I got my Shodan black belt!!

[Nighthawk]

Well, I'm back. Weekend got severely messed up- the owners of Fish Camp had our camp booked for next weekend, so we got screwed on the facility. We had people come here from as far away as Ethiopia and Venezuela, and had no facility to have the camp, so a local martial arts schools lent us their facility for the weekend, free of charge, and several of their students opened their homes to us. We didn't have the camp that we had wanted... but it was a killer weekend anyway. Sensei Justin didn't test us, as I had expected. Instead he got one of his friends to do it- and rotated four other high ranking black belts in and out throughout the test, just to throw new and different things at us. So after 4 hours of testing (pretty sure I was going to die before they were done with me) I managed to convince these world class badasses that I deserve to continue my training. I am now, officially, a Shodan (first- degree black belt) in Shotokan karate and San Ten Jujitsu.

And since my post wasn't as clear as I had thought last night when I made it (jet lagged) I thought some clarification was in order. The camp was the ISKA Sierra Camp, which was booked for this past weekend at Fish Camp, California. Here is the website:

http://mariposa.yosemite.net/ISKA/ISKACamp.htm

The owners of Fish Camp had it written in their ledger for this coming weekend, when it had been booked for last weekend, which is why there was such confusion.

And by "us" I meant that there were two students testing, myself included. Thought those grouchy old senseis were going to kill us...

Pictures to follow...

[Downunder Kilt]

Good one Travis, good to see the dedication that you have shown bringing some rewards, so to speak. Cheers

[EagleJCS]

Congratulations... in Aikido, we'd say that now that you've got the basics down, you can start learning...

[CMcG]

Congrats on your achievement. I wish you many more years of equally hard training

[Hopper250]

I raise my sake glass, kampai!

[guardsman]

Shodan in Kyokushinkai here , congratulations

[aonghas]

Congratulations on all your hard work, now it really starts

[Nighthawk]

Congratulations... in Aikido, we'd say that now that you've got the basics down, you can start learning...

I compare it to taking a ride to the train station. Now the real journey begins!

[midwestasian]

Lots of great martial arts choices in Colorado! Lucky you!

[Nighthawk]

There was a blur, a thud, and all of a sudden, I'm on the ground, thinking I'm gonna die...

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From the left: Mile Sullivan Sensei, Bruce Clayton Sensei (Author the book Shotokan's Secret)
Chris (a student I'm training. He's a green belt now.) Ryan (the only kid under the age of 13 that Justin Sensei has ever allowed to test for his black belt- he's just that driven and mature- we figure he was our chaperone.) Justin Butler Sensei, and myself.

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And my belt! This end is my name:

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This end is our school name:

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And this is Sunday morning... You'll notice I look like I could hardly stand...

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