Had my first grading last night and achieved 8th Kyu and I’m just really happy and wanted to share it !

I’m absolutely made up and so happy. kinda felt like sharing it here cause this subreddit has been a great source of information and tips etc for me since I’ve started karate again.

And then if anyone cares or is interested…

As a kid (around 8-10 ish) I did karate with my mum and made it to my orange belt but ended up stopping to play rugby instead.

My mum who had done a lot of karate prior to where we were training kept going and throughout the years the styles changed for her and I would help her out with preparing for her own gradings and competitions offering a bit of an opponent for her to spar against or practice her bunkai. It wasn’t that I had stopped liking karate I just had other priorities and sport at the time I wanted to work on so didn’t really have the time to commit to it’d

However, repeat injuries from rugby and about to have a kid I decided it was time for me to pack the rugby in and I started back doing Karate. doing a very a different style to what I did as a kid. (I’m doing Goju-Ryu for those wandering) I started around November last year and it’s been so much fun and such a great way for me to keep active (both mentally and physically).

The class I’ve been in is mostly made up of the local black belts in my area so I was a bit nervous going into grading yesterday, as I was nervous about whether I knew my basics and what I needed to do for my grading good enough. Due to the higher grades at the class I attend at my dojo there is a bit more focus on a lot of more the “advance” techniques.

But I turned out I did know my basics and knew them well (i suppose my sensei wouldn’t have let me grade if they didn’t think I did, or thought I wasn’t ready to I guess!) and I passed .achieving my 8th Kyu Orange belt.

(Little after thought I had once I wrote this. I suppose having a lot of higher grades to train with also has helped me because they can also teach me having been in my position once before.)