Jan 13 Iaido Grading

I passed my Shodan grading in Iaido at Iwakura yesterday.

The morning started with a 2 hour training session, followed by a 30 minute lunch break, with the gradings starting at 12.30. The gradings start with the waza performed in order of rank attempted, so first up are the ikkyu, then shodan, nidan etc.. Following the completion of the waza the written test is completed. Shodan is the first Iaido grading that has a written component. I found the test "interesting" because the material that was suggested for me to study was not in the test at all. Luckily I have been drilled well by my instructors on the technical elements that were covered in the test and passed.

One quick comment on the photo - out of the over 100 people attempting gradings yesterday, there were 3 foreigners, myself included. So it makes complete sense that 2 of us were in the same grading group.