Kenpou: Grading test

All the fighters standing in line in the opening ceremony
(Waseda in the 2nd row from the left)

1kyuu kata

Waseda woman performing shodan kata

Me performing 2kyuu kata

Waseda man to the left fighting to get 3dan

Woman from another university to the right fighting to get 3 dan
(Her opponent is from Waseda)

Me, to the left, fighting to get 2kyuu

My opponent is about to fall...

061210, Sunday

Early in the morning the Waseda kenpou fighters gathered at an university called Meiji Daigaku at Ocha no Mizu in Tokyo. It was an important day today since we would be tested if we were able to proceed to a higher level. In the morning kata (special pattern) was performed. I did not have a grade so I did the katas for the two lowest grades; 3kyuu and 2kyuu. It was a solo performance. When you try for the higher grades you perform the kata with a partner. In the afternoon it was time for fight. I had two fights against women with 3kyuu, and I had to win at least one of them to pass the test. Usually you fight for three minutes but if you score two points before the time has run out the fight it over, ie. whoever has best out of 3 points win. However, the fights today were different. The fight would last for three minutes even if you scored two points. Today's fights were about scoring as many points as possible during three minutes. To my big surprise I was told this just before I was about to fight...and with this type of match you have to use your energy differently.... Anyway, the fight started and I was actually able to score three points rather quickly so the referee called off the game, we did not have to fight for three minutes. I was happy about that, then I could save some energy for the next fight. In the next fight the same thing happened. The fight was called off before the three minutes had passed since I was able to score three points pretty early. Great :) So now my grade is 2kyuu. After this it was just for me to sit back and relax while routing for the other Waseda fighters. The male fighters did well, they leveled up to 1kyuu, shodan and 3 dan! In the evening after all the fights the Waseda team went out for dinner together. We were all really hungry and the food was great as always :)