Aikido Grading Basics

8/12/2019 Aikido Grading Basics

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OnlineAikido.com Aikido Grading Basics

Aikido grading basics

First edition

January 2009.

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Table of Contents

Introduction ........................................................................................................... 4Aikido Grading Basics ......................................................................................... 5

Why do I need to grade? ................................................................................... 5Etiquette .............................................................................................................. 7Who are you going to grade with? .................................................................. 8Exa !ear and "stage#!e$er% .............................................................................. &'rder o! techniques ......................................................................................... ()*hoosing the s+eed o! your grading ............................................................. ()Breathing ........................................................................................................... ((Which $ersions o! a technique? ..................................................................... (,

-tarting a new technique ................................................................................ (,orgotten technique ......................................................................................... (/In case you get too tired des+ite your initia0 assess ent and choice o! s+eed .................................................................................................................. (4*ontro01 !ight and har ony ........................................................................... (42er!ectionis .................................................................................................... (5Assess ent ....................................................................................................... (3

ina00y +on +assing your exa .................................................................. (7*onc0usions ......................................................................................................... (&

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Introduction

A co on question that arises in eginners and aikido students with on0y !ewgradings ehind the is what to do exact0y in a grading1 how to eha$e1 and how toanswer their "what i! % questions. 9ou ay not know what the exact etiquette o! yourgrading is1 or : as we ex+erienced in our own gradings : you can easi0y !orget thei +ortant +oints o! a grading1 !or exa +0e1 i! your do;o ho0ds gradings on0y twice ayear.


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Aikido Grading Basics

In the !o00owing su sections1 we wi00 discuss se$era0 +oints that we at'n0ineAikido.co think are i +ortant to know !or a success!u0 grading. We wi00 co$er

oth etiquette issues and tricks to "sur$i$e% your +ossi 0y $ery !irst grading. @earn1en;oy and good 0uck with your test

Why do I need to grade?


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ex+erienced ones?and a it o! sweat to ake the signi!icant are good

oti$ators as we00.can youde!eat a @e$e0 5 dragon? . and the cha00enge to !ace the dragonthat ight e eyond the gate. In ter s o! aikido1 i! you don%t e$en atte +t to gothrough the gate you wi00 sti00 +ractice the sa e techniques o$er and o$er again1 andwon%t 0earn a out new techniques1 new as+ects1 and new +rinci+0es to i +ro$e yourknow0edge o! a0ready known techniques1 so asica00y you can go ack and !orth

etween this gate and the +re$ious one.9et another +oint a out gradings think a out the grading syste as so ething

that is not s+eci!ic to your do;o and -ensei ut to your who0e organisation. 9ou can !indthat the existence o! an organisation or a artia0 art%s schoo0 is strong0y re0ated to thegrading syste .


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techniques and +hi0oso+hy !ro your ex+0anations est1 e$en i! you teach the on0y asa senior student and not as a -ensei >and indirect teaching starts rea00y ear0y1 ut itshou0dn%t start too ear0y .

-o i! you dou ted the use!u0ness o! gradings +0ease do not do so. Acce+t the asnecessity1 as i0estones1 as gates. @ea$e a sign at the gate that +ro$es you were there atso e +oint in your 0i!e1 and continue your ;ourney on your +ath which wi00 e !u00 o!!urther i0estones1 and in!inite a ount o! know0edge to gain1 so ;ust go !or it.

Etiquette

What is the etiquette o! a grading? What ha++ens in a grading and how you oughtto eha$e? =ere is the way it ha++ens in our c0u s and organisation >+0ease note thatthere ay e di!!erences in this1 so a0ways consu0t your aster a out etiquette andconsider this section as a guide0ine When a grading egins1 usua00y e$eryone sits in0ines ;ust 0ike at the eginning or end o! a training. H9es1 -ensei to showyour res+ect and to con!ir that you heard your na e. A!ter this1 you shou0d go to the+0ace the exa iners instruct you to go to. knee wa0king . When going !or 0owergrades1 it is usua00y +airs o! students who are ca00ed out to e exa ined together >i.e.there are !ixed +airs o! +eo+0e deter ined y the exa iner1 and you stay with that+artner !or the who0e o! your exa . to !or +airs . I! you are a second +erson insuch a syste 1 you shou0d sit down in sei a1 next to your +artner1 ut kee+ing adistance !ro the so when the exa starts you can co !orta 0y turn towards eachother and ow. atura00y1 oth o! you shou0d !ace the exa iner>s . It is +ossi 0e thatthe syste your sensei uses !or grading is di!!erent. We ha$e seen gradings wheree$eryone was ca00ed out !irst and +airs were !or ed a!terwards. Whate$er the syste 1 ;ust hu 0y !o00ow the instructions you recei$e. 9ou ight acknow0edge theunderstanding o! the instructions y owing towards the +erson who instructs you.Bowing is ne$er !rowned u+on1 so i! you are unsure1 ow.

