I know it's been a long time since I blogged. Trying to change that. I've been living the good life in Japan, trying to get healthy, and many other things.
I did manage to have the opportunity to test for first degree black belt (shodan;初段) at my Aikido dojo (Fukaya Aikikai;深谷合気会).
My dojo members. The three of us to the right of sensei in the front row (me in the center) tested for shodan.Most of the action shots from the test were too blurry, but this video turned out well. (Also on my YouTube account.)
My rank certificate and yudansha booklet.These cost me quite a bit, and I can begin to see why some of my sensei's didn't want to subscribe to certain aspects of Aikido politics. I had to register for the national Aikido federation (about 8000円/$80) and pay for the shodan test itself (about 10000円). Further dan ranks increase by another 10000円 each level. Luckily they paid for the belt/obi itself (which I'll have to take a picture of), which also has my name and Fukaya Aikikai on it (in kanji of course).
Me and my new hakama in front of our dojo's shomen.And then I had to buy my hakama (25000円). I did splurge on that and got the traditional indigo dyed cotton style (#6000 thread count) with extra long straps to tie it traditional style on my big hips. It was a serious pain to wash by hand (five times in the tub), but it looks pretty bad ass.
And kanji-fied my name on it as well. It's not perfect, but it'll do.
心 Shin (Heart) 道 Dou (Path) 羅 Ra (-)So, Schindler, in this choice of kanji (of which there were many), means The Way of the Heart. The 'ra' is a phonetic place holder for words that need it, and often doesn't show up much in Japanese (save, Rashōmon, etc.; so far as I know--please tell me otherwise).
Now I get to wear a rather hot dress while I do my Aikido. Huzzah.
