I sent out an e-mail yesterday to our incoming kyu ranks that will be testing for 2nd kyu. These are students that, for one reason or another, had to take a break from their training at other schools and are now interested in joining us on the mat at Kinjo.
This morning I did some math on the day requirements for all of the kyu ranks up to shodan (1st degree black belt). Ni-kyu (2nd kyu) is right in the middle. The time spent on the mat up to ni-kyu is equal to the typical remaining time needed to reach shodan. That makes it a major milestone.
Aikido should be enjoyable first, and also provide an opportunity for you to push yourself to get better than you were yesterday. The test requirements set up by Hendricks Sensei follow a natural progression of aikido understanding. Whenever I put you up there to do your test/demo, you've already passed. Now it's time to show everyone what you've learned.
がんばって! (gambatte: "do your best")
