It was a cold, dark winter evening when myself, along with Sensei Keith, Paul and Helen, travelled the familiar route down to Whitchurch, Cheshire, for a black and brown belt course. For everyone else, it was just an ordinary course, the same as all the others that we attend every year. For me, it was very different. I was 95% certain that I would be doing my grading for black belt, or shodan. We had a long and gruelling session on the Saturday (around 3 1/2 hours) with only a couple of short water breaks. The training encompassed everything from kata to kumite. So far, no problems or issues. Everything was going fine.
It came to the evening and everyone was relaxing in the pub playing pool. I found myself partnered with Helen from selby in the doubles game against Sensei Kato. Paul was just gently reminding me that I had my grading tomorrow and that it might be better to allow Sensei to win. Given that I had Helen as my doubles partner, it was a decision I didn't have to make as Sensei Kato wiped the floor with us. He also explained that my technique was very rigid and stiff whilst he was more 'natural'. I think I've heard that before somewhere. I did notice that everyone, especially Sensei Kato, was having a great time so that could only bode well for tomorrow.
I didn't sleep well that night, but that might have something to do with the fact that it was around minus 3 degrees and I was sleeping on the floor with only a sleeping bag and pillow. The following morning came and training began. It was kata, and basic kata at that. The Heian katas and then bassai dai. Hmm, I wonder why we were doing this. I could feel Sensei watching me all the time and correcting me constantly. The training finished, all the black belts moved to the back of the hall and Sensei called out my name. My heart began to race and my mind dissolved into mush. I must confess to not being able to really remember the details of the grading itself, it all happened so quickly. I remember my first kata being Heian Yondan, the kata I probably hate the most. This was followed by Bassai Dai. I then had to do Jiyuu Ippon kumite with a shodan, which was fast and brutal. My nerves did not allow me to breath and I exerted far too much energy with every technique. I was shattered, but still there was more. Sensei called out Paul from Selby to do Jiyuu kumite. I fight with Paul regularly and so I knew what to expect. Strong, direct jodan attacks. This seemed to last forever as my body was drained of energy. I managed to get a few strikes in although I seemed to spend most of my time either blocking or getting hit. Finally, it was all over and uncharacteristically for Sensei Kato, he annunced there and then that a new black belt was born. I smiled but I did not feel anything. It was about two weeks later that I realised I was now a 1st Dan. I recently read something interesting, in Japan the Japanese never refer to someones grade by referring to their belt, e.g. Joe Bloggs is a black belt. This is because the belt is simply an outward sign. The Japanese will always say that Joe Bloggs is a Shodan, which means that he is at the first stage. I am a shodan.
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