ow the grading can start... Be!ore eginning to do the techniques >or +erha+sro00s1 i! your exa iner wants to see how you ro00J +erha+s they want to see the aseste+s as we00 you shou0d ow to your exa iner and then to your +artner to show yourres+ect. When you shou0d ow is o!ten deter ined y your exa iner >or the assistant 1too they ight say KreiK > ow to signa0 that you shou0d ow to the exa iner. de!ender1 aka. nage 1 and the other +erson wi00 e uke>attacker !irst. What technique1 what attack to do1 when to ake a ro0e swa+ shou0d edone according to the instructions you recei$e1 and you wi00 a0so recei$e such

s really O? to 'enice.:

*eter *ost $uotes.


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instructions1 so kee+ your ears o+en and do not iss a technique or ro0e change.so you !inish your gradingas tori and then you swa+ and e uke !or your +artner unti0 the end 1 ut o!ten thereare ro0e changes a!ter e$ery 4#5 techniques. -o eti es this change is ased on ty+es o!techniques >e.g. suwari wa a tori#uke1 then han i handachi wa a tori#uke1 etc. . -osi +0y !o00ow the instructions you recei$e. I! you donKt know a out how an exa goes1you ight ask your sensei in ad$ance a out it1 y showing interest you can +ro a 0yearn so e good +oints > ut do not o$erdo itJ do so e research yourse0!1 ask otherstudents1 kee+ reading this e# ook1 etc. . When you recei$e instructions1 a+art !rowhen you are asked to do the next technique1 it is reco ended that you ow again.When the exa ends1 you shou0d natura00y ow again1 +ro a 0y a!ter hearing the wordthe word KreiK.


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strugg0e.

Exam fear and stage-fever

ut you ha$e +racticed enough e!ore thegrading you wi00 +er!or etter1 you wi00 +ass uch ore easi0y and re e er the

techniques and their i +ortant +oints as we00.I! you think a out it1 a !ight is usua00y won y the +erson who has a ca0 and c0ear

4y great concern is not whether youhave #ailed 'ut whether you are contentwith your #ailure.

A'raham ,incoln


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ind. 9ou can "win at your exa % i! don%t 0ock your own se0!1 i! you 0et youro$e ents !0ow natura00y >0ike you ha$e 0earned and used these o$e ents in

training . Fartia0 art asters a00 say to ca0 down your ind !irst. Be ca0 1 e o+en. I!you can do this your exa wi00 not e a out your thoughts trying to contro0 e$ery

o$e ent o! yours >conscious thought ight e too s0ow in a artia0 art ut it wi00 ea out your 0earned o$e ents co ing out natura00y.

Being aware o! the +oints discussed in the a o$e +aragra+hs # we ho+e # can he0+you to conquer your exa !ears.

Aikido 0og +osts a out "+ositi$e% .

Order of techniques

I! it%s your !irst grading you ight ha$e $arious ideas and assu +tions a out it.


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We reco end that you do not start your exa with a high s+eed o! techniqueexecution1 as you wi00 need a it o! extra energy at the end o! your grading. 9our exa

ight take 0onger than you ex+ect >or ight see to e taking 0onger and youcertain0y donKt want to co00a+se ;ust two inutes e!ore the !inish. We reco end thatyou +ractice e!ore your grading s0ow0y and near Kin the streetK s+eed as we001 then tryto se0ect an a++ro+riate s+eed !or your exa etween these two. Lee+ your s+eedsteady during the grading. It doesnKt 0ook $ery nice i! you do kotegaeshi !ast andiriminage s0ow0y1 and you shou0d de!inite0y a$oid starting a technique with one s+eed>e.g. ste++ing in s0ow0y and !inishing >e.g. cutting down with another. again1 un0essyou are s+eci!ica00y instructed to do otherwise .

