The Ishinryu grading schedule is very predictable, with General Gradings in March, June, and December. Club gradings are more flexible, but with similar timings. With a few months to go until the next General Grading, now is a good time to think about them.
The coloured belt you wear in the Dojo should tell us all we need to know about you as a Karateka. It is the thing that differentiates each of us in the Dojo. Male or female, old or young – or any other attribute you might have – none of it matters. The belt is the only thing that counts in the Dojo.
Or does it?
If the belt were everything, we should all be chasing them relentlessly (and some do). But please remember – the belt is not the thing. You, the Karateka, are the thing. The belt is there so the rest of us know the level you have reached.
Never be in a rush to grade. Karate is a journey with no end destination. No matter what grade you reach, no matter how much you achieve, there will always be more to do. You can always be better. Having said this, solid and consistent progress in Karate is always a good thing, and your grade and your belt reflects this.
So, you want to grade?
But how will you know when you are ready? The short answer is that your club instructor will tell you. But this is only half the story. You must also feel ready to grade.
Please don’t wait until four weeks before the grading to prepare. Start now. Start in your next training session. You want that next belt? Be that next grade in the Dojo. Be that grade in every training session you attend. Be that grade and inevitably the belt will follow.
I recently heard a student talk about preparing for their grading:
“On my best day I knew I could get a first class pass; on my worst day I knew I could scrape a third; on an average day I judged I could get a second.”
For me, this sums it up perfectly. A first-class pass is hard to get (and rightly so). Everything has to go exactly right on the day for this to happen. But first class is what you must always aim for. Going for Black Belt? Remember that there is no class pass for a Black Belt. A Black Belt pass is always a first class pass by definition.
Think you could scrape a third on your best day? Please don’t waste your time. Please don’t waste the time of the grading panel. You are not ready.
I have not been judged on a formal grading for many years, but I have attended just about every General Grading in recent years. Nowadays, I see my role as organizing things so that the day runs smoothly, so that the only thing students need worry about is their ability and performance on the day. But being there at each grading I can’t fail to notice certain things – and these things so often predict the result on the day.
The bad signs…
- Being rushed and unprepared on the day. Don’t turn up late or with minutes to spare. Don’t turn up without your licence book or your payment. Don’t turn up with missing badges or a dirty Gi. Most of all, don’t turn up with any excuses. You may think that all of this is obvious, and I do too, but it still happens and all too frequently.
- Reading the syllabus on the day. If you don’t know the syllabus inside out and back to front by now (up to the grade you are taking) now is far too late. You should know your grading fully at least a month before this test.
- Looking defeated. Meekly entering the Dojo and attempting to hide behind others during the grading. Going through the motions without sufficient force and energy. You may be able to demonstrate perfect hand and feet positions, but if you can’t demonstrate sufficient Kime during your grading, you will fail.
The good signs…
- Confidence. You know that you are ready for this grading. You have been waiting for ages to show this panel what you have. You walk into that Dojo ready and prepared. In your head, you are already at that next grade. Demonstrating it will be a formality.
- Just enough nervousness. Don’t mistake the above for over-confidence. Feeling nervous? You should, because proving to a panel that you deserve that next belt needs your full focus. Use that nervousness, and the adrenaline that comes with it, to drive your performance.
- Don’t be intimidated. General Gradings are intimidating. This is an important event that will test you mentally and emotionally as well as physically. Showing your skills before a panel of Ishinryu’s most senior instructors is never easy. Look them in the eye and show them your confidence and your determination. Show them that you want this.
- Be loud: be proud. Don’t pace yourself. The grading is not long and if you have sufficient fitness, you will easily be able to give 100% from start to finish. If it’s a large group differentiate yourself with the loudest Kia and the most forceful techniques. Stand out. Get noticed.
- Show manners; show respect. This is important in every Dojo, and nowhere more so than in the stressed environment of a grading. Don’t forget your etiquette.
And remember this. The grading panel are on your side – they really want you to pass. But they also have a high standard to maintain. They never want you to fail. Please don’t disappoint them.
Gradings are stressful, and they are meant to be. Take them seriously. But they are not the be all and end all of your Karate, but they are the important milestones along your Karate journey.