BAA Gradings

NEXT GRADING . . . NEXT GRADING . . . NEXT GRADING . . . NEXT GRADING . . . Senior Grading examinations are held every six months, usually in May and November. Please see below for the latest dates. Junior Grading Monday TBA 5.30 - 6.30pm SHEEN AIKIDO Shene Sports & Fitness Centre, Park Avenue, East Sheen, London SW14 8RG http://www.sheen-aikido.fsnet.co.uk/venue.htm Junior Grading Monday TBA 19.15 - 20.15pm O DO RYU AIKIDO St John's Church Hall, 411 Malden Road, Worcester Park, Surrey KT4 7NY http://www.odoryu-aikido.fsnet.co.uk/family_class.htm Senior Grading Sunday 20MAY2012 12noon - 4.00pm O DO RYU AIKIDO St John's Church Hall, 411 Malden Road, Worcester Park, Surrey KT4 7NY http://www.odoryu-aikido.fsnet.co.uk/venue.htm Senior Grading Sunday 25NOV2012 12noon - 4.00pm O DO RYU AIKIDO St John's Church Hall, 411 Malden Road, Worcester Park, Surrey KT4 7NY http://www.odoryu-aikido.fsnet.co.uk/venue.htm There will be a class before each Senior Grading at the Worcester Park venue Sunday 20MAY2012 & 25NOV2012 10am - 12noon O DO RYU AIKIDO St John's Church Hall, 411 Malden Road, Worcester Park, Surrey KT4 7NY http://www.odoryu-aikido.fsnet.co.uk/venue.htm

GRADINGS The first Black Belt is know as 1st Dan. This is also known as Shodan, which means beginning. This is the first rank that is registered with the Japan Aikido Association. After every grading there are some students disappointed, and even upset, if they have not been successful in obtaining their next grade. Gradings are not rewards for training hard or attending sessions regularly, although both of these elements are necessary if your Aikido is to develop properly. Gradings are but an assessment of the student's ability to move on to the next stage of their training. The belt system is merely an indication that you have knowledge of the techniques at the lower grades and are ready to move on. However, previously learnt techniques. Even the highest grades of Black Belts continue to practice basic exercises and drills, always striving for perfection. One must always remember that attaining Black Belt is not the end of the student's training, only the end of the first phase, although student's can be justifiably proud of achieving a Dan grade, it is only the start of their Aikido training. By the time the student has obtained this grade they will be fit, strong and have the correct technique and should be mentally competent enough to be able to embark on a most exciting journey knowing they will never reach their destination (perfection). The student should always keep in mind that taking a Grading is not to compare yourself with others - it is simply a measure of your progress since the last examination. So you compare yourself with yourself not others.

CERTIFICATION A successful candidate attaining black belt will automatically receive a British Aikido Association Dan Grade Certificate shortly after their grading. Those invited to apply for International status with the Japan Aikido Association should do so through the European Tomiki Aikido Federation (ETAF) or the European Tomiki Aikido Network (ETAN). The current fees and an application form may be downloaded from their websites. more > > >

IMPORTANT LINKS
ETIQUETTE . . . .	HOW TO TIE YOUR BELT . . . .
ROOTS . . . .	HISTORY . . . .
Masashige Kusunoki 1294 - 1336 . . . .	Professor Tomiki 1900 - 1979 . . . .
YAMADA SENSEI . . . .	JOHN WAITE SHIHAN . . . .
KIKUSUI KAI INSTRUCTORS . . . .	KIKUSUI KAI established in the UK 1959 . . . .