Test You Say

On the 28th of March, it was raining. So I decided that my daughter's tee-ball class could be put off for the day. But that said, I thought that it would be a perfect day for a private lesson at my Kenpo school. I gave my instructor a call a little before 9:00 am and was lucky to catch him. When I asked him about the lesson he said, but you have a test today. My reaction was "I do?" I knew I was getting ready for a test but I did not know I was testing this month. "Uh, OK I will be there". He must have thought I was some sort of dimwit that morning.

Kenpo tests can be grueling affairs that can last many hours and have a bit of a rite of passage feel to them. I will let you know that this one was not too terrible. I arrived at about 11:00 and the test started at 12:00. This was a very large test. We started with random attacks. This is probably what makes Kenpo what it is. Respond to a random attack and counter attack. We spend the next 20+ minutes on these basics along with more set techniques. We have very strange names for our techniques that will remind people of bad kungfu movies. These are things like "Gathering Clouds" and "Dance of Darkness" and "Bowing to Buddha". Mmmm, it looked like Kuan would win until Qian bested him with his secret Bowing to Buddha technique. I digress. The point of the techniques during the test is to guage your execution at as close to full speed as possible without seriously injuring your partner. There is generally contact in Kenpo, it isn't a knitting class after all, you just have to keep an eye on the level of contact. My partners were both seasoned and I thought they did quite well in their own right.

I have a tendency to sweat up a storm once I get going. I think this has a good deal to do with the effort I like to put into martial arts. The test was no different. Once we finished with our techniques it was on to sticks and knives. American Kenpo has an affinity for the Filipino stick arts and we train with them in conjunction with our open handed techniques. There is a good deal of compliment to the slashing hand techniques of Kenpo and the machete based Escrima arts. It can be quite beautiful to watch people who have practiced a good deal use the sticks. I thought the level of skill at this part of the test was excellent. The thing about sticks is you need some room so I did get to watch a bit. But I also had to help some folks who didn't have partners so I was able to not only be evaluated but was able to practice a good deal.

The test concluded with Kata. Kata is the traditional part of martial arts and is a dance like set of movements simulating a fight. Some of the more modern MMA arts are critical of Kata is not preparing one for an actual fight. There are responses to this but I will save them for another time. Suffice it to say that Kata has been practiced for hundreds of years and has been used to hide techniques of particular arts. At its heart Kata is a demonstration of grace, power, coordination, execution and determination, it is all of these things simultaneously. I am sure the average person on hearing this might have a bit of an incredulous look ... but that is the goal. I have to say that my kata was a bit off, I have been starting my own business over the past month and my practice has been off. I think I did well but my focus was about 15% off the norm and my ideal of perfection was not close in my mind. We are our own worst critics, my instructor was fine with my performance.

This concluded the test. I felt fairly spent but fairly positive about the whole thing. I passed and as I try to reach black belt again, I am one step closer. I am now a green belt in American Kenpo. Life is about the journey not the destination. In my mind the rank is not nearly as important as the experiences necessary to pass these guide posts.