reathing

Breathing a++ro+riate0y can he0+ a 0ot to kee+ your energy 0e$e0s u+ and to e a 0eto work at grading s+eed !or 0onger. 9ou are +ro a 0y to0d in training how to reathe+ro+er0y ut here it is e$en ore i +ortant as you won%t ha$e ti e to rest as when

sensei sto+s the c0ass and de onstrates a new technique or ex+0ains so e +articu0ars o!other techniques.9our reathing needs to !o00ow the o$e ents o! your ody when doing a

technique. When the ody is in an ex+anding o$e ent1 e.g. you stand u+ or raiseyour ar 1 itKs ti e to reathe in. e.g. reathing out when raising your ar or reathing in when !a00ing

wou0d ake you 0ose a huge a ount o! energy1 not to ention that it is 0itera00ydangerous to reath in when !a00ing as air can easi0y get stuck so ewhere inside or 0etyour interna0 organs co00ide with each other ecause o! their 0oose connection whenyour usc0es are not contracted. We are 0ucky that we do aikido and +ractice circu0ar

o$e ents ecause one ha0! o! a circ0e can usua00y e used !or a reath#in cyc0e andthe other to reath out1 or $ice $ersa.


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Which versions of a technique?

Fost o! the techniques ha$e at 0east two asic $ersions. or exa +0e1 ikkyo haso ote >aka. short or inside $ersion and ura >aka. 0ong or outside $ersion. one !ro 0e!t and one !roright han i and show a 0ong $ersion !ro each side as we00. n0ess you are instructedotherwise1 kee+ going with these $ersions1 doing two o! one and two o! the other.which ay e a good thing in the eyes o! theexa iner1 ut it%s not necessary at a00 to show o!! with your know0edge o! in!initenu er o! $ariations do the $ersions you know we001 that you ha$e +racticed a 0ot1and ost i +ortant0y1 $ersions your +artner is ready to recei$e uke i !ro . >We aresti00 ta0king a out tests !or re0ati$e0y 0ow grades1 in case you are wondering why we arewriting these "si +0e% reco endations . Ne e er that it%s sa!er to de onstrate aco on0y known $ersion we00 than to get stuck in a $ersion you don%t know so we00.


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It ight e needed to ention that i! the exa iner doesnKt say the na e o! theattack !ro which the technique shou0d e done1 and says on0y the na e o! thetechnique1 then it eans that the attack re ains the sa e as !or the +re$ious technique1and you on0y change the technique itse0!. e$er ask KAnd what is the attack?K -i i0ar0y1un0ess they say so1 the initia0 setu+ a0so re ains the sa e1 so i! you do techniques insuwari wa a and you hear a new technique na e >and6or new attack you wi00 sti00re ain in suwari wa a and do the next technique >and6or new attack there.

It ight ha++en that you don%t understand what the exa iner was saying. @ookaround quick0y1 see what the others are doing1 you ight get it then. 'therwise1 turn tothe exa iner and i! they see that you ha$e a +ro 0e they wi00 +ro a 0y re+eat theinstructions. 'therwise1 !o00ow the etiquette1 ow1 or do so ething si i0ar that is +o0iteand res+ect!u0. ina00y1 your +artner ight he0+ you out ut e$en i! they te00 you thena e it shou0dn%t e audi 0e to others.

"orgotten technique

not the est so0ution ,. @et your uke 0ead you a it to re e er whereyou need to ste+1 where your ar s and hands shou0d go1 etc. n!ortunate0y1 this canusua00y e noticed y senseis and ore ex+erienced e ers o! the audience ut itKs'L i! itKs one o! your $ery !irst exa s1 and you don%t resist the +ush or +u00 o! the"he0+ing hand% to uch. /. 9ou 0ook around quick0y to !ind out how others1 who aregrading with you >+airs next to you 1 are doing it. I! you are 0ucky and they do the rightthing > any stories ha$e een orn when this wasnKt the case then a!ter their !irst

o$es you shou0d e a 0e to re e er what you are su++osed to do. s a0so want>s you to +ass1 itwou0d e their +ride1 too >un0ess your sensei is away and co +0ete0y di!!erent aster isexa ining you1 ut this is not high0y 0ike0y . @isten to what they say and try to !o00owtheir instructions to your est. It o!ten ha++ens that the !irst cou+0e o! words instant0yre ind you a out what and how to do and you can carry on with your exa 1 +ro 0e

so0$ed.

