Shodan shinsa - black belt test!

Erica receiving her black belt from Arakawa Sensei in the Shiramizu dojo several days after the shodan test. (check out the pink Japanese tabi socks...!)

Also, click here Erica's short bilingual video message on the first night of wearing her new black belt! (From Sensei's blog!)

Erica here.

Last Monday, the 22nd of March, about 15 Shiramizu members and myself attended the shodan test (Wadokai Kanto Area Dan Examination, or in Japanese, Wadokai Kanto-chiku Shodan Shinsa, 和道会 関東地区 昇段審査) in Chiba. Because the Shiramizu tournament was on the same day, we participated in the opening ceremony that morning first before rushing off to the exam.

Kikuchi Sensei accompanied us that day and we arrived just in time for the pre-test seminar. There were about 90 people in total I would guess. About 70 were there to try for their shodan (1st degree) and most of them were kids and teens along with a few university students. I think I may have been the oldest person in the shodan category =_=' The other 20 were candidates for nidan and sandan (2nd and 3rd degree) and most of them were adults.

We were all seated on the gym floor and called up 5 at a time to do standing kihon and ido kihon. After a short break we were called up again to do 1 kata (for the shodan candidates) or 2 (for the nidan and sandan candidates). After another break, we were asked to do kihon kumite and free kumite right after that. Now all this may not sound very difficult and in essence it shouldn't be because we should have trained so much that it comes to us naturally when we are up there. The thing that got me the most that day were my nerves. I couldn't even think about what I was doing because I just blanked out. Fortunately, my muscle memory kicked in and carried me through.

It took about 4 hours to get through everyone and in reality we only spent about 5 or 6 minutes in total up there in front of the examiners and everyone else. At the very end, results were announced. Most shodan candidates passed, but only a few of the nidan and sandan candidates passed. Of course, all the Shiramizu members received a pass! It was a happy day for all, except for the fact that we had to miss the Shiramizu tournament to be at the exam =(

Sorry, I was too distracted to take pictures..so there are none for this post. Gomenasai!

(Editor's note: We're of course very happy Erica passed her shodan in Japan! This is exactly what we're hoping for from all the interns each year, to try hard continuously to the point they have developed to the next level in their Karate, and then they can formally realize that improvement by passing a milestone event here like achieving their next dan rank! Just aiming to pass the next dan test only is not the goal, but more a recognition that the efforts they put into their daily training are paying off.)

Pre-Dan Grade Assessment, Shiramizu

Photo was taken from the blog of Arakawa Sensei...

After the usual training on Saturday, Shiramizu had a Pre-Dan grade assessment for 11 students. 5 students were 1st kyu, and going for 1st dan, the other 6 students were going for 2nd or 3rd dan.

This was good to watch as both Amy and I have the goal of taking our next rank whilst in Japan, this would therefore give us an idea of what to expect.

The standard of each student was assessed by 4 of the Shiramizu Instructors; Arakawa Sensei, Uehara Sensei, Iwasaki Sensei and Kikuchi Sensei.

The 'grade' started with all the students and instructors bowing together. Then the students took the floor in groups of two or three and announced which Kata they would be demonstrating. They had a choice of Chinto, Seishan and Naihanchi.

Most people who stood up chose to perform Chinto. I must say, that out of the three kata, it would also be my first choice. The various dan grades in particular were very sharp in their kata, and all of their performances were excellent.

After everyone had taken their turn at kata, it was time to move onto kumite. Students were lined up opposite each other, and each pair was called up in turn to fight. In my opinion, this was typical dan grade fighting, which always has heavier contact than tournaments due to the extra nerves of taking a grading. The fighting was pretty good, with Yuki Okamura stealing the show in both of his bouts (he had to fight twice because of the odd number).

After the kumite, the students bowed out, which I was surprised at. I was expecting a demonstration of kihon kumite and basics. The instructors went into the office to discuss each student's performance and after a while, they came back out and each gave a short speech on what they thought about the everyone's performance.

All but 2 students were selected to go for their grade, with a few being given small pointers as to what they can improve on. The grade will be taking place soon in Chiba prefecture.

I spoke to Yoshihara Sensei after the grading to find out what else the actual dan grade consisted of. I was informed that students must perform basics, two kihon kumite (1 from no's 1-4 and 1 from 5-8). Students must also perform 1 mandatory kata (Chinto, Seishan or Naihanchi) and one other advanced kata, and lastly do kumite.

I would say that there is less to remember in terms of content than in the UK, for example, their is no tanto dori to demonstrate. However, the standard expected is much higher. Also, from what I've been told, the dan grade courses usually have a lot of people grading. Therefore, you have to be particularly exceptional to stand out.

I look forward to us taking our dan grade test...

Carl