TSKC - KYU Grading Report

12th June 2010

A week after returning from the Annual TSKC camping event which took place in the Cotswolds, the grading was soon upon us. Reverting to a format we had about four years ago, the first course was for the Senior grades, in this instance Black, Brown and all Purple belts, which started at 9am. That was a bit of a shock in itself. Slowly but surely, the students turned up and got ready for their course with the Grading Examiner, Sensei Adel Ismail 5th DAN. A phone call from Sensei Adel was received at 0845hrs. "I'm at the Community Hall in Fewcott, Oxon. That's right isn't it?" Sensei Adel had taken the first address with my name on it from the JKAE website and gone there - at that time, I was running Ardley SKC which meant Sensei was going to be late.

In preparation of his arrival the class warmed up and went through some basics when sensei Adel arrived and was ready to go at 9.15. Sensei Adel had made great head way, considering where he had just travelled from. We were now already 15 minutes behind schedule and taking into account the amount of time the last grading took, timing was on the forefront of our minds.

Sensei Adel joined the class seamlessly and highlighted the importance of a good basic front stance to maintain stability and transfer power when punching, moving on to correct form when executing mawashi geri. Some excellent exercises to improve technique, resulted in a lot of the students aching the following day. The course was concluded with the Seniors going through Bassai Dai, with stress on the salient points including tempo and focus.

Having completed the course, there was a short break before taking the Senior's grading. Sensei conducted these within the allotted time and we were nearly back on schedule. 11 took their grading in this session.

The 6th KYU (Green belt) and below students then had their course with Sensei Adel. Amongst the 77 students training, 68 students were now ready and primed for their impending grading. There were some very nervous students but this was all taken into account during their grading and I am glad to say that everyone was successful - however, it must be noted that the yellow belts have now discovered that things get a little tougher as they progress in JKA Karate. It's no longer a simply 'turn up and pass' type grading. Technically, they are expected to have significantly improved on the last grading and for some of them, this has definitely been a wake-up call!

The grading finished just before 2.15pm and with 2 courses, 2 gradings, all the clearing up and 79 students grading, the day was a huge success. In October, the date has been changed to 31st which is a Sunday, which should alleviate any future clashes with the football team using the changing rooms at the same time as us. As from 2011, all gradings will now fall on a Sunday. I hope this doesn't affect too many people.

Oss
Lester Wellington