1

0"he test is to recogniEe the mistake admitit and correct it. "o have tried to dosomething and #ailed is vastly 'etter than tohave tried to do nothing and succeeded.0

%ale =. "urner


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In case you get too tired despite your initia# assessment and choiceof speed

We001 this can a0so ha++en1 we are a00 hu an. 9ou ight get tired ecause youstarted !aster than you shou0d ha$e or too !ast !or your 0e$e0 o! sta ina. Exa stress

ight i +air your ;udg ent o! s+eed and ti e. Beco ing $ery tired can a0so ha++ensi +0y ecause the exa is /)#4) inutes 0ong1 so eti es e$en 0onger. DonKt waitunti0 you are co +0ete0y exhausted. 9ou know your own ody1 so i! you !ee0 that yourare running out o! air or energy des+ite your est e!!orts1 there is a KtrickK you can do

ost o! the ti e +in down your uke a it 0onger -tretch their ar s a it ore1 a itore s0ow0y and !ocus on your reathing1 take a s a00 rest. ' $ious0y1 you shou0dnKt

o$erdo it ecause e$en a nice and thorough +in doesnKt i +ress your exa iner i! itgoes on !or inutes. I! you are uke1 you o $ious0y ha$e so e ti e to take a reathwhen you are eing +inned down ut in case your +artner doesnKt ho0d you down 0ongenough you can sti00 signa0 the >not $er a00y to s0ow down that +art. As discusseda o$e1 stress can ake you want to !inish ear0ier1 so you ight s+eed u+ a it anddon%t a00ow your uke to rest e$en when they are exhausted. 9ou can +ossi 0y agree ona secret gesture with your +artner e!ore the exa 1 +ro$ided that you know who your+artner wi00 e and that your +artner is +artner in this ga e1 too.

-o this is how you can take a it o! ti e to reco$er without 0osing uch techniqueexecution s+eed.

Contro#$ fight and harmony

It is i +ortant to re e er that you shou0d show that you can do techniques witha good contro0 o$er uke ut a0so that you are a 0e to work with the in har ony. Inother words1 techniques need to "work% ut they need to 0ook nice as we00. In a training1

when you study a technique1 you can ex+eri ent and try di!!erent o$es1 $arious0e$e0s o! contro01 and ake things work e$en you ake the work y strugg0ing a it!irst. =owe$er1 in an exa you do not study techniques1 you de onstrate the 1 and itis you who is eing studied. again1 un0ess s+eci!ica00y instructed so 1 you shou0d 0et so e o! itgo and 0et you and your uke e a tea . Don%t strugg0e or !ight1 ut work together.-how that you know it1 ut don%t !ight1 +u00 uke here and there too uch too !ast. I%writing this ecause o! a recent grading I saw +eo+0e were trying to i +ress senseiwith their "working% techniques so hard that it eca e a kind o! a !ight and it didn%t0ook har onious at a00. -o work together. Ne e er that you can he0+ your +artner

when they start to eco e exhausted or when they don%t know what to do or how todo it. ote that it is rare to 0et one student +ass and !ai0 their +artner. I! you are etter

1/

9"here are no contests in Aikido. A truewarrior is invinci'le 'ecause he or shecontests with nothing. %e#eat means tode#eat the mind o# contention that wehar'or within.:

O 3ensei 4orihei 5eshi'a

9 t is our 'est work that God wants not thedregs o# our eDhaustion. think he must pre#er$uality to $uantity.:

George 4ac%onald


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>or in etter sha+e 1 he0+ your +artner so oth o! you can +ass. I! you are 0osing yourstrength1 0et your +artner he0+ you so you can oth +ass. =e0+ and e he0+ed.De onstrate har ony. Whether your technique does or doesn%t work wi00 e $isi 0ewhether you try har ony or !ighting1 so why not choose har ony then? =ow wou0dyou eha$e i! it wasn%t a grading ut a de onstration in !ront o! your 0oca0co unity?


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!or these 0e$e0s so e ti e.-o do the techniques the est way you can ut don%t ex+ect yourse0! to do the the

est way +ossi 0e in genera0. Lnowing this wi00 ake you ore re0axed which wi00natura00y he0+ you do etter aikido.

