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Voice of the Fox
The Newsletter of the Martial Arts Training Service

Summer Camp Adventures
Part 2
by Peter Zalinski
Winter 1997

This is the second part of Peter's diary from USAF Western Region Summer Camp, held last July at California State University, Hayward.

Monday: Kyu Test Day

We started the day at 6:30 a.m. with Teshiba Sensei from West Los Angeles. Lots of nice flowing techniques, and breakfalls before breakfast. What more can an aikidoka ask for?

After the following class, Aaron and I decided against taking the third class of the morning. My back and stomach were a little weak, and Aaron's ankle had swelled up, so we went back to the room to shower, change into street clothes, and relax.

We went back to the dojo before the end of class to accompany Sensei back for lunch. As we walked in, I noticed that the teaching committee members were all seated at a table in the front of the dojo, observing the class. "AAARGH!" I thought to myself. "Major faux pas. They're probably wondering where the only two kyu-rank candidates are." Fortunately, the teaching committee was there to observe the dan ranks. It was the sub-teaching committee that was responsible for our test. Whew!

After lunch, Sensei and the other instructors had CPR recertification. The kyus had a long jo class with Iseri Sensei, which Aaron and I skipped. We went over our test requirements again, then meditated for a while in front of the library fountain before picking up Sensei for dinner.

I wasn't worried or nervous about the test. I knew we'd do Sensei proud. Her confidence in us was enough to boost my own confidence. Watching the water cascading into the pools, I contemplated how my first aikido instructor, Mamura Sensei, expressed his aikido with such obvious joy and exuberance. I wanted to go into my test smiling—and come out of it smiling -- in his honor.

After dinner we got dressed and walked down to the dojo with Sensei. Aaron was nervous and talkative. I was quiet, but an ear-to-ear grin stole across my face, and tears welled up in my eyes. I got onto the mat right away and started to stretch out and move around. I was preparing for an hour-long test—or longer. We were the only two kyus testing, so there would be no wait. The dojo began to fill up with hakamas as the yudansha bowed onto the mat to warm up.

As usual, we lined up and bowed in with Shibata Sensei. There was no warm-up and no announcements. Two rows of aikidoka lined up across the mat, mostly yudansha and kenshusei. For classes, three and four rows were common, so I guess about half of the people at camp were there. The sub-teaching committee was seated at a table at the left side of the mat. The moment was upon us, and I still had the grin.

Shibata Sensei called us out to our positions on the mat. Thankfully, Aaron was closer to the committee's table. After we bowed in, Shibata Sensei grunted out, "Uke!" and it sounded like a small herd of buffalo charging up behind me. I looked to my side to see who had landed: a kenshusei named David Allen (from San Diego Aikikai, I think). I'd worked out with him earlier in the week, but I'd seen him most often taking ukemi for Chiba Sensei.

The test went quickly, starting with suwari waza and moving along to hanmi-handachi and tachiwaza. Once, Aaron and I threw our ukes so that they landed near each other, so I saw him out of the corner of my eye. Other than that, I have no memory of seeing anyone other than David and Shibata Sensei until the final bow.

Unfortunately, I lost track of my grin for a while. I got nervous and was moving a little too fast. David's ukemi was excellent, but instead of throwing and pinning him, then backing off, I was approaching David as he was getting up from the last throw and immediately inviting him in for the next attack.

At the hanmi-handachi techniques, Shibata Sensei started calling out different techniques for each of us, since Aaron was testing for ikkyu and I for nikyu. I didn't always get in four throws before the technique changed, and I realized that the test was going much faster than I'd anticipated. That worried me until I realized that I had worked out with at least three members of the sub-teaching committee prior to the test, and my classtime performance must have been factored in.

When Shibata Sensei called for us to line up, I thought, "Time for a new uke." But he told us to bow off. The test was over. The sub-teaching committee trouped off with Sensei, and another instructor got the aikidoka up and moving. I glanced at the clock; 35 minutes had passed since we'd been called up.

The teaching committee returned in 10 minutes, and we all lined up and bowed in again. When Shibata Sensei called my name and said, "Nikyu test: pass," my grin came back full force. After the applause, Solomon Sensei gave the committee's remarks. They said I had done a good test, but they wanted me to slow down and to concentrate on basic movements and techniques. I needed to develop my sense of movement and power. Later, Sensei recalled something said about improving my conditioning, too.

Then Shibata Sensei called out, "Aaron Starr, ikkyu: pass." One of the committee stood up and said Aaron had done a very good test, that ikkyu was the passageway to shodan, and that a large step is expected when moving from the kyu ranks to the dan ranks.

After we were dismissed, everyone crowded around to congratulate us and shake our hands. I made sure to thank my uke again. Sensei gave us a warm hug. I was still a bit dazed, and a bit disappointed in some of my techniques, but happy nonetheless.

Emma was the first to arrive at our celebration, then Sensei, her two roommates Yasuko and Marilee, and the rest of the Ann Arbor folks. They brought beer and snacks but left early since many of the others were testing the next evening. Aaron and I stayed up late playing Pente after they all left, and finished off our beer and cider.

And we still got up for the 6:30 a.m. class.

Next issue: Three for Three
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