Start of Tekki Shodan

We returned to Willesden Sports Centre on the 27th March 2009 for our 3rd Kyu grading (brown belt) following an eventful day where the MiniNinja was meant to be taking it easy but ended by badly grazing his knee following a fall from his scooter on a reckless charge down a steep hill.

MiniMe was on school holiday for this grading day so I took the day off work to look after him at home so we could get some final practice for the grading and generally take it easy so we were not worn out. During the afternoon we took a trip to a local park with MiniMe planning to zip around the play area on his scooter. However, despite my warnings to only use the scooter in the play area,he went charging off down a steep hill and was quickly out of sight before I could stop him. I found a very tearful little boy on the ground at the bottom of the hill with blood all around the rips on his jeans. I had to carry him and the scooter back up to the car but even in this distressed state he was still adamant that he was going to karate training / grading that night.

After spending the rest of the afternoon washing out his scooter wounds and bandaging him up, we headed to Willesden Sports Centre for training with Sensei Ohta followed by our 3rd kyu grading. I talked to Sensei Sue before the training to explain that MimiMe had injured his knee and was limping a bit so would probably have some difficulty kicking with his left leg.

End of Tekki Shodan

Even before we started the training session MiniMe was having issues with the strapping around his knee and the cuts were bleeding again so much that red marks started to appear on his trousers. I patched him up again with the contents of the first aid kit I keep in our training bag and told him to take it as easy as possible with his leg. We made it through the training although I admit to spending most of the session carefully watching MiniMe in case he was having problems. I was still worried whether he would be able to take part in the grading but the adrenalin must have carried him through the training session.

He was still in pain though so following another quick chat with Sensei Sue she promised to pass on a message to Sensei Ohta that MiniMe had injured his leg should may have difficulties through some of the grading. We soon had to forget about injured legs and focus on the grading; our syllabus consisted of:

• Basics (Chudan  Jun-zuki, odan Age-uki+Gyaku-tsuki, Chudan Soto-uke+Gyaku-tsuki+Yoko Empi, Chudan Uchi-uke+Gyaku-tsuki, Shuto-uke+Nukite, Mae-geri, Rengeri, Mawashi-geri, Yoko Ke-age, and Yoko Ke-komi)
• Kata (Tekki Shodan)
• Kumite (Kihon Ippon Kumite (Jodan, Chudan, Mae-geri, Yoko Ke-komi /left/right)

The grading at Willesden is slightly different to Vale Farm Sports Centre in that you start basics facing a much larger group of anxious parents and I found it a little daunting moving towards an audience. There is no respite as you turn either since a bank of mirrors gives you the view of moving towards yet another audience. Ultimately though it’s just the opinion of the Sensei judging you for basics and the Sensei judging kata and kumite that really count.

As usual I was up in one of the first groups since the adults grade first and I was quickly through basics and in front of Sensei Ohta to perform kata. It was probably one of my strongest kata performances in a grading and I enjoy Tekki Shodan so I was pleased with how things went. Finally I went through the kumite sequence, which can can vary on difficulty dependent on who your assigned partner is. If you are partnered with someone who is confident in what they are doing then kunite will generally go very smoothly. However, if your partner is all over the place then kumite is ‘interesting’ to say the least. We are taught to perform the kumite correctly anyway and we should react correctly but if your partner is wild and announces on attack then launches another then you need your wits about you.

Ohta Sensei

My grading sequence was soon over so I sat and watched the other groups go through until MiniMe started his basics. I did not see any problems from where I was sitting and there was no comments from Sensei so he was soon through to kata. I though MiniMe performed Tekki Shodan strongly although he did make one error that Sensei did not seem to notice since his head was down making some notes at that split second. Sensei did shout some comments about the kicks made by MiniMe during kumite but he was reminded that MiniMe was the boy with the injured leg so thankfully he was not asked to perform kumite again. MiniMe certainly had a pained expression when I saw him kicking so it was not a pleasant experience for him.

We both headed downstairs to hear the results and both of us had clear passes across the board so we purchased our new brown belts and were ready for the next step up in our karate journey. Next time MiniMe will not be allowed near anying remotely dangerous on a grading day.