9ou ight now say that you see a 0ot o! istakes in your own technique. e.g. whether you are a0ancedenough !or the grade you are eing tested !or. :


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and training !or that 0e$e0. Being sta 0e at the end o! technique execution is a0sodesira 0e ut there are 0e$e0s to that as we00. -o e sta i0ity 0e$e0s are 'L !or 4 th kyu1so e are not 'L !or 5 th kyu. 'nce you co it a istake 0ike this and you notice it1!ocus ore when doing the next technique1 and show that you don%t co it it again.s character ishow he takes praise.0


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discusses who +assed and who shou0d co e ack 0ater1 what are the ain +oints1co on istakes to high0ight and 0earn !ro 1 what are the ain +oints !orindi$idua0s1 etc. -o eti es you wi00 get your resu0ts i ediate0y. I want to note herethat i! sensei 0ets you do the who0e exa and the duration o! it is not sus+icious0y 0ongthen you +ro a 0y +assed > ut don%t take this indication !or granted1 I% ;ust sayingthat so e +eo+0e !inish their exa ear0y and co e ack next ti e1 and so e +eo+0e areasked to sweat ore ecause the exa iners are unsure a out the . -o 0et us su++osethat you trained hard1 took the ad$ice you were gi$en and you +roduced a nicegrading.

-ensei wi00 +ro a 0y ha$e +re+ared and signed your certi!icate and s6he is ready togi$e it to you1 or i! not1 the !o00owing +rocedure wi00 take +0ace whene$er thecerti!icates are ready 9our na e wi00 e ca00ed again1 and you res+ond with a ow and"=ai -ensei%1 ;ust 0ike at the eginning o! the grading. De+ending on the syste youuse1 sensei ight te00 you what you did we001 what you need to i +ro$e u+on1 so theywi00 gi$e you a genera0 e$a0uation1 and they ight te00 you that you +assed. +onhearing that you +assed your grading >and sensei says which grade you +assed 1 theothers ight want to start a++0auding you1 and you shou0d do the sa e when youhear others +assing1 e$en i! you ha$e your certi!icate a0ready and wou0d 0ike toexa ine it. When students 0ine u+ !or the resu0t announce ents and !or certi!icates to

e gi$en to success!u0 students1 there is usua00y a ga+ in the idd0e o! the 0ine1 right in!ront o! sensei1 so when your na e is ca00ed1 owed and heard your grade and that you+assed1 you quick0y wa0k to that ga+ >not in !ront o! the other students1 ut usua00y

ehind the !irst 0ine o! +eo+0e 1 and do the !o00owing +rocedure. 9ou sit down in sei aand ow.


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Conclusions

It is good to know certain things e!ore you go and start your kyu test. E$en i! youdo know these things and graded se$era0 ti es a0ready1 it ight e use!u0 to re indyourse0! e!ore your next grading1 quick0y re$ise what a grading is a out and what it is0ike. we 0e!t a cou+0e o! 0ank 0ines at the end in case you want to +rintthis docu ent and add your own ite s

1.


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Congratulations! Having read t is e "ook# no$ you kno$ $ at to e%pect &romyour grading. 'ou ave also "oosted your c ances o& passing to a good e%tent.

(emem"er to revise t e points o& t is "ook "e&ore your ne%t grading# and pass t ise "ook to your &ello$ grading students in order to increase t eir c ances# too.

)n t e meantime# keep practicing regularly and $it a$areness o& your "ody andmind. )& you need &urt er assistance# visit our *ikido +log or our *ikido )nstructional ,ideos pages. Ho$ever# don-t &orget t at# in addition to trainingyour inner sel& "y reading e "ooks suc as t is# and $atc ing videos a"out o$ todo aikido tec ni ues or "reak&alls# it is regular practice t roug $ ic you canadvance in your aikido studies. / e secret to improving your aikido is to keepturning up.1

Good luck &or your grading!

2.-. I! you ha$e any questions regarding this e# ook +0ease do not hesitate to contact us$ia our we site > ttp 33onlineaikido.com3contact . A0so1 we wou0d a++reciate i!you cou0d 0et us know how use!u0 this e# ook has een !or you. We wou0d a0so 0ike youto send us any additiona0 +oints which we ay not ha$e co$ered yet >we are going toex+and this e# ook constant0y 1 or !urther "secrets% to a success!u0 grading.


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A 0ast quote at the end

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Aikido Grading Basics