Grading Report Egham sports centre 27/08/06

The second Kyu grading of the year took place at Egham sports centre in studio one and was well attended by the club members. I still definitely need to get more people down training and grading as the cost of getting a grading examiner down and the hall hire is more than I�m taking! I don�t mind breaking even at these events, but if the December course and grading make a loss then I�m afraid that these courses/gradings will have to increase in cost. I will wait and see if things change at the December grading, where I will do more promotional work and try more to motivate more of the other local clubs!

Anyway enough of my �bellyaching�! The course itself was from my perspective brilliant. Sensei Poynton once again had everyone working hard and dished out a punishing session for the high grades in particular! He focussed his attention on the technical side of Karate, but certainly had the Dan grades at times gasping for air like fish out of water! Like I said in my previous report, it is very difficult to take such a mix of grades and give everyone a good session.

In the first part of his session, he identified who was taking a grading and proceeded to correct/encourage those students in particular. He looked at correct punching technique and broke this down focussing on keeping the elbows in and emphasising where the fist should twist.

Next he had us all working on a punching/stepping combination which was challenging for everyone. We also did some partner work based on this and it soon became apparent that if you were defending against these attacks and countering with a rear leg Mae geri, (as Sensei Poynton wanted) it was very difficult not to get overrun with the attack! And to make matters worse��no blocking!

We then moved on to Kata where Sensei Poynton took time to run through the Dan grades Kata. He gave feedback on each of the Dan grades in turn. The lower grades just watched this and I�m interested in their feedback on whether they enjoyed being spectators for that part of the session while the instructors were �grilled�.

When that part of the session was over, Sensei had us all up doing Kihon Kata. He not only changed the techniques and steps, but completely re-invented the Kata! I go through little fads of practising my Kata mirror image, but this, (as the oracle from the matrix would say) �really cooked my noodle!�

Personally, I found this the most taxing part of the session. I was physically tired and the amount of mental concentration it took to get my limbs moving in roughly the right direction was exhausting! Sessions like that give me a greater appreciation as an instructor of why people sometimes struggle with their Kata. I think it is a vital part of any ones training not to slip into that �comfort zone� and to continually practise things they don�t like practising!

The Kyu grading itself I was pleased with. Some of you, (Jess in particular) may have felt that you�d been through the mill but Sensei Poynton has his own unique style of grading and training people which at the time they may not fully appreciate. When it comes to your Dan grading though and you have had one of the top examiners watching you carefully for the last 3 years, the result of your grading should be almost be in no doubt. Sensei was happy with the general standard of the club which he commented was as usual, good.

Keep up all your hard work, yours in Budo

Sensei David Austin