Iwama Uchideshi 2009: Shodan tests

Shodan tests

Today was the big day for many my fellow deshi (soshite kino wa san ju sai deshita demo kyo wa san ju ichi sai desu).

In total there were 5 students of Nemoto sensei, four shodan and one yondan. I was the uke for soto deshi Robin Jinx-san. The test comprised of suwariwaza yokomen ikkyo-gokyo, tachiwaza 3 techniques for: shihonage, kyokunage, irimnage, koshinage, ushiro waza, hanmihandachi, jo dori, tachi dori, tanken dori, and 1.5 mins jiyuwaza ni-nin.

The final preparation class took place last night, I resorted to asking Robin to punch me in the guts repeatedly to prove to him that he would not hurt me and to put a bit of grrrr into it. For the test I taped my wrist up real tight and tried my best to be a good uke. The guts punching seemed to work and his test performance had better energy than all the previous attempts. He was understandably a little nervous, and there were a couple of moments of hesitation, but I am very very happy that he kept his nerve and passed !!!! (As did everybody). Congratulations to all.

This video starts with Chris and should lead to Robin and Robin:

The Heart Sutra
Maka hannya haramitta shingyo (The Heart Sutra) Kan ji zai bo satsu. Gyo jin han-nya ha ra mi ta ji. Sho ken go on kai ku. Do is-sai ku yaku. Sha ri shi. Shiki fu i ku. Ku fu i shiki. Shiki soku ze ku. Ku soku ze shiki. Ju so gyo shiki. Yaku bu nyo ze. Sha ri shi ze sho ho ku so. Fu sho fu metsu. Fu ku fu jo. Fu zo fu gen. Ze ko ku chu. Mu shiki mu ju so gyo shiki. Mu gen ni bi zes-shin ni. Mu shiki sho ko mi soku ho. Mu gen kai nai shi mu i shiki kai. Mu mu myo yaku mu mu myo jin. Nai shi mu ro shi. Yaku mu ro shi jin. Mu ku shu metsu do. Mu chi yaku mu toku. I mu sho tok-ko. Bo dai sat-ta. E han-nya ha ra mi ta. Ko shin mu ke ge. Mu ke ge ko. Mu u ku fu. On ri is-sai ten do mu so. Ku gyo ne han. San ze sho butsu. E han-nya ha ra mi ta ko. Toku a noku ta ran san myaku san bo dai. Ko chi han-nya ha ra mi ta. Ze dai jin shu. Ze dai myo shu. Ze mu jo shu. Ze mu to do shu. No jo is-sai ku. Shin jitsu fu ko. Ko setsu han-nya ha ra mi ta shu. Soku setsu shu watsu. Gya te gya te. Ha ra gya te. Hara so gya te. Bo ji sowa ka. Han-nya shin gyo.Thanks you for visiting my blog. Hope that it was enjoyable. Ja Mata The Heart Sutra (Maka hannya haramitta shingyo) Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, when deeply practicing prajna paramita, clearly saw that all five aggregates are empty and thus relieved all suffering. Shariputra, form does not differ from emptiness, emptiness does not differ from form. Form itself is emptiness, emptiness itself form. Sensations, perceptions, formations, and consciousness are also like this. Shariputra, all dharmas are marked by emptiness, they neither arise nor cease, are neither defiled nor pure, neither increase nor decrease. Therefore, given emptiness, there is no form, no sensation, no perception, no formation, no consciousness; no eyes, no ears, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind; no sight, no sound, no smell, no taste, no touch, no object of mind; no realm of sight, no realm of mind consciousness. There is neither ignorance nor extinction of ignorance; neither old age and death, nor extinction of old age and death; no suffering, no cause, no cessation, no path; no knowledge and no attainment. With nothing to attain a bodhisattva relies on prajna paramita, and thus the mind is without hindrance. Without hindrance , there is no fear. Far beyond all inverted views, one realises nirvana. All buddhas of past, present and future rely on prajna paramita and thereby attain unsurpassed, complete, perfect enlightenment. Therefore, know the prajna paramita is the great miraculous mantra, the great bright mantra, the supreme mantra, the incomparable mantra, which removes all suffering and is true, not false. Therefore we proclaim the prajna paramita mantra, the mantra that says: Gate Gate Paragate Parasamgate Bodhi svaha!

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