It’s been a tough year especially from the start of the year with another lockdown and no confirmation as to when classes would be able to return. Luckily TKF had the go ahead to restart classes in May so preparations for gradings in June were already underway.
With some people still opting to grading online due to restrictions still not being fully lifted, TKF reverted to the October grading set up where students who preferred to grade online would be able to do so between the week Monday 14th June to Friday 18th June. The main grading would take place on the Saturday at Queens Hill.
The weeks leading up to the grading was tough for those who had set their sights on grading since returning to classes. It was never going to be easy going straight into a grading preparation mindset especially when they had been training online from the start of year and occasionally being able to train outdoors which was very weather dependent! The vast majority had set their sights on the main grading at the end of the week which was a positive as it meant they had a decent hall to be able to perform their grading to the best of their ability. Others opt to grade online or even use the opportunity to have a private grading. Whatever the situation was, whether it was a normal grading, online or private grading it was clear to see that worry and nervous feeling in the students eyes. Of course, people tend to think that the instructors don’t feel this worry or feeling of being nervous. But NEWSFLASH! We do!! The TKF instructors are just as nervous as those grading simply because we have experienced first hand what it is like to be standing in front of that table when the instructors eyes are just glaring at you awaiting your first move.
As the week progressed, with the online sessions and private gradings all taking place prior to the main grading, it was great to see that students were implementing everything they had been taught whether it was online or during a face to face lesson. The impressive thing was that all the students who had graded had put in the effort to try and learn their new syllabus online. This wouldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t for the huge commitment from the students tuning in at the start of the year to the online sessions. By the time they had returned to normal training it was simply a case of fine tuning those techniques and brushing up on their kata. Of course, the gradings were not fully ‘back to normal’ as restrictions meant adults would not be able to perform their kumite (sparring) with a partner. Honestly, adults sparring whether its one step or free sparring can be VERY entertaining. It wasn’t to be, so adults had to stick with being able to show their technical ability whilst pretending to fight an imaginary opponent.
It was a very successful week especially because it has not been an easy ride. But we can take a few positives from this successful week. First, no matter what the result was, everyone tried their absolute best and that is all anyone can really ask for. Secondly, its proved that all our members have some serious guts when it comes to training and grading. It was never going to be easy returning to training whether they had returned to training with the intention of grading or not. Lastly, with the progress that has been made, everyone is on the right path for normality.
TKF are very proud of all our members. It’s as simple as that. All those who graded have done so well to pass that barrier and take that next step towards black belt. But also, credit has to be given to those who haven’t graded this time round whether it was because they simply didn’t feel ready or wanted to get an extra four months training in before attempting to grade. The main thing is that you have returned to training with the right mindset and now everyone can encourage and motivate each other more now then ever! Here’s to the next four months…
