Hello again,
November, a couple months from now, is when the next opportunity for kyu tests will be at my dojo. It's also the first chance I'd be able to test for 6th kyu...if I'm invited.
Obviously, test requirements differ between dojos (mine is Kokikai). I'm not so much worried about specific test requirements yet - I'll be told those when it's relevant, I understand. What I'm wondering about is whether there are things I should focus on improving or at least being very nicely consistent with, that would be good indication of my readiness (or not).
Self evaluation:
- My backfall ukemi is pretty good. Front falls are occasionally subject to collapse. My forward rolls are a lot better than when I started (of course nowhere near as easily as the shodan), I can't do a backward roll to save my life (though we practice them rather infrequently). I have trouble getting to my feet smoothly from either.
- I don't have a problem with simple "ki" tests. I more or less understand being centered, but doing so while sitting seiza and doing warm-ups vs. doing so while being thrown with kokyu-nage are two very different things.
- I can do a technique pretty smoothly after so many times, though maybe not remember all of it when it's done again two weeks later. My biggest problem seems to be sloppy feet - wanting to step when they should slide, wanting to keep stepping instead of sticking the landing, needing to do multiple movements when ideally it should be one.
I hope that's descriptive enough to at least solicit suggestions. I haven't asked either Sensei for recommendations yet, though I do ask them questions and will get around to it. (The other 6th and 5th kyu girls do comment on my improvement since I started.) I'll be a little discouraged if I'm not invited, but probably only enough to provoke me to try harder.
