Woo-hoo, I'm a 7th Kyu!

Yes, me and my fellow 8th Kyu's (five of us in total) passed our Yellow Belt grading after a lot of nerves and intense practising. It definitely was a night to remember last night - I've never been so happy or so proud for a long time.

We were going to have an hour of normal training, then straight into grading for the next hour, but Sensei had a change of heart and said that instead we were going to have half an hour of practice, then straight into the gradings. At that point nearly all of my internal organs turned to mush - 'Oh no, half an hour?! That's not going to be nearly enough time to run through the moves!' But I needn't have worried - I got all the moves worked out in my head, remembering the little things, like 'Don't stomp, slide your feet', 'splay your hands' and 'arms slightly bent'. Then the moment of truth finally arrived.

Unfortunately, because we were lower down in the chain so to speak, being 8th Kyu, or White belts, we were up first. I look back now and feel greatly relieved about that, as I don't think my stomach could have taken an agonizing wait. I was worrying that I wouldn't be able to recognise the moves when they were called (they're all called in Japanese). We were called up into our lines, then in the blink of an eye, it was all over! We got a huge round of applause from our fellow 'Aikidoka' and as we sat back down we got patted on the back, with cries of 'well done' and 'you looked great' - I must have looked liked the 'Cheshire Cat' as I couldn't get rid of the cheesey grin that had now etched itself on my face! We then watched the gradings from 6th to 4th Kyu - and it made me realise that it doesn't stop at just getting a yellow belt. How my fellow classmates remembered what to do I'll never know - I thought what we had to do was difficult. But I realise that that is the challenge. Here is what I had to do for my grading:

1. Migi Hammi no Kamae (basic stance, right posture)
2. Hidari Hanmi no Kamae (basic stance, left posture)
3. Seiza Ho (move into seated position)
4. Shikko Ho (knee walking)
5. Ukemi (falling)
6. Tai no Henko Ichi (body change movement one)
7. Tai no Henko Ni (body change movement two)
8. Hiriki no Yosei Ichi ( elbow power movement one)
9. Hiriki no Yosei Ni (elbow power movement two)
10. Shumatsu Dosa Ichi (fixing movement one)
11. Shumatsu Dosa Ni (fixing movement two)
12. Katate Mochi Shihonage Ichi (one-handed grasp, four direction throw one)
13. Katate Mochi Shionage Ni (one handed grasp, four direction throw two)
14. Shomen Uchi Ikkajo Osae Ichi (front strike to head, first control, movement one)
15. Shomen Uchi Ikkajo Osae Ni (front strike to head first control, movement two)

When the gradings were finished, we were called to line up in front of Sensei to receive feedback and to find out whether we had passed or not - and of course because we graded first, we were called up first. So there we were, all five of us in front of Sensei, not quite knowing what to expect, but what he said was unbelievable. Not only had we passed, but we were by far the best 7th Kyu grading in the Dojo's history - what an achievement. I still can't believe it! I'm still on a high - and yes I know this is a HUGE post, but I'm so happy! And P.S. there WILL be a STITCHING UPDATE ON PHOENIX THIS WEEKEND, promise! xxx