sensei aviva

On Monday and Wednesday of last week (October 30 and November 1), I endured several grueling hours of karate testing. And a very short while before we flew to Maui (our plane left Thursday at 6am and my testing ended at 9pm the night before), I was told that I had passed the rigourous requirements for the black belt test. These requirements include eight empty-hand katas (a prescribed series of movements and techniques envisioned as fight against multiple, imaginary enemies); three weapons katas (two with the bo--a type of quaterstaff--and one with sais--a pair of pronged short swords, famously used by Raphael, the teenage mutant ninja turtle, and by Gabrielle in the later seasons of Xena: The Warrior Princess); a empty-hand series of prearranged sparring (with two people), called Yakusoku Kumite; a prearranged weapons Kumite, with bos; free sparring; history and terminology; and basic technique--all in front of five black belts of 4th degree rank or higher.

In class today (the first class since I've been back in town) at my dojo, after 3 1/2 years of training in Isshin-Ryu Karate , I received my first degree black belt. My teacher called me "Sensei" as I left the building. This was exceedingly satisfying even though I know that this is only the first, very small, step in my karate education. I've been told that once you receive your black belt it's like starting all over again--the eternal student.

In other news of athletic achievements, April ran the Chicago Marathon on October 22 in support of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and Team-in-Training. She ran for her grandmother, Mollie Miller, finished the 26.2 miles in 4 hours 4 minutes, and was still running strong at the end of the race (she actually sprinted the last 800m). Go April Go!!!