On Saturday, 13th of April, Yokohama AikiDojo held its yearly kids class kyu grade examinations and we are delighted to announce that every of the sixteen children passed their test!
Our students have been spending the last few weeks conscientiously reviewing the material, focusing particularly on the basic elements of Aikido such as posture, distance, zanshin, and etiquette. With the dojo's recent growth, this grading session constitutes the largest examination that we have had to run. Four students took on their 11th kyu test, seven went for the 10th kyu, three for the 9th kyu, and two for the 8th kyu. Three juries were setup in order to fit the examination within one hour, Guillaume Sensei overseeing the 11th kyu, Katsuura Sensei and Atsumi Sensei the 10th kyu, and Mihaly Sensei the 9th and 8th kyu.
After a short deliberation, examining each student's performance against a grid of criteria, the results of the test were announced, with additional comments from the examiners on which points the students should be focusing on for subsequent improvement.
We would like to congratulate our students for their hard work, and thank their families for their support in helping them to achieve this new milestone. With those new promotions, each student knows that they have takes on new responsibilities in guiding their juniors, as is typical in the Japanese sempai/kohai relationship.
