Emperor Ming Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 Well guys today is the day. I know its Mothers Day but it is not that I am on about. At 12:00 I stand on the line with 4 other hardy souls and start my Second Dan black belt grading. Three years of training are on the line and for four hours we will be scrutinised prodded and generally tested to see if we make the grade. Although not in the league of Zedrush and his mad mates I can guarantee that its gonna hurt. Someone is going to end up with a bloody nose and there will be bent fingers and toes a'plenty. I am the oldest guy there by several years (49 and a bit) so i feel I have a point to prove!! When you are sitting down with mum and having a large Sunday dinner just give me a thought. Ming the ready - and nervous[/b] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris`I Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 Good luck matey, can only imagine how hard it is. I reached Red belt in TKD, and that was hard enough for me. I didnt have the paitence to even reach First Dan, so second Dan gets mucho respect. BTW, your sig..... my engine is filthy and needs a polish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinmac Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 Hope all your bits remain intact Ming. Best of luck with it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trev-the-Rev Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 Best of luck Ming. I know how much harder any form of exercise gets when you reach a certain age Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neo Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 fingers crossed for ya m8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H5 Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 Good luck Ming - keep those fingers in good order for your waxing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lomoto Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 good luck , hope you can type the outcome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toon Chris Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 Its an hour since you finished. If you can read this then well done mate, I`m sure you tried as hard as possible and I bet you are glad it's over! If you can't type back, try using a pencil held in your mouth.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emperor Ming Posted March 2, 2008 Author Share Posted March 2, 2008 Well guys its over. Everything started off great. Techniques were spot on, Combinations were 100% and I got every kata as you would expect of a 2nd Dan. I was flying. Then we started to spar (fight) I need to explain here that together with us wado Ryu guys there was another club grading who teach sport Karate (It is basically fighting and the techniques specific to competition fighting) Two of their guys going for their first dan joined in with us and we looked forward to ten 2 minute fights. Fifth fight I am up against one of them when I got hit by a flurry of punches which was met buy solid defence and a good mawashi geri (A round kick) aimed at his back/shoulder. I will be honest here and admit it was probably a little hard but these guys are fighters and it was aimed at his shoulder/back. As the kick went up his head dropped and I hit him smack on the side of his face. He went down like a sack of spuds, an ambulance was called and he was taken to hospital and my grading was over. Failed due to lack of control and excessive contact. I had 10 minutes left of a 4 hr grading. My instructor - the senior instructor on the panel - saw the kick and told the panel it was only 50% my fault and as such he was going to pass me but the others failed me!! Failing the grading does not overly bother me - there will always be other chances to grade - and I accept the panels decision 100%, but hurting someone does not sit well with me. We all accept that when we pull on our Gi there is a risk and folk keep telling me that 'these things happen' but it does not seem to make me feel any better! If I am honest it shook me up more than I thought it would. Ming the concerned Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lomoto Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 could have been worse , it could have been you on the receiving end Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinmac Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 I thought it was always harder to spar with people who were of a lesser standard as you could not predict their actions and therefore defence. Hard luck Ming. Next time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emperor Ming Posted March 2, 2008 Author Share Posted March 2, 2008 could have been worse , it could have been you on the receiving end I might have kept my arms up though. I know what you mean and I tell you for nowt he is going to be VERY sore over the next few days! Ming the Concerned Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H5 Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 It is cliched but these things do happen. Ask Eduardo.... I am sure he won't feel like you meant it and as you say it is accepted as part of the risk involved. Sorry to hear you didn't get it, but that is the point of martial arts, to defend yourself. Stick with it and better luck next time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris`I Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 Gutting to hear that mate, especially when you were so close to the end. Theres always next time, as the others have said, these things happen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndySpak Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 Sorry to hear your grading didn't go well but I always thought that the whole idea of any martial art was to kick the sh1t out of your opponent? Sounds like you did that pretty well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zedrush Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 Ming just read this thread after your pm, if I was on that grading panel I would not have failed you at all. Was not your fault, its this stupid WKF rules of sport karate that has ruined it for everyone, turns fighters into soft fairies who just want to throw attacks that look good but no damage Had your grading been 10 years ago you would have passed with flying colours. Soft touch freestyle and all these new rules is not what Sensei Tatsuo Suzuki taught or even envisioned Especially when my mum learnt from him as well. Its simply the guys fault for not block, and 50% power is controlled, by the sounds of it the guy walk straight into the kick before you could snap back in time I spoke to my