Any ordeal - in the sense of a test or examination - makes people react in different ways. Some are relatively serene, others on the contrary extremely disturbed, resulting in reactions of excitement, fear, feverishness. and others.

We may well wonder why such attitudes exist. First of all, we need to distinguish between events that are going to condition the rest of our lives in important concrete ways, such as a university exam or a professional aptitude test. Clearly, success or failure will have such an impact that the candidate will have an obvious material means of positioning himself on the social ladder or, quite simply, being able to secure his livelihood and that of any family.

On the other hand, there are situations that will have no direct material impact, but will simply provide personal satisfaction. They are a matter of free choice, without obligation of any kind. Among such trials, we can include the tests or grade examinations in Karate (Kyu-tests and Dan-tests).

But even in the former case, the course of study one undertakes is a form of choice, at least in the specialty or type of profession one would like to pursue.

So what do we fear? What do we see in success or failure? Is the process purely material?

As pointed out to the candidates, the test is above all a mark of mutual trust between the teacher (the word "judge" would be too harsh), insofar as the practitioner sincerely shows the state of his or her progress, and the teacher in return gives him or her his or her most objective opinion in relation to certain criteria.

It's also a moment when the "candidate" must trust himself, assume his preparation and his real level, not wanting to "appear" hoping to get one more Kyu, nor be paralyzed by the fear of a mistake in Kihon, an oversight in Kata, a weakness in Kumité.

While certain basic "technical" principles must remain intangible in the scoring, all the candidates were able to see that there was still room for error, stress and hesitation. That the mark awarded is not necessarily a function of geometry or stereotype, but also and above all by the feeling of moral and mental values emanating from the practitioner, which testify to his or her ability to face any situation in life, and, above all, to face oneself.

When a young practitioner, naturally moved by the event to which we voluntarily confer a ceremonial of circumstance, makes a mistake in his or her Kata, but confronts the jury eye-to-eye, spontaneously asking permission to start again, with the same flame that we read in his or her eyes during interminable "Kiba Dachi" in training, we tell ourselves that we have somehow succeeded in conveying the messages that our elders sought to inculcate in ourselves. And it goes without saying that the Kyu granted matches this attitude.

While our opinion of ourselves is certainly important, there are times when concern for our image becomes our worst enemy. Sometimes we have to "forget about ourselves" if we are not to be polluted by the constant obsession with "what people will say", "what people will think of me", or "what will happen to me". Non-willingness" and the elimination of negative thinking are the means to progress towards the state of ‘unconscious strength’, which is the supreme goal sought and advocated by Master Tsutomu OHSHIMA himself.

Let's keep this in mind during our training sessions and future tests...