Second Anniversary of My Nidan Test

Celebrating the 2nd anniversary of my 2nd degree black belt (Nidan) test! Tomorrow, as I post this, September 19th.

The test was especially difficult for me because it was in the midst of my stomach/GI illness. In this photo I look sick because I was.

My Sensei graciously reassured me, “We were always going to spar you until you were on the verge of throwing up anyway, it made no difference to us that it happened earlier than you would have liked. You did great.”

Here’s the most memorable moment on the test:

Toward the end, my Sensei instructed me to do one more kata, Yaragua no Tonfa (tonfa are like twin billy clubs).

At the very beginning of the kata, I dropped a tonfa!

For a moment I looked down at it, like, “Why?”

I heard one of my judges whisper, “Is she going to pick it up?"

In my Okinawan Kenpo system, if you drop a blunt weapon you’re supposed to leave it because you can become vulnerable as you try to retrieve it.

So, I continued the kata without it.

“She didn’t pick it up!”

Even better than that, with my right hand I demonstrated I knew how to use the tonfa, while with my empty left hand I demonstrated I knew how to use the movements without it.

When I finished, the judges asked me to demonstrate on one of them how I imagined I was using the movements in a real fight.

“Wow!” They said, “That was so much more impressive than if you hadn’t dropped the tonfa.”

The irony is that if I hadn’t dropped it, I never would have had the opportunity to perform that demonstration.

Later, I told my Sensei that in my solo-practice leading up to the test, whenever I made a mistake I kept going without stopping.

I practiced this as a skill, which is what allowed me to carry on successfully.

A lot of people practice perfection. I know I can’t be perfect.

My imperfection impressed my judges.

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