My first grading, Help please

[razorblade2099]

Hi, I'm going for my first grading in less than a week and would really appreciate any suggestions people can offer me before then. Perhaps suggestions on common beginner mistakes that I should watch out for in my own kendo.

Before somebody (and I'm pretty sure there will be somebody) says "who cares, it's just a low kyu grading", I really seriously considered not posting this thread because of that, but in the end I decided I don't care what those people say and would rather get some ridicule and a few pointers than none at all.

I've asked my sensei on what I need to improve on and he said that I need to work on keeping my arms raised after doing the men strike on the follow through. I have a tendancy to lower it into kamae after the strike. He also said I have to loosen up my arms and widen my elbows when I raise my shinai. Another one of my senseis told me that I have a tendency to make a slow strike and speed it up at the end, and that my strikes should be one continous motion. I'll be sure to work on these as much as I can before grading.

What I'm most concerned about though is kirikaeshi. That will be a major component of the grading and I've only done it in one practice while the other beginners have done it in two (I really regrett missing that practice now that I found out grading is so soon). Reading some other threads I know that I need a big Kiai.

Sensei said that most of us will probably get 5th kyu, a few might get 4th kyu, and no one in many years have gotten 3rd kyu in their first grading, so not to expect that. I'm pretty sure I'll get 5th kyu, but I'm really aiming for 4th, and any suggestions that anyone has will be more than welcomed.

One last thing. How do you guys deal with the pain from your blisters? Mine just popped last week and my feet are still really hurting after practice. I'm afraid that it may affect my kendo during grading.

[dwez]

My one and only grading was in 1995, it was an open grading from 6 through to 2nd kyu. I had the good fortune to watch a video of a grading beforehand and but could still s**t through the eye of a needle on the day it happened.

So number 1 - RELAX.

Try to find out beforehand who you will be fencing and see if you can have a little practice. Remember it is not a competition you do not have to win. You do have to do big cuts that count though, so if your opponent is doing big cuts too, don't block them unless you are going to do a proper well executed counter attack but that's not likely under the pressure. Hopefully you can discuss this with your partner before. There's nothing like having an honorable attitude only for them to block all your cuts.

I don't know if you'll be doing kata as part of your grading, the UK kyu grades do a new form now, much to my annoyance. If you are doing kata, again practice with your partner beforehand if you get chance.

The other night at my club the sensei's kyu graded four guys based on how they practiced that night! No stress for them but grading's are a worry so again relax!

As to blisters, you'll just have to get used to it, I had a ten year break came back to it knowing how my feet would be. Second night there was a massive blister and stung like billy-o but it was OK by the following week. Bathing your feet in surgical spirits was a technique I used to do to toughen the feet. Just DON'T do it with an open blister! that would be suicidal. You could always suck it up and get a tabi sock, useful sometimes. Micropore tape wrapped round the toe joint just to take the edge off too helps, a pain to take off though.

Good luck with the grading, I got a 2nd kyu BTW.

[cesarekim]

Grading is something that you work up to and it helps you to improve but rank is not the reason we do kendo per se. We should do kendo because we enjoy it.

Dwez already told you to relax. I'd say that is the best advice you can get for a grading considering we don't know how your kendo is and what the standards of of your dojo are. You already asked your sensei what is being tested so work on that. The good thing about an internal test is that your sensei already know you. It's not a situation where you have nn seconds to prove what you can do in a geiko but rather a confirmation of your perceived skill level.

Just a little story a friend of mine told me as he was challenging rokudan. He was visibly nervous for a couple of days prior to the grading and his mother in law asked him what was wrong. He explained he was challenging rokudan. This 70+ y.o. Japanese woman looked at him really sweetly and said: "Kendo is your life but it is a HOBBY. You will still feed your family tomorrow if you don't pass. Relax and enjoy."

My friend listened to that and he was the most relaxed challenger. He passed.

I'm not Japanese nor am I your mother in law but I would also like to say good luck, relax and enjoy.

[krys]

I'm going for my first grading in less than a week
[...]
Sensei said that most of us will probably get 5th kyu, a few might get 4th kyu, and no one in many years have gotten 3rd kyu in their first grading, so not to expect that. I'm pretty sure I'll get 5th kyu
Is it common for gradings to be held in such a fashion - like scoring A,B,C etc. on a test? If you score A you get 3th kyu, with C only 5th kyu?

I find it weird as around here you take an exam for a certain grade, for example 5th kyu. There are strict time intervals between gradings as well.

[cesarekim]

Is it common for gradings to be held in such a fashion - like scoring A,B,C etc. on a test? If you score A you get 3th kyu, with C only 5th kyu?

I find it weird as around here you take an exam for a certain grade, for example 5th kyu. There are strict time intervals between gradings as well.

