There’s an “unwritten” rule of kendo that one shouldn’t ask one’s sensei if you are ready to grade. If you have to ask, you probably aren’t. If you were ready, your sensei would have told you to get your registration in. Or something along those lines.
My suggestion to those wondering whether they’re ready to grade is to look at those who have gone before them. We are fortunate to have examples of our students successfully grading for 1st kyu and shodan captured on video. These videos are available in our video library for the world to see.
Being able to see what a passing grading “performance” looks like is very helpful, especially if you are able to compare a video of you doing keiko. If your kendo closely resembles a passing performance, then assuming you know your kata or kihon-waza with bokuto, you should have a reasonably good chance of passing. If not, then you know you can focus on improving your kendo further until then next grading event.
Another point to remember is that you should pay attention to BOTH people in the grading video. The pass rate for 1st kyu and shodan is relatively high. It’s likely that everyone in the video passed their examination. Ask your sempai if the people they sparred with in grading also passed. It’s easy to assume that the “stronger” person passed and the “weaker” person failed, but grading is not shiai. If the examiners see what they’re looking for in your kendo, you’ll pass.