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Re: Black outs
We call this "deer in the headlights." Happens quite frequently. I remember a second-kyu test in which uke attacked with a high kick and nage caught the leg and then stood frozen. After a second uke was heard to whisper something like "For god's sake throw me! I can't keep my leg up here!"
The best advice I know:
In the weeks leading up to the test, get a friend to call out the test techniques at random and fairly quickly, and practice until you are not having to think at all about which one is which even while uke is hurtling at you.
On test day, *don't* study hard or fuss about your test. Do something nice for yourself instead. Deer in the headlights often comes from stress, so do things that help you unwind. It's too late to study anyway.
(I applied the first bit of advice to my fourth kyu techniques, and didn't freeze up at all. I did, however, get yokomenuchi shihonage so ingrained in my brain that for most of a year afterwards I would do that technique, rather than the desired one, whenever I was the least bit distracted or startled. Can't win 'em all.)
Mary Kaye
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