Failed 2dan.

[Fudo-Shin]

Remember the great Miyazaki sensei failed shodan, push on Neanderthal. You now know what to work on for next time. Anshin anshin..... :-)

[neanderthal]

The judging panel told you this? "Keiko was a pass, kata would be a pass but one wrong foot"?

my teacher told me this who spoke to the judging panel.

i realised during kata that the one foot was missing. so i knew myself. the judging panel just said he failed on footwork. nothing specific. all the other kata were perfect. not a foot out of place. sadly!!!

[neanderthal]

Whorn, based on the OP first post I am assuming they are talking about when the shidachi uses a kaeshi motion to avert the uchidachi thrust, moves to the side and does a men strike. Perhaps I am mistaken.

this is exactly right. thats the exact moment. i could do the kata. i just took one step instead of two. oh well you live and you learn!!!

[neanderthal]

You know this isn't true. Even the people who passed 2nd Dan weren't flawless.

it was flawless apart from that one step as were all the other students who passed. a few messed up. im not sure of their numbers but mine as obviously a bigger mistake to make it a fail. i dont blame the judges - if i had seen the same i would have expected a fail or an over looked mistake depending on how strict they were being.

[neanderthal]

Do they allow you to retake just the kata in Japan, or do you need to do the jigeiko part again?

Do you have people in your dojo who will go over the kata with you?

Please don't give up. I believe you'll definitely pass at the next opportunity.

if i do it within this year in this prefcture i just have to do kata.

im going to have a break for a while during the heat but then get back into the kata. i know it well and worked on it hard.

it all depended on the uchidachi's thrust. if it was too fast i react quicker in my deflection and go for the men quicker - a mistake i had often made. so in going for the men quicker i took 1 step to get there instead of the 2.

[Neil Gendzwill]

my teacher told me this who spoke to the judging panel.

i realised during kata that the one foot was missing. so i knew myself. the judging panel just said he failed on footwork. nothing specific. all the other kata were perfect. not a foot out of place. sadly!!!

Well as others have said I sincerely doubt your kata was "perfect". You did the dance steps OK, maybe.

This is puzzling to me, though - here in Canada if you had a good keiko I'd be very surprised to see a fail on a minor misstep in kata for any lower dan. By all means if that's what it takes, go work on your kata and retake it in that prefecture.

At any rate, don't get too stressed. I bombed 4th dan twice, so that was two plane rides to Vancouver blown. At least you can do it locally for little cost.

[Lloromannic]

I'm also a bit surprised, tbh. The standards for kata in Japan were, at least 2 years ago, far more relaxed than those outside. My aite on the 2dan test had a lot of clear errors and he passed just fine.

[b8amack]

When I did 2nd dan, the aite hit me with his bokuto. Twice! The wrist on long2 hurt quite a bit, but I kept my face still.

[neanderthal]

it has become much stricter this year.

i saw people fail who shouldnt have.

the shodan 100% pass rate went right out of the window.

im taking a break and if i decided to go back to it. the mid year test it is!!!

maybe different judges wont be as strict.

but i made an error and in that i can agree to a failure without any bad feelings.

oh well life goes on!!!

[neanderthal]

im looking now for places after obon in our prefecture which are doing shinsa.
hell if its just kata im up for it.
im going to bloody well get that 2 dan.

[neanderthal]

When I did 2nd dan, the aite hit me with his bokuto. Twice! The wrist on long2 hurt quite a bit, but I kept my face still.

maybe when i knew i took the wrong step. i shook my head and it broke the WA!!! lol!!! who knows. it may forever remain a secret.

but im going to damn well get that certificate that says you mate are now a 2 dan player - although your kendo is still crap. lol!!!

[neanderthal]

just heard on the grapevine that there may be 2 more shinsa in niigata this month where my kendo part of the test is still valid.
not sure on the exact details as it was a brief message to and from my teacher as he is unsure of the exact details. but hey 2 chances to nail it!!!
lucky or what???
then if i fail them ive always got mid year!!!

i will keep you posted just to show you the inner working of the japanese shinsa system and a lowlife foreigner. LOL!!! although the foreigner bit doesnt count at all towards the gradings. LOL!!! the one place in japan you dont get to play the gajin card. we are all treated very equal!!!

[akumalkenshi]

After a long absence from this forum, now I´m back, trying to enlighten myself. I´ll travel this next September to Mexico City to present exam for Nidan. So, I´m preparing myself in the most thoroughly manner I can. I´ll back here and tell you all how it went. In the mean time, I´ll browse through the archives in my research. Thank you all for posting topics of a temporary relevance to all kendo practitioners.

[Tort-Speed]

Uh - neanderthal, what is a "gaijin card"? And how is same "play"ed? Let me know: this sounds interesting....

Meanwhile, akumalkenshi, hang in there!

[neanderthal]

ive hunted down 3 other places in the next 30 days which have shinsa in my county.

im going to nail it or fail it!!! but with each go i know i will still be able to just do the kata. my kendo pass is still good for 12 months.

ahhhh the gaijin card game!!! i wont embarrass myself by explaining in detail. lets just say being dumb works sometimes. also i think i hold the record at being dumb!!! just lost 3man at pachinko.