The exam is scheduled for tonight. I am glad for these few extra weeks of practice. There has been much fine-tuning needed, and I feel as if I've opened a whole new can of worms finding little inconsistencies in my technique.
I have found new interest in ikkyo, iriminage and shihonage movement. Especially in ikkyo, I am finding ways to make the technique more subtle and compact.
My body is a bit worn-down from hard training over the past two weeks, so I took yesterday off from rigorous training and got some acupuncture. We watched some videos of O'Sensei for part of children's class, and practiced 'Ninja Breathe' in 4-6 year old class. (Ninja Breathe is where we see how long we can sit and watch our breathing without moving, talking or sleeping. Believe it or not, the kids adore this game. Yesterday they went for 40 seconds :) )
I feel good and happy. I want my senpai to bring everything tonight to meet me, so we can create beautiful Aikido together on the mat. And if something doesn't go as expected, as always happens, we'll make Aikido out of that too.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Bring it on
An apology came in from one of the teachers. And an apology from me comes with it. It appears that the reason I was not tested was not because someone forgot, but because there was a confusion about my current rank and affiliation.
Because I studied in Japan for almost 5 years, my American teacher thought that I'd tested in Japan because he couldn't find record of my earning my shodan in the US. That was his mistake, because I tested in front of his very eyes several years ago. I don't blame him for that, however. How many hundreds of black belts must he have given out by this time, that he would remember one test more than 6 years ago..?
He promptly found the record after I was able to prove that I did indeed test in the US, rather than under a different affiliation in Japan. He then also granted my in-house teacher the ability to test me whenever he liked. This is slightly unusual; it is more common to have a panel of judges or to do the testing during a seminar when many higher ranking folk are present.
All said and done, I am very happy just for the chance to test. I just hope it happens... the other yudansha in the dojo have been helping me to prepare just about every night since Sensei made the announcement that I will have a physical test after all. I have started to feel excited again, and don't want to take another hit like this. If I do have to, though, I think I already said that it doesn't affect my Aikido or my job here, to work to create a heaven on earth.
I don't know what testing is like for other people; maybe most people follow a straighter path than I, or maybe everyone goes through challenges like these on the path towards self-purification. I don't know what to do with my teacher's apology but to accept it and prepare for a hell of a nidan test!!
Because I studied in Japan for almost 5 years, my American teacher thought that I'd tested in Japan because he couldn't find record of my earning my shodan in the US. That was his mistake, because I tested in front of his very eyes several years ago. I don't blame him for that, however. How many hundreds of black belts must he have given out by this time, that he would remember one test more than 6 years ago..?
He promptly found the record after I was able to prove that I did indeed test in the US, rather than under a different affiliation in Japan. He then also granted my in-house teacher the ability to test me whenever he liked. This is slightly unusual; it is more common to have a panel of judges or to do the testing during a seminar when many higher ranking folk are present.
All said and done, I am very happy just for the chance to test. I just hope it happens... the other yudansha in the dojo have been helping me to prepare just about every night since Sensei made the announcement that I will have a physical test after all. I have started to feel excited again, and don't want to take another hit like this. If I do have to, though, I think I already said that it doesn't affect my Aikido or my job here, to work to create a heaven on earth.
I don't know what testing is like for other people; maybe most people follow a straighter path than I, or maybe everyone goes through challenges like these on the path towards self-purification. I don't know what to do with my teacher's apology but to accept it and prepare for a hell of a nidan test!!
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