I finally tested for 4th kyu this past weekend. The weekend before didn’t work out for a combination of reasons, but it was probably for the better; I got a chance to refine a few things. The test went well. Sensei has an amazing ability to judge people’s stamina, he’ll take you right to the limit when he tests you (at least once you are past 6th kyu – there isn’t enough on the 6th kyu test to wear the majority of people out).

I discovered that the full court (so to speak) 4 on 1 randori is significantly more difficult than the 3 on 1 on. I only got seriously jammed up once. I was a little nervous about trying to do technique (it’s the first rank test where you are asked to do more than just evade), but once I started it was actually a bit easier, since I could usually throw the person I was doing technique on intothe path of someone else. Two birds with one stone indeed.

Funny anecdote from the night before. Jeremy was teaching, as he usually does now on Fridays. At the end of class he called one of the Jasons (we have 3, two unranked) up for a practice 6th kyu test. I went out and was uke for the whole thing. No big deal really, as I said above, it’s not a long test and he didn’t even have us do all the techniques.

What I didn’t think about is that he was going to practice test me too. Stupid, since I was closer to testing than Jason 3 was. Needless to say, I was pretty worn out by the end of it all!

Anyhow, it’s nice to have it behind me. I definitely feel back in the groove as far as my aikido goes. I’m sure Rachel will be happy that I’m not going to 4-5 classes a week anymore. :-)