It's pretty common here in Italy. Can't say for anywhere else... As far as time intervals for kyu grade, those are set by your federation or dojo. In Italy, 1 kyu is the first externally administered test. Prior to that, there are only internal tests...

[Solinde]

here you take an exam for a certain grade, for example 5th kyu. There are strict time intervals between gradings as well.

It's the same in Sweden, with intervals and everything.

[rfoxmich]

Just do your best kendo.. that's all you can do. Dress well and look good too. That's part of it.

[yohed55]

Kiai as strongly as possible, my senpai said to me;

"No matter how strong your kiai is, the first thing the judges will say to you after you test is STRONGER KIAI"

and sure enought, that's exactly what happened.

Good luck with your testing, I'm sure you'll pass.

[EBP2K2]

Sensei said that most of us will probably get 5th kyu, a few might get 4th kyu, and no one in many years have gotten 3rd kyu in their first grading, so not to expect that. I'm pretty sure I'll get 5th kyu, but I'm really aiming for 4th, and any suggestions that anyone has will be more than welcomed.


Are you from UofT?

there's nothing to it, almost everybody who shows up and doesnt quit during grading gets at least 5th kyu...

dont worry about getting 4th kyu and put unnecessary pressure on yourself..... you will probably get in bogu then grade for ikkyu in the following summer or winter anyway.

[mark]

dont worry about getting 4th kyu and put unnecessary pressure on yourself..... you will probably get in bogu then grade for ikkyu in the following summer or winter anyway.

Breathe, kamae, elbows over head, big kiai , follow through breathe. Breathing will help relax your shoulders.

Receiving a 5th or a 4th means you are ready or very ready for bogu. A 4th has slightly better basics than a 5th.

In both cases, once you are in bogu, kendo will be different and you will face new challenges.

[Neil Gendzwill]

Regarding kirikaeshi - go slow, real slow. It's a basics exercise, everything needs to be big and correct. At this stage, they don't care how fast you are. Make sure your left hand is overhead on the backswing, and both arms straight at the finish. Check that your feet and hands are together. Raise with the right, cut with the left going forward, vice-versa going back. On the 3 straight ones, the sound from the stomp and the cut should be at the same time. Lots of kiai. These are the basic things I look for at the first exam, anyways: big motion, coordinated footwork, straight arms at the end, good kiai.

[Mugu]

I don't know if this is common, but from personal experience... concentrate on your own part if your partner doesn't move when receiving (my partner just stood there when receiving for all the drills). Be ready to adjust your own footwork. Don't let the other person affects you, that's what I've been told and it actually happened.

Good luck!

[schiedsrichter]

Well, just some thoughts:

1st) Take a deep breath and RELAX! You KNOW that you can do it and so it'll happen :)

2nd) As Neil already mentioned: BIG, SLOW and STRAIGHT movements.

3rd) Concerning blisters: Tape them or wear a Tabi or somthing similar. But one thing I can assure you is that your adrenaline level will be so high that you won't recognize your pain during exam ... ;) Don't mess up with too many thoughts ...

Good luck! You'll pass definitely!

[bullet08]

do what you normally do at your dojo. don't try to change things or learn things in next few days. what you have learned so far is what you will test with. stressing out now won't help. get good night sleep, and don't eat too much. have fun. if you don't pass the grade this time, there's always next time. having said that, my sensei told me i need to pass my nidan test on first attempt. now i'm stressing.. lol

pete

[cesarekim]

Good luck razorblade!


do what you normally do at your dojo. don't try to change things or learn things in next few days. what you have learned so far is what you will test with. stressing out now won't help. get good night sleep, and don't eat too much. have fun. if you don't pass the grade this time, there's always next time. having said that, my sensei told me i need to pass my nidan test on first attempt. now i'm stressing.. lol

pete

Good luck to you too, Pete.

[Alan Molstad]

Is there a type of a spray that helps protect blisters?

In seem to remember some type of liquid bandage used by runners in a race...

[spikie1]

any one got any links for a grading video i have just had one and quite frankly it was a bit of a shambles . would like to see how it is suposeed to be done

[h2o]

any one got any links for a grading video i have just had one and quite frankly it was a bit of a shambles . would like to see how it is suposeed to be done
Well, everyone is supposed to show kendo at their level, and if they do they pass. What is there to see?

[Neil Gendzwill]

I'm not sure what you want out of it. How the shinsa is organised, ie what you're supposed to do and when? Your sensei should give you the heads up on that. What you need to do to pass? Again, your sensei will tell you and furthermore tell you what you need personally. How to do the kata? ZNKR already has that video available.

[Manuka]

It is a number, only a number and for your first shinsa you will get a number.
That is a starting point in a very long road.
Worry more about your 2nd test when you are testing for a specific rank, now you can fail.
Look at the number of people who test for Hachidan year after year, perserverence starts now. There will be another test, and another after that, as long as you stick with it.

