Exams on Sunday Juny 5th 2011

About eight weeks before the upcoming exams Roland found out that there were too many candidates for one exam during the regular training. Short hand it was agreed with Wilfried that all candidates should come to the Dojo in Braunschweig on June 5th.
This date was within reach too fast for most examinees. At the suggestion of Renate we met at her palce, where the host Roland was also present "by chance". Together we practiced in the garden when the weather was nice and Roland corrected us.
Encouraged, but with "week-kneed", everyone arrived at the Dojo Braunschweig/Rautheim at 9.30 am on Sunday.
Now the individual groups were tested according to the belt colour. We started with the yellow belts.
During this time the advanced students practiced the Anjos and other techniques in the garden.
Then it was the turn of the next ones. While the yellow belts left the hall sweaty but satisfied, the green belts took a line up.
Roland radiated a special degree of authority and calmnes. Nevertheless we were so nervous that only two of us showed the Anjo without mistake. (In the garden nobody had made a mistake! We were annoyed by that already!)
Fortunately Roland always gave us some time between the individual tasks to gasp for air and so we were able to give our best until the very end. At the end we were asked the history of the Spanish and American colonization of the Philippines. Fortunately for us, we as a collective could complement and correct each other.
"Magelan, didn't he fight with the English against Lapu-Lapu in Japan? (Good teamwork!)".
After about 35 minutes we were just as sweaty as the yellow belts before, but now they were almost dried up in the sun again.
Now came the hour of truth for the black belts. Hopefully they will not have a blackout! Roughly after 15 minutes Grand Master Wolfgang Schnur came to the farm and took the last part of the test together with Roland.
When the black belts came out of the hall bathed in sweat and cheese white, we presented a small present and had a barbecue in honor of Wilfried's birthday.
Wolfgang and Roland once again congratulated all the candidates and presented the certificates. Roland emphasized that all examinations took place on a very high level. He tried once again to reassure individual candidates that small mistakes in the exam can happen under this great pressure and effort. He also reprimanded, however, that after the Dojo rules absolute silence had to prevail during an examination. Above all a quiet swearing is not permitted.
A nice experience was the following Thursday, when four Dan belt holders stood in front of us. Somehow we were filled up with pride.
Congratulations!


Year
2011
Author of the text
Renate Kinder
Name of photographer
Thomas Karolczak