5th Kyu

There was only one funny thing about my grading to 5th kyu last Saturday and that was my belt. It had a mind of its own during the entire 2 1/2 hours, slipping further and further around to my back. I later found out that the higher ranked karateka, who were scattered around the dojo, took a great deal of amusement from watching its travels. “I’ve never seen a belt do that before!’ one Kyoshi commented, asking, “ Did I have trouble dressing myself this morning?”

That aside, the grading was as hard ever. I had two hopes going into it. One, that at last I was as fit as I have ever been and maybe that would make it easier. And two, on finding out that there were only six people grading that it might be a little shorter than usual.

One, being fit didn’t seem to help. I’m sure it did really, but I felt just as shitty as usual during several phases of the grading. Maybe because I have to work harder to reach my limits, which are higher, and I end up feeling just as crap. Good, I suppose, because if you cruised though a grading it would be pretty naff.

Two, having fewer people going for the grading made no difference at all. Jun Shihan went though every possible block and strike and what seemed like trillions of push-ups between each set.

There were two yellow belts grading to 5th Kyu, which was good as I dreaded being the last on the floor. The very last thing we did were our kihons, one at a time while the other was in push-up position with someone sitting on their shoulders. My fellow yellow belt was a ten year old who seemed to take forever to finish his stuff while my arms trembled mightily under a Senpai’s weight.