29th
Grading at LUSKG Seminar, November 28th
Candidates from Cambridge: Chris (green->blue), Crispin (blue->brown)
Because neither of us had grading partners from the Cambridge dojo, we graded with people we had never trained with before, or at least, hardly trained with before. In my mind, you might be able to liken this to entering a dancing competition with a partner you’ve never danced with before. It sounds crazy doesn’t it! Now kempo is neither a dance, nor a competition, but I think the comparison still stands.
What I found really amazing about this grading was that despite not having trained with my grading partner before, I was still able to do the techniques fairly much as I know them, and my grading partner was able to as well. A testament to the universality of Shorinji Kempo, and also strict teaching standards! Clearly our different teachers must all be teaching us the same thing if we can just meet up and grade like that.
Even though that’s how it’s supposed to be, I still find it amazing to experience it first hand.
We don’t know if we’ve passed or not, but we tried hard and the experience was a good one, which we have surely learned from regardless of pass or fail.
Heartfelt thanks to LUSKG for organising the seminar, Sensei Jee for grading us, and our grading partners for striving with us. (And obviously Sensei Dave and Tjelvar for teaching us!)
- Crispin
