2005 Workout #5 – A Long Expected Pants-Crapping Extravaganza…

I have suspected since I came back from college that it was only a matter of sharpening before this time came, but last night it was confirmed for me in an all-too-real statement from : “Your name came up in a conversation last night. Be ready for April 2nd.”

For the unindoctrinated, this is the date of my second degree black belt test. I am not the only one from our dojo trying, Mike McCabe is going to have a shot at it too. It seems like only a very short time ago did he get his Shodan, but he has been training like mad since then. I’m pretty sure he’ll be in good shape.

I will be the first to admit that I have a lot of skeletons in my closet to deal with regarding dan testing. No matter what happens, until that test is over and the results are out I will have voices in my head reminding me how long it took me to get my Shodan and how often I had to fall off the horse to get it.

Am I scared of this? No. Do I have a lot of work to do before April 2? Hell yes. I am upping my New Year’s Resolution of three workouts per week to four with an option for five if I can swing it with work. I NEED to fix my center. If I don’t fix it, I will fail this thing. Hands down, plain and simple. I am not concerned so much with the sparring combinations as those can be sharpened with practice and we’ve been doing them alot on Saturday workouts. I am concerned about Jion and Kanku Dai, since those are my most neglected of the four kata I’m responsible for. I’m also concerned about the sparring. I can deal with Erbe and Mike on a day to day basis, however they are both large and with black belt test adrenaline they could be more trouble.

I’ve not put myself through the dan test stress in a LONG time. Many of the familiar feelings came rushing back after I found that the date was set, the most familiar was a wave of nerves that I recognize from things like my Master’s Project presentation.

This test means a lot to me. This would put me at the same rank Sensei Hartman and Jennings were at when I started, as well as put me even with the highest ranking of the lesser black belts at the dojo. It’s been eight years, it’s time to do this thing.