On June 27 - 29, 1996, The AAA hosted an Instructor's Seminar in at then Northeastern campus of Illinois University, Chicago. While the instruction by Shihan Toyoda and his staff of instructors was excellent, the high point (and low point) for me was testing for San Dan.
The tests where held at 12:30pm on Saturday, June 29. I was first, followed by Steve Koon. The testing committee was headed by Shihan Toyoda, who asked Sensei Perriello to administer the test to both Steve and myself. As such, the requirements were a mix of USAF and AAA, though we still had to submit an essay.
Steve
and I were asked to demonstrate five or more techniques against
various attacks. To make this a little more interesting, we were
assigned two uke's. This ensures a rapid pace and allows the person
testing to demonstrate control over more than one attacker. Steve and
I demonstrated various techniques against Shomenuchi, Tsuki,
Ryotetori, and others.
Steve and I were both asked to demonstrate unarmed defenses against staff and sword (Jo-tori, Tachi-tori). While both of us are comfortable with these techniques, I really admired Steve's grace under pressure. At one point, Steve threw Andy Sato, who immediately grabbed the jo and attacked again, but Steve was very poised and threw him again. I was also asked to demonstrate various weapon forms, including basic boken suburi, Happo Giri (eight directions), and Saito Sensei's 21-step jo kata.
Since the focus of the seminar was on teaching, Steve and I were both asked to teach a basic technique. I presented Katatetori Ikkyo and Steve showed Ryotetori Tenshinage. The only difficulty here was making ourselves heard in a large gymnasium.
Both tests culminated in a five man freestyle.
From
my point of view, this was a difficult test, largely because of the
conditions. The temperature was over 100 degrees, with very high
humidity. There was an air pollution alert in effect, and the gym had
very poor ventilation. As such, breathing was difficult. This problem
was noted by all who practiced and tested. In spite of being prepared
for this test, I became dehydrated quickly, and overheated.
The main impact of this on my test was that I dropped all of the "fancy" stuff that I had planned to demonstrate. I was hoping to show some of the more advanced techniques that Sensei Perriello has taught us over the years, such as variations on Shihonage, Kokyunage, sacrifice throws, etc. Instead, reflex took over, and basic Aikido was the order of the day. As such, the testing committee saw the real me. Nothing fancy, nothing contrived, just pure Aikido. Funny how things change when survival becomes an issue.
In closing, I would like to thank Sensei Perriello and all of my instructors over the years. I deeply appreciate the opportunity that Toyoda Sensei gave me to show what I have learned from many sources. I look forward to participating in similar seminars in the future.