#3rd kyu

KIHON

Empi Zuki (in Kiba Dachi), Gyaku Zuki - (step in elbow strike to stomach, reverse punch to face)

Surikomi Sokuto Jodan

Ushiro Geri Jodan

Mikizuki Geri - (crescent kick)

Ushiro Makikomi Chudan - (spinning side kick with heel to stomach)

Tobi Kobi Zuki, Gyaku Zuki, Sokuto

Mawashi Geri, Gyaku Zuki, Sokuto, Uraken, Gyaku Zuki (all Jodan)

TENHON

No 1 to 7

SANBON

No 20, 22, 25 and 27

OYO

No 3 and 10

KATA

Basic Kata – at examiners’ discretion

Advanced Kata Empi

Advanced Kata Ku Shanku

MISC

Free sparring

Junior Refereeing (assistant) of Kumite

i'm actually not shouting and jumping around all elated.

I'm happy, but right now its the kind of exhausted happy, so I'm gonna enjoy tonight's coma, deal with the next couple days of labs, then celebrate.

I am in so much pain.

I'm quite relieved and happy that my 3rd Kyu test is over and that I passed. These last three months have been full of long, hard training. I feel like I should be taking a break at this point, but I'm sure it's only beginning. Besides, I love Aikido too much to take any kind of break; rather, I'll likely be trying to relax rather than worry so much about having every technique down. I believe the minimum waiting requirement to test for 2nd kyu after 3rd kyu is 6-9 months, so I won't likely be testing again until at LEAST December.

Right after the test, I didn't feel too great about it at all because I was more focused on how much I struggled with 2-person randori. I don't have a problem keeping them away from me, but I have a lot of difficulty with completing throws. As a result, they were able to pile up on me and then everything REALLY went nowhere. I'll ask Sensei and Melissa and Mikey to hold more randori-focused classes; it's something I want to work on.

Despite not feeling great about the test, I went home to watch the video and found out I make an exponential improvement since our Jiyuu-waza practice on Saturday! There were two key sources that facilitated the improvement: (1) Before the test, Shawn spent 30 minutes with me just working on footwork to keep me moving. I'm so thankful! (2) I had made a music video from clips of our practice on the Saturday before the test, and because I had watched the music video so many times, I was able to study my Jiyuu-waza in detail and formulate a list of things I wanted to improve on: move my feet more, clean up my footwork, and blend more. I absolutely made an exponential improvement on all of these things. I don't intend to sound overly-self satisfied -- it's just that I never expected to make that kind of improvement in a matter of DAYS.

In fact, improvement like that in Aikido usually never happens in a matter of days, unless there have been countless hours of focused training, which I didn't have with Jiyuu-waza. Aikido is a martial art that simply takes time; skill sinks in slowly. I suppose you could say it "ages" because you can't beat time. There's usually no way around it. Anyone who comes into Aikido thinking they can master the art quickly might be a little delusional. Sure it's possible to become aware of all the various techniques, and sure it's possible to be able to do the techniques to some extent, but the details and finer points of techniques in Aikido go way deep, and your body and mind come to move and adapt in a way that can't be accelerated.

Given that, I never expected to see that I would blend so smoothly in techniques and keep moving and using clean footwork so consistently. Of course it wasn't perfect, but it was such a huge improvement that I couldn't have asked for anything better of myself. I feel like I was able to demonstrate my skill level and take the experience and move forward with my training. I've made a new music video (a "re-make," essentially) of the video we took of the jiyuu-waza portion of the test that took place on Friday, June 3rd. Hopefully I can watch this several times and study it enough to figure out more things I want to work on.

With 3rd Kyu at Utah Aikikai comes the privilege of wearing a hakama, which is usually reserved for students of Shodan level or higher in most dojos. For that reason, I had quite a mental block about wearing one at first, but after wearing it five times for kids class, I can happily say I'm able to put the mental block aside, and I've actually again started looking forward to wearing the hakama, even at this level. It's comfortable, it helps me keep my posture, and it forces me to be more precise in my movements (otherwise you might trip on it and fall, haha). Strangely, I think it adds a lot more than appearance to training; I'm hoping it actually will help my Aikido.

So anyway, what happens now? The stars are shining bright in Aikido. I actually have a "teaching schedule" for kids class now: Mondays and Wednesdays, and helping Marc P. on Thursdays and Tim on Saturdays. I'm sure that I'll be helping more until I'm once again employed. In the mean time I'm trying to make whatever contribution I can to the family by selling jewelry and doing portrait photography, perhaps even some webdesign if I can find the opportunity.

I'm thinking about asking Mark S. if I can take 15 minutes of class time on Sundays to practice teaching basics for an adult class so that I can become comfortable with the idea of teaching adults. Sunday classes are usually pretty quiet and flexible. I know that they're possibly looking for someone to take over Sundays, and if was qualified, I'd be happy to try. With a little practice, maybe it's possible.

After the test, we hung out in the dojo for a while and talked, and then after that, we went out to celebrate. Bella and I were treated to dinner for passing our tests, which I really appreciated. It was a great time! We laughed and talked and took silly pictures. We should do that more often. We've been talking about doing a weekly movie night. We'll have to see if we can make it happen.

Anndd, last announcement: I officially accepted the offer to join the deshi group. I'm really excited about it, and I'm still in a little bit of disbelief about the offer. I consider being a (soto) deshi as having the opportunity to be an important part of the dojo, and despite what I've always tried to do to help out, I never really considered myself to contribute to the dojo in any significant way. Being a deshi gives me a more concrete way to contribute, and that makes me happy. :)