By Ida Larsen, Member until 2010
For me, graduating to the 3rd kyu and acquiring the brown belt is something big - possibly because the brown belt graduation consists of significantly more components than the previous graduations I have attended and because the requirement to participate in classes locally at the club increases, but probably also because the belt color itself "tastes a bit like black". As mentioned, at Saturday's spring meeting you must first pass a physical test, then a syllabus test and then pass the actual graduation at the meeting.
I was very happy to receive the message in December that I could get up to the 3rd kyu already in the spring - something I had only thought was possible this summer. However, I was also aware that it would require extra ordinary effort to train for the physical test. In particular, I was concerned about whether I would be able to handle the rib pull-ups and arm stretches in the bronze circle, and whether I would be able to train to run a distance that around Christmas was 2400 meters in 12 minutes. Since I have an old knee injury, I was also excited about how my knee would "react" to the running training.
I made a strict program for the next few months, where in addition to the karate training, I had to have at least 3 training sessions with the bronze circle and running training per week, which I think was difficult to fit in among the other everyday tasks - but I actually succeeded. I therefore think I had prepared as well as I could.
As you know, there is a new website and the requirements for graduation incl. physical test has also been revised for the past six months, so that the "principle of room for all" can be accommodated. Claus, Lennart and I were thus the first "guinea pigs" who had to go through 3.kyu graduation with the new requirements and conditions. For this reason, there were continuous new messages about the requirements and conditions of the physical test, which along the way made me both happy and relieved (for example, the requirement for the performance of body lifts and arm stretches was revised), but it also meant that I experienced the process as a little stressful and was pressed.
The physical test was carried out in a training center in Slagelse, and the conditions were very good. We (Claus, Lennart and I) started with approx. 8 minutes intervals, and there was good cheering and encouragement from the chief instructors present, who followed us closely. My bronze circle went well and I had a good margin of time up to the 12 minutes, which is the maximum time you can spend on the bronze circle. On the other hand, the Cooper test (running test) went really badly – I didn't run quite up to the requirements for the distance that had to be covered within the 12 minutes (Red. missing 30 m).
Maybe I pushed too hard, in any case I was under a lot of pressure and had a much too high pulse much too early in the race. I had known beforehand that the race would be tough, but the last hard training before the test had really given me faith that it could be done. That's why I was very disappointed afterwards. The other two managed their requirements in the best possible way (there are different requirements depending on gender and age). However, the chief instructors gave feedback that my performance would possibly be approved anyway, now that the entire process leading up to the testing and the requirements had been under development. And they were right - two days later I got the message that my physical test was approved - and then it was just a matter of speeding up the karate training - it had been pushed aside a bit in the last hard time leading up to the physical test.
On the day of the syllabus test I felt well prepared, but I guess you always fear "going completely black" in the middle of the floor. Before that, I had decided on a few points I would try to focus on during graduation. It was;
- I had to remember to breathe and not rush through the exercises
- I had to imagine an opponent in front of me, whether I was doing kata or some other exercise.
It sounds simple, but worked well for me - at least it took some of my attention away from someone watching. The test went well - and I was again full of confidence and self-confidence for Saturday's graduation. There is quite a bit of "psychology" in karate...
The event itself was, as usual, exciting with the introduction of slightly new ways of seeing and doing things - carried out together with the training mates from other schools, and the atmosphere itself, when the whole hall is full, is pretty cool. The brown belt graduation was finished with "madness on the punching pad", which was really hard (personally I felt like I was on the verge of passing out before the last of the three rounds), but it was great to experience the audience cheering and hearing them was with us.
All in all, it has been a learning process for me, and fortunately, with a positive outcome – a brown belt!! Also the fact that the three of us, who were going up together, have supported and encouraged each other made it a good experience. In relation to future graduations with physical tests, I now know that it is important to start training for the physical test in good time, so that it does not take up the whole week in the last months leading up to the test, and then the training must not be forced, so that you risk damage etc.
And for those of you who still have a 3rd kyu graduation to your credit - it's a pretty cool experience and it gives good respect in the workplace 😉
