We had a Kyu exam the other day. In general everyone did well, but unfortunately we had to fail a few people.
Failing is hard, both from the examinee's point of view and the examiner's point of view. Please do not think that we fail our students for no reasons or just because we can. We take the tests very seriously, and we are learning from them.
Some people voiced concerns that they didn't understand why they failed. It's OK to feel that way; you train because you don't know and/or you can't do. Don't think even for a second that you should pass just because you trained hard; if it works that way, we don't need a test and we simply give you a belt based on the attendance. We are testing your skill, and unfortunately some of you didn't meet the criteria of that specific rank. But we failed them because we know that they can get better and eventually pass.
What are we going to focus on for the next few weeks? Lots of kicking, lots of warm-ups since it's cold, lots of basic timing drills. New kata, of course. Oh, don't forget that we are resuming Enbu training, too. Don't tell me you already forgot the sequence!!
I can't believe it's almost the end of 2012... Well, maybe I can. It wasn't the best year for me but I had some great moments, and the dojo kept growing. We asked all our students to sign the automatic payment agreement; it was a big step for us, and we hope this will work for both you and us. And we thank all of you for your support for the dojo. (And please show your support by coming to the 2012 Oosoji on December 29!)
Winter training will take place soon - January 7-12. Ask Manny what it is about. You must experience it at least once in your martial arts training life, and believe me, it's not that bad!
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