Gradings

Just three more days until our holiday.  Not to place to fine a point on it but I was seriously considering installing a countdown timer for that as well.…

Speaking of countdown timers, the shonky one written into the code of this blog is decrementing far too quickly for my liking.  It means I have a grading to concern myself with.  OK, ok, it’s been a blip on my radar for months but now the whole screen is covered with a great unknown blob.  I’m lucky though as Nidan (or 2^nd Dan) is relatively only a minor grading in the scheme of things and, providing a certain level of skill is demonstrated (and you don’t stuff up), expectations aren’t too excessive.  The real test is the transition from 3^rd to 4^th.  Think of 1^st to 2^nd as climbing a steady slope.  2^nd to 3^rd as a hill requiring the use of hands and 3^rd to 4^th as a sheer rockface.  It’s where the percentage of grading failures in any aspiring 4^th Dan group rocket above 30%.

Idly mulling on that last point.  While the idea of a 4^th Dan grading doesn’t scare me – because I’m willing to put the time into working for it – it’s just occurred to me I’ll be 59 at that point.  And that’s assuming I don’t stuff up one of the gradings before it.  But that one of the beauties of Iaido:  your skill level with a Japanese sword is only marginally affected by the effects of age.  In much the same way as a 90 year-old can still pull the trigger of a gun, a 70 year old can still display extraordinary prowess with a sword.  The interesting thing is the hidden, ‘internal workings’ of Japanese martial arts appear to add a good many years to what you can force your body to endure.

Trouble is, can I acquire the ‘internal workings’ before I’m 70?