2nd Kyu Test, So Far, So Near

I'm about one year away from my 2nd kyu test. For me this is a daunting test. Unlike previous test - yokomenuchi, kote gaeshi, omote and ura - this on seems more free flowing; less concrete. When I test, the sensei will call out, not a technique, but an attack. It will be my challenge to harmonize with the attack, and demonstrate multiple techniques to neutralize the one attack. Another attack, another set of techniques. I've got to be fluid and flexible. I've got to think fast, or have ready exactly what I'm going to do ahead of time.

I've also talked to another student who took the same test about one year ago. His recommendation was to not just have different techniques, but techniques from different "families" of techniques, if you will. His thought was to have one pin, such as an ikkyo or nikkyo, a throw from the koshi nage family, another from the irimi nage or kokyu nage group. I also know jujinage, sumi otoshi, kaiten nage. I've got to mix them all in, and prove that I can do mostly any technique from any attack.

Daunting, yes, but oddly, I'm looking forward to it. It also means that I'll earn a brown belt for the first time in my "martial way" life. I started a long, long time ago, gave it up (for many reasons), and then started again. I'm glad I started again. I find this all much more satisfying than the bicycling I was doing, even though I enjoyed that, too. I'll never forget that one time, riding with the group, looking down at my speedometer and seeing that I was riding just a whisper under 40 miles per hour, inches away from the other riders. It was exciting, but doesn't compare to what I do at the dojo, and the feeling that has become part of me now that I study Budo through Aikido. It doesn't hurt that I also feel safer at the dojo than on the road. When I was riding I had people throw things at me, swear at me, try to run me off the road. I was also hit by a car once. As much as I'm thrown around on the mat, it feels much safer than being on the road. My wife and children appreciate that additional safety, too.