By Jonas Thon, Member until 2012
I had trained really hard, got to reach the orange belt with 1 dash this summer.
I felt really good after that, because you're always happy to have a new belt.
I had also devised a plan for the yellow belt. For winter I planned to get 2 stripes and then for summer 1 stripe, but luckily my plans were changed, so for winter I got 3 stripes!
Hmm, but I've also been training extra hard lately, because I think that now that you've reached the higher levels, you have to train harder!
I have always LOVED katas, so a little after the summer convention, me and one of my best friends learned the movements for pinan 2 in about 15 minutes?! (it should be said that he doesn't go anymore) :)
Before the Xmas event I had an agreement with my father (Bjørn Shidoin-dai), my brother (Mads Shidoin-dai) and my homie (Karsten Shidoin) that I should go up with pinan 3, I learned the movements for the techniques of 2-3 days, 3 weeks before xmas. Unfortunately, it was a bit of practice that I made a few mistakes in pinan 2 and 3 🙁
When we all lined up, first those with a line were called out and I was not one of them. Then I thought, I must have got 2 lines. When people who got 2 lines were called out, I wasn't one of them either. I thought, have they forgotten me or should I get 3 lines? Some people were called out, and then they called out "Jonas Thon" and I presented myself.
When the last ones were called out, we all stood there. People started stomping on the ground and Kimu sensei shouted “3 lines!” I got a lump in my throat and there was almost a tear, because all my hard training had given me 3 streaks. People started clapping, I actually didn't quite realize that I got 3 lines. I could see that a lot of people I know pretty well just gave me a thumbs up or just looked at me.
When we were completely done, I sprinted down and jumped on my brother and hugged him, and afterwards my father also got a proper hug (-:
There were a whole lot of others who I know really well who also just got a hug 🙂
