Testing

I emailed a friend of mine, Toshi, whom I haven't seen in quite some time. He teaches shamisen (a traditional Japanese stringed instrument) to private students in his home. I suppose that's why I haven't seen him at the dojo: Sunday seems to be a busy day for him.

He was happy to inform me that he recently passed his exam for 1st kyu (the rank just below black belt). He said it was easy and that he didn't study or practice for it.

According to Toshi, 3rd kyu is the hardest exam to pass because there is a big jump between 3rd and 4th kyu; the exams for 5th and 4th are based on the fundamental moves of ikkyo, nikyo, shiho-nage and irimi-nage. From 3rd kyu, however, the exams include sitting moves and other moves that are not learned in beginner's classes such as defending against straight punches, etc.

I've also noticed when I observe 1st and 2nd kyu exams, there is a segment where the examiner will call out a random move such as "yokomen-uchi shiho-nage ura." The student is expected to execute the move in about one second or he/she will be considered to have forgotten the move (or the name). That is sometimes counted against the examinee during the test.

Therefore, I've decided to start making flash cards for all the combination of moves including omote and ura (front and back variations of a move). Hopefully this will prepare me for the "lightning round" segment of the upper-kyu exams.