Tonight was the last workout before the kyu test. It’s been a long road for everyone… six months since the last kyu test. The mood in the dojo tonight was pretty nervous. We have a large batch of upper rank students testing for their purple or brown belts and those tests are not easy.
Confidence is sometimes very hard to find when we’re running up to a test because much of the focus is on “polishing up” the students so they perform their best and that means a fair measure of constructive criticism. Because of the number of black belts in our dojo, I have been told that the constructive messages sometimes differ enough to be contradictory, distracting, and sometimes demoralizing. I think that this is something that we as black belts need to figure out how to do better.
Lately I’ve taken the “shut up and train” approach to helping out, only answering questions or making points when I’m asked for an opinion. By making general suggestions and the occassional nit-picky correction I feel like I’ve gotten pretty good results. Dad has told me several times that he’s gotten more than one different take on a technique, kata, or style of sparring from more than one other black belt and that sometimes its hard to decide who to listen to. Especially when your only immediate concern is navigating the test well enough to pass.
My advice for him is that you can’t be everything to everyone, so pick what works for you best and when in doubt, ask
Anyway, soapbox disengaged. We did the test syllabus again tonight, the black belts trained for about 3/4 of the first class and got some sparring in during the second class. The rest of the time was spent eyeballing our test candidates. I have to say, things are looking pretty solid right now. I think we’re going to have a pretty good couple of days here if things remain the same.
For those of you testing: nerves are normal. They can help you out in this situation, because your body knows what its doing. Everyone has trained enough now, and if you don’t have it yet you’re not going to get it in time for the test. Simply go out there and give it your best.
If you don’t advance at all, come back to the dojo on Thursday and train some more. If you get a kari belt, same instructions. If you get a full belt, same instructions. Be proud of your training, be proud of your experience, and most of all remember that Karate is a journey that lasts a lifetime.
Best of luck to those that are testing. We’ll be there for you on Thursday regardless of the outcome, so give it your best. Osu!
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that is the one thing i really liked about our dojo. all of the different black belts telling you different things, it gave you more of a variety of things as to find what works best for you. alot of the times you were all telling me pretty much the same thing, just saying it different, and that helps alot. it has given me a good perspective on things, when ubba or what ever his name is isnt there, and someone asks a question, i am generally the only one with an answer.
also for those who are testing, remember a test is only a mirror. you are what you are, so if you arent there yet, dont be dissapointed. Just train harder as to be more ready for the next one. plus remembering that helps with the jitters.
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