Three New Shodan, Three more Sensei

At Fudoshin we believe every student has their own path to follow, there is a saying “a black belt is a white belt that didn’t quit” this really is so true and I believe every practitioner has two paths to travel on their quest for a black belt…the physical and mental journeys (this is represented within our club badge as the two gold circles that encompass the temple dojo) and everyone’s paths may vary in time, distance and direction but eventually the destination is the same…Shodan, Black belt, and here within lies the story of our three candidates…

Matthew’s Story (The Broken)…

I’m going to start with Matthew as his journey has been the longest and probably more deserving than anyone I know. Matthew has been teaching alongside me since 2003/2004 when we were teaching for another club at Potters Bar. I was a Shodan-Ho (provisional black belt) and Matthew was a yellow belt and together we would teach the kids classes there and afterwards head off to Borehamwood for our senior training. I left that club and started Fudoshin in the autumn of 2008 and Matthew faithfully put his trust in me and joined me and we continued to teach kids classes together in Hemel Hempstead. Matthew was the first senior enlisted at our newly opened Hemel dojo, he continued to train at Hemel and our DL dojos with new training partners and also at our Queens dojo, as he progressed through the syllabus and through the belts up to 1st Kyu brown belt it was evident that there were physical issues with his hips and legs with chronic pain inducing cramps and seizures, regardless he continued his training and supporting his fellow students, quite often watching others surpass his 1st Kyu as they continued onto Shodan-ho and even black belts. Not once have I ever seen Matthew discouraged in his quest. Matthew would and did support all of his fellow students as they moved on past, not once have I ever heard Matthew “wish” for a black belt or contemplate any other path than that of “I will be grading for my black belt” his patience has been relentless and we continued to teach together and he continued to train with his partners helping them along their way.

Tony’s Story (The Thespian) …

Tony also joined our previous Martial Arts group pretty much at the same time as his training partner (Eugene) and together they would start to forge a bond and would train at the Bushey dojo and attend seminars together and progress through the first few Kyu grades together and together, like Matthew and a few others who put their faith and trust in their Sensei, moved with me to Fudoshin in 2008. And like Matthew but for very different reasons Tony would watch his training partners progress and continue to grade to black belts (Eugene and Mark B) Tony is an aspiring actor who has appeared on tv in programmes like Coronation Street and The Bill and West End theatre in The Commitments unfortunately (or fortunately for Tony) acting parts would quite often drop in his lap and he would be off rehearsing and filming and would then reappear several months later and this carousel would continue for a few years on and off but at his last return to the Dojo the stars must have all aligned in his (and our) favour as we were able to commit to some dedicated training in preparation for his black belt and a date was set in stone.

Molly’s Story (The Graduate) …

Molly is a thoroughbred Fudoshin student as she enlisted aged just 9 years old as one of our first Junior students at the David Lloyd Dojo in Bushey. Molly was (and still is) a quiet softly spoken girl, she quickly made friends with the other children and worked well with anyone in the class. Molly soon outgrew the junior class and made the giant leap up into our intermediate class (for teenagers preparing for senior class) and just like Matthew and Tony she would see her partners come and go but this time it was Molly that was progressing through the syllabus and would eventually join the senior class aged 16 and would now be training with the group of adults all much older and all higher belts but undeterred she would progress all the way up to 1st Kyu Brown belt, this is where we first encountered a few “wobbles” those clouding doubts of “I can’t do this” and “I’m not ready for this” and the worse one “I’m just gonna tell Sensei I’m stopping” but with the support of her loving family and her ju-jitsu family we all managed to help her through the demons on her  mental journey and preparations were made for the magical day of her epic “Shodan-ho” grading. Unfortunately (for fudoshin) like some students her age University beckons and it was off to Bath Uni she went with the passing words, I’ll come back for my black belt…Like I haven’t heard that one before. However, low and behold 5 years later at 23 years old Molly appears at the Dojo and says, I’m on a year out from Uni and I’m back for my black belt”

Now, I can see the future and I can see an opportunity for three very dedicated and very deserving students to be given the opportunity to grade to Shodan, so this brings me back to the phrase “A black belt is a white belt that didn’t quit.”

Here we have 3 students that haven’t just spent a year in preperation for a black belt grading, we have three dedicated students that have spent years in preparation for this grading.

Their Shodan grading started at 6am Sunday morning and consisted of a 12 mile run and basic fitness testing before stepping on the mat, before breakfast even. After our traditional breakfast at the Tudor Cafe, Peter now has everyone having a Spanish Omelette for breakfast. We opened the Dojo at 10am with opening ceremony welcoming all participants and visitors from London Ju-Jitsu Sensei Chris & Sensei Salur along with volunteer Uke’s Sensei Ian & Joe.  I always have a plan and running order for gradings and its important for a grading of such gravitas to plan ahead with Uke’s as without them gradings like these just couldn’t take place, so I’m going to mention and say a very big thank you to Ian & Joe from LJJ and Sensei Mark & Sensei Mikey and Sempai Niral, a special thank you to Sempai Matthew and Jordan who both returned specifically just to support and take part in the grading.

After the warm up and break falls the candidates demonstrated all the basic throwing techniques from each belt of the syllabus. They were also tasked to demonstrate their skill set and craft knowledge to produce 30 techniques of their choice and also 10 counter combinations of their choice. They were also tested on their knowledge and understanding of each belt from our complete syllabus and their ability to handle attacks with various weapons and how to disarm assailants and retain weapons. Spirit testing is an important part of our Shodan grading with arduous Randori from multiple attackers, Ne-waza grappling whilst at their most vulnerable and peak of exhaustion and for good measure to finish a round of Kumite (free fighting) or milling as we call it.

After a physically tiring, mentally exhausting and truly emotional day we were able to successfully conclude the grading with three very deserving and exceptional Shodan, black belt students. 

Congratulations Sensei Matthew, Sensei Tony and Sensei Molly on a truly outstanding grading,  we are all looking forward to seeing you on the mat in your Black Gi top and Kuro Obi. Wear them all with pride in the knowledge you rightly earned to do so.