As Jedi said just do what you do, do what you have practiced, this is the time to let muscle memory do the test for you. Do not try and fool 5 judges who probably have a collective experience in excess of 100 years of kendo that you know more than you do. Show what you CAN do.

[Thunder]

Well....what are the results? This Post was from the last week in November......

Lets hear what happened.

PS-- Skip the "sprayon blister band-aid"....first of all it only works if you don't stresss the area anymore. If you put pressure back on it the next day it just tears off--which feels OH SO GOOD....That, and when spraying it on newly exposed raw-blister skin it BURNS like HELLFIRE.

[Paikea]

If you put pressure back on it the next day it just tears off--which feels OH SO GOOD....That, and when spraying it on newly exposed raw-blister skin it BURNS like HELLFIRE.As our good friend in Hawaii says: "suck it up".

[namabiru]

As far as skin-toughener, the basketball club at my high school used to use something called Moleskin. It came in an aerosol can. Would a sporting goods store have it? I know the school ordered it in.

Stuff I learned for testing: dress
For testing, looking neatly dressed is a good part of it. Work together to make sure backs of uwagis are pulled all the way down and there's no bunching at your back, wear your best-fitting uwagi (so if you have one which tends to open at the neck like I do, don't use it for testing), hakama are clean (wouldn't hurt to run an iron over the himo), himo are tied properly, etc.

Do himo are tied neatly and equally in front (use a mirror if you have to), and the himo in the back in a double knot so they don't come untied (a tip from sensei). Top himo not twisted on your back, which can happen to everyone.

Kote himo absolutely not hanging down. Weave them through the other himo, tie them off on a himo, do what it takes, even if it's just a temporary fix for the testing and you have to do it again before training.

Tare himo not all twisted and bunched. They eventually do this. But if you take your tare home just before testing and try to press the himo with a low heat iron it helps them. Himo are a cotton material, so pressing them up a bit doesn't hurt.

When you put on men, have someone check that your himo are next to one another on the men and NOT twisted, and your himo in the back are even and neatly tied. Make sure you don't have the tail of a tenugui sticking out. If necessary fold the tail such that it sits closer to your forehead, since men is just a temporary period of time. So work with your teammates. You check them, they check you on this stuff.
***
How'd the testing go?

[mark]

For testing, looking neatly dressed is a good part of it. Work together to make sure backs of uwagis are pulled all the way down and there's no bunching at your back, wear your best-fitting uwagi (so if you have one which tends to open at the neck like I do, don't use it for testing), hakama are clean (wouldn't hurt to run an iron over the himo), himo are tied properly, etc.

Is an uwagi the same thing as a keikogi or is it something else?

[bullet08]

Is an uwagi the same thing as a keikogi or is it something else?

back in korea, the term uwagi is used to describe cloth that goes on top as in shirts. not sure if that's japanese term, but if it is it should be the same thing.

pete

[kpmooney]

Is an uwagi the same thing as a keikogi or is it something else?
Same thing.

[Neil Gendzwill]

Uwagi is the more general term, could mean the jacket for kendo, iaido, judo, your dinner jacket for all I know. Iaidoka and judoka use the term.

[cesarekim]

back in korea, the term uwagi is used to describe cloth that goes on top as in shirts. not sure if that's japanese term, but if it is it should be the same thing.

pete

Think this is one of those Japanese terms that crept into the Korean language. Same thing as damanegi (yangpah/onion) and sampo (?/to take a walk)...

[Kenzan]

Same thing as damanegi (yangpah/onion)

Did you mean Tamanegi?
As in,
My Tamanegi/Yangpah were squashed from a mal-aimed tsuki?
:D :D

[cesarekim]

Never thought of mine as quite as big as that.... More like very small baby grapes....:eek:

[namabiru]

Never thought of mine as quite as big as that.... More like very small baby grapes....:eek:

Wow... now that's something to be proud of :cheerful:

[JByrd]

Is there a type of a spray that helps protect blisters?

If the blister is filled with fluid, sterilize a needle and puncture the bleb at the edge. Use gentle pressure to express the fluid. Then you can cover it with a thin coat of superglue. Make sure you don't touch anything before the glue is completely dried. You can apply more than one layer of superglue.

You can make skin a little more resistant to blistering by applying tincture of benzoin. I think there is a product called tuff skin or something like that.

[namabiru]

Superglue? Huh. Never knew you should actively try to apply that to your skin. A time-honored technique used by my Idaho neighbors (I'm a native Montanan).

*nods appreciatively* Learn something new every day, we do.

Yeah, tuff skin was what I was thinking of I reckon.

[cesarekim]

Wow... now that's something to be proud of :cheerful:

Easy there, I'm Korean and it's like that in MY family... I just hope my son never comes over and blames me for the size of the family jewels :nervous:

BTW, librarians are the Masters of the Universe according to Spider Robinson... I would love to see how you'd react when somebody is late bringing a book back.