Hi All Well it happened. I went and got my Shodan Very pleased indeed. Years of work, the last 3 months especially Here is the video where you can point out my 8,765 mistakes! [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7arSMk4iwmU&feature=plcp"]Leo - Shodan Test - August 2012 - YouTube[/ame] As always, happy to answer questions, read comments, critiques, whatever. I appreciate the feedback
Looks like a good shodan shinsa! Better than having us critique you, what did you feel you needed to do better? Some major differences where I train are our pins. My school's kotegaeshi pin is done with uke's arm the rear leg, which is positioned right by uke's armpit, and the forward leg is just above uke's head...so different leg than your school. Also, we do yonkajo pin with the forward knee up past uke's head vice sitting in kiza (other than that, it looked the same). Some other minor differences as well, zanshin, etc. Thanks for sharing your test! Oh, I found it odd your partner was also mudansha...is that normal? We normally would have an uke that is the grade we are testing for, or higher. Oh yeah, when is kihon dosa to kanren waza a requirement for you?
Kotegaeshi pin: We just keep uke's arm in our centre, take the arm forward to lock out the shoulder then bend both legs slightly so we can get low to extend uke's arm and put pressure on the elbow for the complete pin. Yonkajo pin: My leg should have been a little farther out, bad habit Zanshin: We are a branch dojo of Yamanashi Yoshinkan which is headed by Takeno Sensei. His zanshin is all about hammi (open hip posture) and we try our best to emulate that My Uke was a 3rd kyu, I was 2nd. It is our way to have a partner who is equal to or slightly below your grade. If you grade with someone who is above you they can make you look very good Kanren Waza is not part of any syllabus, but we do do it from time to time. We did a demo based on kihon dosa represented as Oyo Waza earlier this year From 0.55 [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVuLXiRdXM0"]Yoshinkan London - Jo Kata and Oyowaza Demonstration - YouTube[/ame]
Cool demo! Now that you mention it, I definitely remember Takeno Sensei's zanshin from Hijiate that you did. I forgot about the open hip posture thing, I remember you mentioned that before. We definitely do things differently than Yoshinkan honbu as well, as we are based on influence from Gozo Shioda and T. Kushida Sensei. Where do you guys get your weapons techniques from? That first jo sotai dosa renzoku you are doing looks like it could be the cousin of one of ours. G Shioda asked Kushida Sensei to add more weapons forms to enhance his training, so he sent some students to train with the Yagyu Shinkage Ryu and Muso Ryu Jodo then modified the forms to include Yoshinkan-based stances.
All our weapons stuff is from Takeno Sensei. The paired Jo thing was developed by his chief instructor in Yamanashi and we were taught it when we went out to Japan We also do sword stuff from Yagyu Shinkage which Takeno said he learned during his time at hombu with Shioda Perhaps Kushida was an influence? All very interesting
Actually, here is the kumi jo that reminds me a little of the one you did in your demo: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3ykRXQuMFA"]Kumi Jo renzoku - YouTube[/ame] Sorry for the crappy cinematography, that was all me behind the camera (phone, actually).
That's cool. I'm not sure on our timeline with weapons influence. I thought it didn't happen until Kushida and Kimeda were sent to North America, but I could be misremembering. Hey, did you have to write an essay or do any Q&A or teaching for shodan, or other shinsa?
No essay or Q&A But I did do an instructors test at the end, where I had to teach two techniques. Passed that too! Which is an awesome bonus Just need to pay for the expensive instructors certificate now so I'm registered with Hombu
Ah yes, the double whammy of an instructor's license in addition to the testing fee! What title do you get for your first teaching license?
Yeah, I was planning to buy myself a sword at Christmas, now all the cash is going towards the certificates Title? could you elaborate? To my knowledge I'm just a level one Shodan instructor which means I can grade people up to 4th kyu
Oh, we have separate fee for testing certificate and teaching certificate. The teaching certificate is what I meant by a title. Not really sure why I used the term 'title.' I actually am not sure if I have an teaching licenses. I am pretty sure if I didn't pay for any, I'll have to back-pay for previous ones when I get my shidoin....which will suck real bad.
