shodan testing, pt. 3

--originally posted Friday, December 9, 2011--


     The one other shodan candidate who hadn't been able to come Monday showed up on Thursday. He had intended to review testing material over the weekend - not a good practice, to wait until the weekend before - but some things came up that demanded his attention. So he hadn't had time to study and he hadn't done much movement in the past week. Tucker-sensei summarized Duncan's test very well: what he knew, he did great, and what he didn't know... not so great. The rest of us had gray areas, but Duncan was very black and white. It was very frustrating, watching him not remember some very simple techniques, because I know he knows them. We train a lot together, since he's about my size and shares my flexibility. And we've been fairly matched in rank since the beginning (though he was green when I started as a white), so he's also a comrade.
     It's so hard to watch someone struggle when you want them to succeed. The worst was when I could see that his body knew what to do, but his brain was getting in the way. Tucker-sensei told him a few times to just let his body move, but he didn't quite get there. I'm not sure, but I think Sensei almost didn't let him go on to the randori section, and he would remain a 1st kyu - we deliberated over it after he had finished all the techniques in the requirements. He absolutely needs to learn those techniques, but in the end we decided that he had the spirit and he could certainly learn the techniques and do them well, but he hadn't prepared enough. He was ready in every other way, in my opinion, and those ways are what matter more (also in my opinion). He did pretty well in the randori section, which I was pleased to see.

     You learn so much from watching someone else test. You can see how stress affects other people, see how their body knows things their brains do not, and how they can quickly forget things (especially noted in some of the uke who worked with him; they didn't always remember the attack they were supposed to do, even though they tested it this week). It also showed me some things about myself, particularly that I'm too attached to my desire for others to progress. The ones I'm not attached to, I ranked lower than Tucker-sensei did. The ones I am attached to, I either ranked higher or had more hope for. Looking back, I agree with Sensei's decision on the first 2 placements. And looking at our newest shodan, I still believe that he was ready, but he better learn those techniques. Just because we don't have to test officially anymore doesn't mean he doesn't need to know them. One, because they're pretty basic, and we all ought to know them. Two, because it will show that he really does want to meet the qualifications of a shodan, in spirit and skill. And three, because we'll have to teach these things at some point, and it's pretty difficult to teach something you don't know or have a good grasp of.

     Anyway, so that was that. Some of us went out to On Tap afterward, and just chatted and laughed and hung out until about one in the morning. A great end to the day. :)