looking down the barrel of a hot-bellied .45

[hawkwing_lb]

The sensei suggested to me this afternoon that a)there might be an Introduction to Coaching course coming up, and oh, by the way, since one needs to be a black belt to do said course, b)he'll probably be holding a grading in a few weeks in which I should expect to test up.

Considering that way back when I stopped training regularly, I was only 3rd kyu, this would be kind of... unexpected.

But I have the kihon and the kumite. All I need to do is blow the rust off my heian kata - and, of course, teki shodan. If I have a few weeks and go train with the karate club in college two or three days a week, this should be plenty feasible. (I do not want to be an embarrassment at my dan grading. That would be bad.)

On the other hand, it's not something I imagined doing. I hadn't expected to grade again soon - or, really, at all: I'm training once a week if that, and while karate makes me happy, I don't exactly practise outside of that once-a-week training. (I much prefer jujutsu. Or climbing.)

If I go for my dan grade... well. The kyu-dan system might be a relatively modern invention, but it deserves my respect. And reaching shodan signifies a basic understanding of and commitment to the discipline of Shotokan. It's supposed to signify a new beginning in learning: Hey, look! You have the basics, now we can learn the tricky stuff.

Which means, damnit, I ought to commit a little more time to being a good karateka.

(At least if I have a basic coaching qual, I won't feel quite so bad about not being able to pay for the training. Sensei is a good bloke, is all I can say.)

Comments

[puddleshark.livejournal.com]

I must admit that one of the things I like most about Tai Chi is that there's no grading, since that sort of thing fills me with terror...

But going for a coaching qualification sounds like a really good move. A friend who helps out with the beginner's classes said that having to teach the moves gives you a whole new understanding.

[hawkwing-lb.livejournal.com]

I haven't been worried about grading in a long while. Since, you know, the grading isn't really the point: it's only a way to signify to the people you haven't trained with that yes, you can be expected to know certain things to a certain standard. (Although there are black belts whose kata technique, outside the ones they do in competition, is fairly terrible. Hell, I've seen black belts with really floppy basic technique.) I've spent a good few years convincing myself that not everything is competition, and that one's learning is allowed to be for oneself, and not to satisfy any external standard.

But I'd like to have a coaching qual. It would be a Good Thing, and mean that I can start giving back and paying forward.