Hi guys, Sensei Adam here.
You may remember back in October of last year I travelled up to World Ju-Jitsu Federation headquaters in Liverpool to do my 2nd dan (Nidan) grading, where I came close to passing but fell short.
Immediately after hearing the news, Kyōshi Robert Howes (7th Dan) offered to let me re-try my grading at a later date at one of his classes in Norwich, including ‘volunteering’ the services of one of his club coaches, Sensei Jack Stapleton (4th Dan), to uke for me. In case you forgot, Kyōshi Howes is the sensei who has visited us to adjudicate our club gradings in the past, and whom I trained under last summer.
After our last club gradings back in November, we decided that the best plan was for me to join them at their next club gradings which was set for Saturday 21st March 2020, but then that pesky Coronavirus meant all their classes and the grading got postponed.
You might now be wondering, why would I bring this up now?
This morning I received a surprise package from Kyōshi Robert Howes, containing a letter, a Nidan belt and my certificate.
Yes, I have officially been awarded my 2nd Dan black belt! I was not expecting this and was still waiting for when I could re-try my grading. At this point I don’t really know what to say, other than to thank everyone from Kyōshi Robert Howes, Kancho Robert Hart and of course our Sensei Julia! There are probably other people I need to thank too so if I’ve missed you, thank you!
Roll on October 2023 when I should eligible to attempt my Sandan (3rd dan) grading!