Pre-Exam Judging

I went to practice at Ren Shin Kai today, hoping to squeeze in every last practice I can before the exam. I like the open format of Ren Shin Kai because I can get a good mix of the basic drills I feel that I need work on, the structured keiko with the high dan sensei and the fast paced harder keiko with some of the younger guys, in whatever order or focus, depending on how I’m feeling that day.

Today Majima-san introduced me to Tanaka Sensei who watched us drill and then keiko and gave some good advice and pointers.

According to him, essentially, there is little difference between judging for ni-dan and judging for san-dan. It is important, however, to maintain the proper distance from one’s opponent, so that when the time to strike comes, one strikes in the correct place. He said there isn’t as much need for ni-dan to complete strike after strike after strike in rapid succession as in the shodan exam, and that it’s more important to keep a correct distance, a correct posture and have a strong zanshin. As well, large, correct basic strikes are more important than complicated waza. In short, strong ki and correct kihon.

After watching us for over 30 minutes, he finally concluded that he would pass me with a 90%, which is a much needed bit of extra confidence. It’s felt that my last few weeks of practice have been horrible and almost counter productive. I feel now that I could pass the exam based on what I can do alone, but there’s still the unpredictability of my opponent to take into account.

I know I’m not the only one who gets nervous at these exams, and a natural reaction to nervousness is to go as fast as you can and hope that something looks good. I want to be able to get in some good, clean hits from a proper distance, but if my opponent crowds me, or doesn’t reset a proper kamae before striking, it will be difficult.

But, in the end, I am responsible for my own success or failure. If my opponent crowds me I'll have to use that to my advantage and strike before they do. If they can't keep a proper kamae I'll have to try and disable their shinai. I have two rounds of 40 seconds to prove my mettle; I'll have to make every second count.