The mock grading started off with kihon (basics), They had to perform the white belt basics, the yellow belt basics, the purple and white belt basics, the brown belt basics, and the basics that have to be performed by the brown and striped belts. The standard of the basics was very good with the only problem coming with Kias they simply weren't strong enough. They were warned about this and the problem was quickly corrected.
Next came the Kumite. I had to pair up with the adult that was taking part as the other two karateka were children. We did sanbon, ippon and juippon kumite followed by one for one and freestyle fighting. This all went well with all the karateka being very strong.
We then did shobbu ippon kumite. This was very interesting as I have some experience in shobu ippon kumite whereas my opponent had very close to none. However what I didn't account for was his lightening reaction time. As soon as i moved the was gone, he did not counter but simply got out of the way. This made it very hard for me to mount any kind of attack. So I tried a different route. I waited for him to attack and then countered. This worked as he hit him with a kazami zucki jodan just before the time ran out.
They then moved onto the kata. The heian katas were performed at a good standard with very little mistakes. However the brown belt katas were not as impressive. One of the karateka did not complete Kanku dai due to nerves and mistakes.
The overall standard of the mock grading was good with two of the karateka being told they are eligible to take black belt. The karateka who did not complete kanku dai must do it again on Monday before a decision is reached.
The only really disappointing thing about the mock grading was that I discovered all of the karateka had only just scrapped through with the necessary amount of lessons when really they all should have done a lot more.
Their grading is a week on Sunday so I'll keep you updated about how they're getting on.
Blogged with the Flock Browser
