The first wall of kendo grading is probably 1-kyu.And the second wall is 1-dan (shodan). Once you passed 1-dan, the next one is 4-dan and 5-dan. It is said that we must start really understanding kendō to get 5-dan.
Usually in kendo grading, you only have a short amount of time (usually 1.5 min to 2 min) to show the judges what you’re capable of. For example, in the Federation I belong to, applicants for 1-kyū must do jigeiko. So they have to show the judges their basics are good and also they know how to execute small cuts.
And when I sat a 5-dan exam in Japan, I was told to show the judges I could execute cuts forwards at good opportunities and also execute counterattacks such as men suriage men. Unnecessary to say, we always have to show the judges that we have good basics of kendō.
So from 1-kyū to 8-dan, we only have two jigeiko, one jigeiko is a couple of minutes, to show what we are capable of.
Now it is very hard to do. So what really sure we do?
Consider A Kendo Promotion Exam As A Job Interview
You have to give the judges a good impression. That is the most important thing.
When you see someone who cannot but a bōgu right and he/she looks very messy. Do you think it gives a good impression to anyone? If you have a bad posture, do you think you can pass an exam?
But if you look good, nice and neat, and you have a good posture that impresses the judges, these are very important factors to increase the probability to pass the exam. Of course, these are only parts of many factors.
So before you work on your kendo basics and techniques, make sure you can put your bōgu on nicely and neatly and maintain your posture nice and straight.
Review of Your Kendo
Kyu Applicants