After this mornings training seminar with Oda sensei we headed over to the central melbourne dojo for our grading (my first one).

After some brutal reassurance from Sensei (he is far too hilarious sometimes) I lined with 4 others to perform the first 4 kihon for Jodo. It was over in a flash, the first jodo grading is much easier than Iaido grading. Just the same I must have been nervous because my Kai’s were absolutely terrible (and apparently my posture needs some work too).

Following we went and got a new grading number for Iaido and lined up. Once again because we were going for the lowest grades we were up first (which is probably best, the wait would have killed us).

Once I finished my opening torei(ceremony) after struggling to get the sword in my obi and tie up the sageo it was time to perform kata 1. On rising from seiza position I was taken back momentarily as I realised how quiet my mind was all of a sudden. Offcouse that didn’t last :D. After doing Chiburi I realised my metskae (gaze) was all wrong, which is ironic considering how long we had just spent on that during the seminar this morning.

After kata 1 it was time for kata 2. This is the most dreaded kata for, soo many times I have stood on my hakama during the turn and it makes it very difficult to do the rest of the kata. On kneeling into Seiza I began my 3 breaths and noticed that my breath was really shallow and almost quivering. I tried to calm and a bit and then burst into the kata. I nailed the spin and the rest is as it is.

Once we were done we got to watch everyone else go for their grading. It was interesting noting how different everyones technique is. By different I don’t mean they are doing different things rather that all the different parts in a technical are at a different level of skill. Some have a very good first cut but they don’t raise the sword high enough. It was interesting to see all the different things in other people that my sensei always picks me up on.

The other interesting thing was to hear the contrast between our grading and the horse races that were happening down the road. You could hear the commentator racing through names followed by the growing roar of the crowd. Then in our hall all is silent except for the sound of lone swords swooshing through the air and the sounds of birds and the roof crackling as the building heats up.

To end the story, we all passed our gradings. But more importantly I need to work on my imagination to help fix my metsuke.

Tags: grading