Congratulations to our students who successfully graded! Congratulations as well to all those who were successful in their attempts. And, of course, to those who weren’t successful, I hope you consider how you can improve to attain that next level.
A few observations.
Someone described some of the 1st kyu gradings as “rhinoceros kendo”. That describes a jitsugi (demonstration of the skill of the applicants) where both participants charge in for strikes, follow through, then turn and repeat the same strike (usually men) over and over again. I don’t think that’s what the judges want to see, but then again, those participants often pass as they are able to demonstrate they know how to make a basic hit. Inelegant, but apparently effective as I think even the “rhinos” passed their examinations.
The demonstrations of Bokuto ni Yoru Kendo Kihon-Waza Keiko-Ho at the 1st kyu level were predictably “okay”. It was obvious some people hadn’t practiced them enough, but even though there were some who did them incorrectly, I don’t believe anyone failed as a result.
Shodan level gradings didn’t always look much better than the 1st kyu gradings. It was interesting to see some of the challengers using big strikes during their jitsugi. There’s nothing wrong with doing so, but it wasn’t the norm.
I didn’t watch the 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 5th dan candidates. I was focused on those going for 6th and 7th dan. Of the four attempting 6th dan, only one candidate was successful. No 7th dan candidates were successful.
A surprise this year was the kata performance of the 7th dan candidates. There was a very comprehensive kata seminar held in the fall. From my perspective, none of the 7th dan candidates incorporated shidachi’s “triggers” into their kata which one might have expected based on perspectives about kata and grading shared at the seminar. This was a surprise, and could have been a contributing factor as to why nobody passed.
Grading was run quite smoothly this year and finished around 1:40.
Between the tournament and the grading, this has been quite the kendo weekend. Lots learned and much to incorporate for my future grading attempts.