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darren_stranger.
Yesterday David, Tony, Bill and Jamie did their 5th Dan grading.
There had been a couple of changes to the requirements, such as two-step sparring instead of one-step, and a more freestyle self defence instead of set attacks. The two-step in particular was very good to watch - wheras the traditional one-step routines tend to be about showing off kicks, with the two step format it encouraged a lot more use of hand techniques and much closer distance, lending a bit more realism and old fashioned martial art fell to it. What really impressed me was the speed at which the techniques were delivered, something the usual one-step routines tend to lack. The self defence component was a four-way choreographed routine, with each defending and then becoming an attacker in turn. We'd been practising something similar in our last grading but didn't end up being asked for it on the day, which i was glad of as it had turned out to be a bit slapstick. David, Tony, Bill and Jamie's routine was a lot more serious and impressive, not to mention physically demanding (at least from watching). They were supposed to shield up and do their sparring full contact, but that was skipped over and they just did light contact without shields. After the self defence routine, they were glad of that, though i was looking forward to seeing it. The breaking after that and poomsae beforehand all went well. Jamie and Bill both broke with elbow strikes, which is quite unusual, and the power in David's pattern was incredible (we could feel the floor shake every time he punched).
I have to say that was the best grading i can remember watching, not just because of the technical standard (which was certainly good) but also because it seemed just that bit more intense. One thing i've sometimes thought is that our gradings could perhaps be a little harder, not in terms of a risk of failing - they wouldn't let you try if you weren't ready to pass - but just in being a bit demanding, as a sort of trial or rite of passage. This grading seemed more along that line.
I'm sure i'll regret wishing for it, but i hope they make it hard for us when my turn comes up in a year and a bit.
And yesterday, for the first time, i actually found myself looking forward to that.
Yesterday David, Tony, Bill and Jamie did their 5th Dan grading.
There had been a couple of changes to the requirements, such as two-step sparring instead of one-step, and a more freestyle self defence instead of set attacks. The two-step in particular was very good to watch - wheras the traditional one-step routines tend to be about showing off kicks, with the two step format it encouraged a lot more use of hand techniques and much closer distance, lending a bit more realism and old fashioned martial art fell to it. What really impressed me was the speed at which the techniques were delivered, something the usual one-step routines tend to lack. The self defence component was a four-way choreographed routine, with each defending and then becoming an attacker in turn. We'd been practising something similar in our last grading but didn't end up being asked for it on the day, which i was glad of as it had turned out to be a bit slapstick. David, Tony, Bill and Jamie's routine was a lot more serious and impressive, not to mention physically demanding (at least from watching). They were supposed to shield up and do their sparring full contact, but that was skipped over and they just did light contact without shields. After the self defence routine, they were glad of that, though i was looking forward to seeing it. The breaking after that and poomsae beforehand all went well. Jamie and Bill both broke with elbow strikes, which is quite unusual, and the power in David's pattern was incredible (we could feel the floor shake every time he punched).
I have to say that was the best grading i can remember watching, not just because of the technical standard (which was certainly good) but also because it seemed just that bit more intense. One thing i've sometimes thought is that our gradings could perhaps be a little harder, not in terms of a risk of failing - they wouldn't let you try if you weren't ready to pass - but just in being a bit demanding, as a sort of trial or rite of passage. This grading seemed more along that line.
I'm sure i'll regret wishing for it, but i hope they make it hard for us when my turn comes up in a year and a bit.
And yesterday, for the first time, i actually found myself looking forward to that.
