Grading - 24th February 2013

Once again our February grading was looking to be a mammoth event.

The day started promptly at 10am with Sensei Scott taking the junior karateka, Sensei Alan Campbell soon joined us and between them they conducted training for over 160 karateka, and gradings for over 110!

Sensei Mike managed to surprise Sensei Alan by making a £500 donation to the JKS England squad fund from the proceeds of these grading courses. This was very warmly received and will be put to good use to help the squad compete at the World Championships in Japan this year.

Oliver (W) was the first member of our club to grade. Oliver has been waiting for this opportunity and put in a convincing performance to come away with his 10 kyu. Katherine was up next, and despite looking a little nervous beforehand soon settled down and collected her 9th kyu.

Lisa was the first of the Gowland family to face the examiner, and after being selected as Sensei Scott's demonstrating partner for some of the earlier exercises didn't disappoint to collect her 8th kyu - just one more grading and you can exchange your red belt for a nice new yellow one! Which is exactly what her daughter Rebecca did! Rebecca and Kian both put in strong performances to gain the next grade - well done to both of you.

Scott was our only green belt grading (indeed the only one in the club!) and he was very focused on his goal of exchanging it for a purple one - which is exactly what he did! Well done Scott!

Haxby provided the majority of the purple belts that were grading with seven of the ten belonging to our club.      Alex (S), Fraser, Robert, Jemimah, Rachel, Bailey and Dougie all put themselves forward for grading. The results were mixed with Alex, Jemimah, and Rachel achieving Temporary 4th kyu, and Fraser, Robert (managing to remain several grades ahead of his mum and sister!), Bailey, and Dougie all achieving full 4th kyu. There are some technical issues that we need to work on with our purple belts, but try not to let the result dishearten you. There are five possible results from a grading - 1) you are reduced in grade if the examiner thinks you do now show the correct level of ability for your current grade, 2) you fail the grading and have to remain at your current grade, 3) you are judged not to have quiet reached the standard necessary to achieve the next grade so are given a temporary higher grade to be confirmed at the next grading, 4) you are awarded the next grade, 5) you are awarded a double (or rarely triple grade) but this is very rare after 8th kyu.  Click here  to go to the excellent article from Sensei Paul on grading results. Special mention must go to Dougie who not only confirmed his temporary grade of 5th kyu, but also graded to full 4th kyu, and equivalent of a full grade and a half!

There was one final purple belt from Haxby to grade. Bethany was attempting to move up from 4th kyu to 3rd kyu. She was very nervous going into the grading and was rather dwarfed by the other karateka in her section. However she dug deep and pulled out a determined performance to gain her Brown belt. The jump to brown belt is always a challenge as the expected standard rises greatly. So new 4th kyus take warning - the next grading is only just 3 months away and there is a lot of work to be done to get you ready! You need focus and commitment if you are to be considered for your brown belt in the summer.

Now it was onto our existing brown belts. Oli, Elizabeth, Lee, Thomas (F) and Dael were all trying for 1st kyu. The boys all successfully graded to full 1st kyu, with Elizabeth being awarded a temporary grade. Congratulations to you all! The standard that is expected of you at this level is very high, and you all did yourself proud. However, if the purples have a lot of work to do before their next grading that is nothing compared to the amount of work you have before you. The standard expected of a Shodan is several levels about that expected of a brown belt but with the training and support from your instructors you will get there. Don't forget that Sensei Alan expects to see you all at the regular black and brown belt courses, especially if you are thinking of trying for your Shodan anytime soon. This is essential not only for Sensei Alan to judge when you might be ready to attempt the grading, but primarily for the extra instruction you will get and the experience of training with so many talented Dan grades.

There was one final member of the club going in front of the examiners. Pete was retaking the Kumite section of his Shodan grading. Unfortunately this time it was not to be, but he has the opportunity to retake this section at a black and brown belt course in three months time.

All in all it was a mixed grading for the club. Some came away a little disappointed in their performance, some very happy. I think how you deal with disappointment says more about your character than how you deal with success. So hopefully we will see everyone down at the dojo, training hard to carry on with their karate journey.

We would like to thank Sensei Alan and Sensei Scott for their excellent instruction, and of course Sensei Paul, we are very lucky that we have Sensei Paul on hand to organise these gradings and ensure that they run so smoothly. 

For more photos of the grading see the photos page of our website. 

visit www.haxbykarate.co.uk to receive a free training session. For more information email info@haxbykarate.co.uk