all. Wish I could say the same for the spirit…

The test itself went very well. Everyone (even The Questionables) tested quite well, and everyone passed to some degree or another. There were a few kari ranks, but by and large everyone did a nice job.

I had the esteemed pleasure of being appointed to spar with McCabe-san who was testing for brown belt. I get nervous whenever I have to spar with people that are testing, because I know what adreniline can do. He had some trouble blocking and ducking his head, which goes to prove the point that the things that you are used to doing will come out on the exam whether you like it or not. I may have gotten a bit keyed up and went a little faster than I should have, but I did exercise the appropriate control and when he was attacking he did pretty well.

That’s all I have to say about that for now.

One nice thing… ‘s daughter passed her purple belt test, and due to an accounting error we ran out of purple belt. Sensei let Hickman-san present his daughter with his purple belt, which will stand to be a nice memory for them I’m sure. She did a nice job, it was neat to get to see her face light up. That makes our job fun.