from the May, 2015 issue of Kiai!

Report on the Report Back from the Nidan/Sandan Test

By Sensei Katherine Nichols
4th Degree Black Belt and Kiai! Newsletter Editor

Thousand Waves sent twelve students to New York City’s Honbu (Seido headquarters) to be tested for Nidan (second degree black belt) and Sandan (third degree black belt) on Friday May 1 as part of Honbu’s Black Belt Clinic weekend. There they joined a group of 32 people from such far-flung places as Brazil, California, Florida, Cape Cod, the Adirondacks, and our sister school in Texas, Sun Dragon.  In addition, a number of Thousand Waves black belts went along to support the test, myself included. Upon their return to Chicago, the new Nidan and Sandan gathered on May 6 for a “Report Back” to the Thousand Waves community.


New second and third degree black belts are (front row): Senpai Amy Jones, Senpai Kate Phillippo, Senpai Rachel Holtzman, Senpai Jeff Edwards, Senpai Carol Allenson, Senpai Shelby Donahue, and (back row): Senpai Pat Broughton, Senpai Annie Gregory, Senpai Mary Wei, Senpai Lucia Frisancho, and Senpai Mattie Greenblatt. Senpai Jacob Laden-Guindon joined the report-back by Skype.

Following Senpai Pat Broughton’s summary of the demographics of the testing group, each spoke briefly about some aspect of the test, and in order of speaking, here is my summary of what they said:

Senpai Amy Jones felt well-prepared for her Sandan test; both in her knowledge of the curriculum and in her body. She worked hard on her general fitness, especially in Sensei Alan's H.I.I.T It Fitness classes. It paid off, and she had energy to spare. Having transferred to Thousand Waves two years ago from Sun Dragon, she also loved being part of a larger testing group with such deep roots in the World Seido Karate Organization.

For Senpai Kate Phillippo, her test for Sandan was about dealing with things that go wrong. How do you solve it? Because she had prepared well, Senpai Kate found that there was a solution for everything if she let it come to her. She is a big multi-tasker, so it was uncomfortable to do one thing for so long. The test was twelve hours long from arrival to departure, so even though they weren’t physically doing karate the whole time, the testers had to be “on” for all that time. Senpai Kate enjoyed being part of the diverse community from everywhere.

Senpai Rachel Holtzman is a former Honbu student who transferred to Thousand Waves when she moved to Chicago a year ago, so her test for Nidan was her first Thousand Waves promotion. She said it felt like her official welcome to TW. Black belt testing for New York locals is a month-long process with each aspect of curriculum covered on multiple days, and in preparing for this test for out-of-towners, Senpai Rachel wondered if one day would be substantial enough. It was. It was so much more challenging to prepare and present all her curriculum in one day, and included the challenge of properly representing Thousand Waves.

Senpai Jeff Edwards said all the training leading up to his test for Sandan was the best part. He felt well-prepared by all his teachers. One day in Kyoshi Martha’s class, she had all the candidates do Tsuki No Ura with eyes closed. Senpai Jeff admitted to wondering at the time why Kyoshi would have them do Tsuki No this odd way he’d never done before, but late in the test, when Kaicho commanded, “Eyes closed, Tsuki No, Ura!", Senpai Jeff was glad it wasn't the first time he'd heard those words!

Senpai Carol Allenson said the mock test provided by Sei Shihan Nancy a week earlier really helped. She was surprised by how little anxiety she had at her test for Nidan. She felt well-prepared and enjoyed it. It was fun! It was a long day, but she was able to stay in the moment.

This was Senpai Shelby Donahue’s first trip to New York City, and of course Honbu. She was worried that she wouldn’t be able to understand Kaicho, so she took three classes from him on Thursday and was pleased to discover that she could. When preparing for her Nidan test, she had been advised to train in every class as if it was the test, and then at the test itself, pretend it’s a regular class. This strategy worked for her. Afterward, she said “I love Kaicho. He’s such a kind man.”

Senpai Annie Gregory felt well-prepared for her Nidan test. The blindfolded trust walk through the streets of New York surprised her with its difficulty. She had thought it would be entertaining or funny, but it was very serious and disorienting. It was exhausting to be on for twelve hours. But overall, she says it was a great experience for her, and she felt proud to be part of the Chicago contingent.

For Senpai Mary Wei, her Nidan test had lessons about letting stuff go and not beating herself up when she makes a mistake. There was no time to worry. It was time to move on to the next thing. The test was physically and emotionally draining, but nothing was impossible. When things were really difficult, especially during sparring at the end, she got through it by telling herself, “Just a few moments more.” Her advice to anyone visiting Honbu: “When in doubt, bow!”

Senpai Mattie found her Nidan test a mixture of blending in with everyone, and standing out for individual attention. She enjoyed the moment when Sei Shihan Ino tried to make her laugh during kata. The day after the test, she took a long walk through New York City, and wound up at Madison Square Park, where she and her testing group had done karate while blindfolded. She got into conversation with a man who had also been there the day before, who described to her this strange activity he had seen, saying “You wouldn’t believe it!” And Senpai Mattie replied, “Yes I would, because I was one of them.”

Senpai Jacob Laden-Guindon had to return to college immediately after his Nidan test, so he reported back to the TW community by Skype. This test was one of his first times interacting with the larger Seido community. One thing that struck him most was seeing the teacher/student relationship between Sei Shihan Nancy and Kaicho. Sei Shihan behaves as a student of Kaicho just as Senpai Jacob behaves as a student of Sei Shihan Nancy. Seeing this humanized the Seido Karate organization for him. Senpai Jacob explained that he now sees that we at Thousand Waves are part of something bigger, and that the tradition continues.

The day after the test, the new Nidan and Sandan returned to Honbu and joined other black belts at their rank for Black Belt Clinic seminars led by Kaicho and Nidaime. For the newly promoted black belts, Black Belt Clinic was their first introduction to their new material, and for more senior people in their rank, it was a chance to gain insight on their material straight from the source. As someone who received her current rank three years ago, I appreciated that opportunity, and also enjoyed being in a helping role for the newer black belts. On the whole, I thought it was a great weekend reconnecting with my Seido family, and I too was proud to be there with the Thousand Waves group.

Click here to see the official photo of the new first and second degree black belts.