mum, not that it is worth that much being Shotokan, but she said had you of done that in her grading, she would of been awarding you your 2nd dan right now You will get it next time bud Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris`I Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 Sorry to hear your grading didn't go well but I always thought that the whole idea of any martial art was to kick the sh1t out of your opponent? Sounds like you did that pretty well! The idea is to do enough to protect yourself whilst being controlled enough not to kick %£"$" out of them If you get called up to court for battering someone, it is looked at very very dimly if you are trained. Unless you are vertically challenged like me, then you just say you feared for your life and the only way to stop them was to batter them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trev-the-Rev Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 Sorry to hear this Ming. But has already been said, the decision seems to go against everthing the sport is about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris`I Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 Ming just read this thread after your pm, if I was on that grading panel I would not have failed you at all. Was not your fault, its this stupid WKF rules of sport karate that has ruined it for everyone, turns fighters into soft fairies who just want to throw attacks that look good but no damage I saw this in TKD too when I used to train. We did a fast defence course which I thought was really good, and takes away all this spinning head kick fancy crap and played on good ole whack em where it hurts mentality. The amount of hightly graded people who couldnt do anything to defend themselves when an attacker was coming at them was shocking. They could do all the fancy moves but froze the moment it counts. Making the point of them being so hightly decorated martial artists completely useless! Anyway in the end its all about being able to defend yourself when it counts so second Dan or not, least you know you can kick a fella to the floor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zedrush Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 Ming just read this thread after your pm, if I was on that grading panel I would not have failed you at all. Was not your fault, its this stupid WKF rules of sport karate that has ruined it for everyone, turns fighters into soft fairies who just want to throw attacks that look good but no damage I saw this in TKD too when I used to train. We did a fast defence course which I thought was really good, and takes away all this spinning head kick fancy crap and played on good ole whack em where it hurts mentality. The amount of hightly graded people who couldnt do anything to defend themselves when an attacker was coming at them was shocking. They could do all the fancy moves but froze the moment it counts. Making the point of them being so hightly decorated martial artists completely useless! Anyway in the end its all about being able to defend yourself when it counts so second Dan or not, least you know you can kick a fella to the floor Lol very true.. Judo has gone the same way too, all sport crap. They have taken away ground game submissions (newaza), they have a 30 second rule on the ground now then you have to stand up. I had a guy come train with me he was european judo champion.. he could even put on a basic armlock Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emperor Ming Posted March 3, 2008 Author Share Posted March 3, 2008 Thanks guys. My Sensei said the same as Zedrush. 10 years ago I would have been told to calm it down a bit AGAINST THE NEXT BLOKE and told to fight on. Everyone is too worried about insurance and claims to allow Karate to be the art it is! I understand what Chris is saying but in the heat of a fight it is extremely difficult to control a kick. Made much more so when your opponent does not take proper defensive action as would be expected of someone of their grade. On a more sobering note the other guy is going for an operation tomorrow. Ming the Concerned Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndySpak Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 Ming just read this thread after your pm, if I was on that grading panel I would not have failed you at all. Was not your fault, its this stupid WKF rules of sport karate that has ruined it for everyone, turns fighters into soft fairies who just want to throw attacks that look good but no damage I saw this in TKD too when I used to train. We did a fast defence course which I thought was really good, and takes away all this spinning head kick fancy crap and played on good ole whack em where it hurts mentality. The amount of hightly graded people who couldnt do anything to defend themselves when an attacker was coming at them was shocking. They could do all the fancy moves but froze the moment it counts. Making the point of them being so hightly decorated martial artists completely useless! Anyway in the end its all about being able to defend yourself when it counts so second Dan or not, least you know you can kick a fella to the floor Lol very true.. Judo has gone the same way too, all sport crap. They have taken away ground game submissions (newaza), they have a 30 second rule on the ground now then you have to stand up. I had a guy come train with me he was european judo champion.. he could even put on a basic armlock Sounds like you Ninja dudes should come and train with me on the streets of Warrington... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emperor Ming Posted March 8, 2008 Author Share Posted March 8, 2008 Quick update. He went home from hospital today. Very sore and having had surgery but well on the mend. You can't imagine how relieved I am that he is going to be OK. Its been a VERY long week waiting for that news i can tell you. ming the happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarnie Posted March 8, 2008 Share Posted March 8, 2008 Quick update.He went home from hospital today. Very sore and having had surgery but well on the mend. You can't imagine how relieved I am that he is going to be OK. Its been a VERY long week waiting for that news i can tell you. ming the happy. What the hell did you do to him to put him in hospital for a week Even a broken nose is an in and out job Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trev-the-Rev Posted March 9, 2008 Share Posted March 9, 2008 Very pleased to hear your news Ming. It must be a huge weight on your mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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