Pre-Grading

I had my pre-grading this Sunday just gone.

Right at the beginning, I was asked to re-do my forwards standing breakfalling 3 or 4 times. I was absolutely bricking it, I thought I'd failed out hard, and wouldn't be allowed to grade. It would've killed me, not being able to grade this term. Trying so hard, fighting through my back pain, keeping going, fixing every little thing that I could find.

It turned out that sensei wanted everyone to get a good look, then tell everyone that my breakfalling was the best in the room. I was astounded. Elated, but also astounded.

After that, sensei asked if I'm aiming to become a 3rd Dan one day, to which I naturally replied that I'd like that! Gotta get my Yellow belt first though!

There was also a bit of bottle defense, which was hilariously fun. I went everywhere!

Aside from that, which I might not stop gloating about for some time, my V went a lot better than expected. I got a few big throws in to start with, osoto gari, kosoto gari being my bread-and-butter at the moment. I can't remember if I got a koshi guruma in there, but I'd be surprised. I was very tired.

The good thing about my V is that I managed to keep my cool, even when too tired to move really well. Instead of trying to keep on doing throws, I managed to safely drop back to wrist lock one (kote gaeshi). This was noticed, and while the senseis were impressed that I dropped back safely and keep my cool, it was regarded as somewhat of a lazy technique.

So next time, the pattern should be roughly throw, lock, lock, throw, lock, lock, etc. That should show that I can use appropriate techniques, and keep going even when the pressure's on.

So, the good news is that I'm slated to grade next week. If you can't tell by the rest of the post, I'm quite excited!

Even better news, I'm not injured.

P.S. I'm now drinking in excess of 6 pints of milk a week.