The year 2020 has certainly been fraught with challenges! COVID-19 disrupted many people’s lives and our humble dojo was definitely affected by it, as well. Yet we all have worked hard to get through this crazy time together as a dojo family!
Like many businesses during this pandemic, we had to find creative solutions to continue serving our students. Working with our students remotely via Zoom may not have been ideal but it most definitely kept us on our feet, connected, and working through our materials. When we were able to open our dojo doors again it was refreshing to see the faces that came in while still staying connected remotely with our other students that could not be present. Kudos to the students and instructors that have worked so hard to keep up with their martial arts training!
On Saturday, September 19th the Orrington dojo had it’s first Kyu rank testing since the pandemic began. This coming Thursday, October 1st will see our Corinna karateka testing alongside some of the Orrington karateka. We will post our promoted Kyu ranks in the coming days!
Lastly, we have a large group of Shodan candidates this year testing in just a few weeks! Unfortunately, we are unable to have the honor of having Hanshi Shipes this year due to travel restrictions. However, Sensei Steve and his team of black belts are prepared to rigorously test our 1 Kyu students on the weekend of October 17th.
When students test for Shodan they are asked to do extensive research on our style, history, and Okinawan culture. This culminates in an essay that is submitted to Sensei Steve and then forwarded to Hanshi Shipes for review. As well, we have a few Shodans that are testing for Nidan rank and have submitted essays. Sensei Steve would like to make all of these essays available to everyone to share as a resource:
Keep training hard and great job to all of our students who have persevered!