When I tested for my yellow belt, I can honestly say that I was not nervous. Testing for my orange belt was another matter. For whatever reason, I was feeling anxious prior to the test. It didn't help that I had to work a funeral before testing, with only lunch as a break between the two.
But all of the nervousness faded away once the test began. My test was with two other yellow belts, with the three of us taking turns on exhibiting various skills we learned during the three previous months. Our testing judges had the three of us perform together the strikes and kicks we needed to know. The main judge asked to see our front kicks again and I realized halfway throught that I was performing a front snap kick. Then I further realized that so were the other two. I switched over to front kicks as we returned down the floor. "At least one of you figured it out," he said as he laughed. Any anxiety I was holding on to instantly deflated and I just did the karate skills as I knew them, as they were.
The other two karateka had their options of who they wanted to partner with on self-defense drills, techniques, and sparring combos. They both chose me. So I was swept and thrown twice as much as the others.
The test went as expected. The places I struggled with to get my eight stripes were still stumbling blocks. The places were I felt comfortable were where I did my best. In the end, I earned 52 out of 60 possible points and was awarded my orange belt.
Once the adrenaline and "fanfare" of the day was done and gone, I could feel the physicality of the day start to settle into my body in the form of sore muscles and tender spots. But it ultimately felt like a great win, the culmination of weeks and months of work.
And I greatly enjoyed the ritual of receiving the orange belt—the bowing, stripping my gi (uniform) of my yellow belt, and tying the new belt around my waist—and then taking my new spot in line.
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